A Native American named Red Cloud had the smarts and wherewithal to consolidate most of the plains tribes into a single fighting force (for the most part) and taunted the US Army for several years playing a great game of hide and seek. The cover he used was the Black Hills of South Dakota. He led many raids against the settlers and soldiers alike and always came out ahead of the curve.
It is absolutely amazing to think of a US Cavalry Unit, made up of just under 100 men, riding in columns looking for Red Cloud and his warriors through these magnificent hills. And coming out of these hills proclaiming they could not find any Indians!
View from Mt. Coolidge Lookout
The day was filled with many surprises as we saw parts of Custer State Park (CSP) that we have never seen on previous trips. CSP is becoming quite the State park with a National Park feel. Tammy and I agree this area has so much to offer and plan to come back for an extended stay.
We visited Mt. Coolidge Lookout and Fire Tower today. The tower was one of the last projects completed by the CCC in the late 1930s. Built of local stone, the tower sits at 6, 023 feet elevation. It offers breathtaking 360-degree views. On a clear day, you can see the Badlands nearly 60 miles away. Due to the haze today, we were unable to see the Badlands but with our binoculars, Crazy Horse looked straight at us from his memorial and we could see George Washington's profile at Mt. Rushmore.
We did get a slight reprieve from the brutal temps - 93 for a high with cooling down before a rain, down to a nice 74 degrees!
Handing off to Tam now....
Today we returned to Custer State Park, one of our favorite parks. The park covers a variety of landscapes from rolling tree covered hills to rocky spires and hoodoos. We attempt to capture the beauty that goes on for miles but the camera just doesn't seem to do it justice. Here we tried to take a selfie the old fashioned way, with the automatic timer on our Nikon. I guess we're out of practice, which is why we have some really strange poses going on here :) But the landscape all around us was breathtaking.
Catherdral Spires
We hiked around Legion Lake and Sylvan Lake. So many people enjoying the water on these blazing hot days! Walking along the trails under the massive Ponderosa Pines was like a transport back in time. We just closed our eyes and listened to the wind's symphony through the swaying pine boughs.
South Dakota has some beautiful state parks! We ended the day discovering a hidden gem! It's one of those places that you don't want to tell people about. Not because it's not great but because it IS great! To keep away crazy amounts of people, so it doesnt' get "loved to death." But with Google, you can find anything. We ended the day at Angostura State Recreation Area, on a large reservoir with 36 miles of shoreline. I'm not going to say anymore about it and try to protect the secret of how beautiful it is, so I'll let these pictures do the talking~
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