Day 5 - Hiking

The snow was still on the ground when we left this morning.  The plan was to visit Jewel Cave and to do some hiking.  When we got to the cave, the wait for the next tour was 2 hours.  So we went for a quick hike and must have missed the turn off because it turned into a 90 minute hike that ended with a series of switch backs that took us up a very steep mountain side.  Dave went on the cave tour and I decided to do some more hiking.  I took the canyon trail as far as I could go and had to turn back so that Dave would not send out the National Park Service if I wasn't at the jeep when his tour was done. There is a lot of damage from a fire last year.

We then returned to Custer and checked out the downtown.  Not much open yet.  We then had a late lunch at the restaurant just across the street.  Tired and extremely full, we returned to our hotel rooms to relax.  Sleeping in, hiking in National Forests, eating chocolate, and then reading until all hours of the night - this is a vacation.

Tomorrow the plan is to drive the scenic Needles road that takes us past Mount Rushmore.  There is also a hiking trail around a lake we would like to try, or should I say I would like to try.  Dave's knee may not be able to handle another hike. I also found out they estimate the park is home to about 130 mountain lions.  How am I going to find one in 2 days?  I still want to see a badger, elk (found lots of tracks), ferrets, big horn sheep and now a mountain lion.  Perhaps if I put some bacon in Dave's backpack.  That should attract a few animals.  I also want to see the burros close up.  Every time we see them they are off in the distance.

Day 4 - Tuesday

We started the day looking for a local gun range so that Dave and his friend Maggie could do some shooting.    We found the road and for the next 90 minutes I read a book on Crazy Horse as Dave and Maggie fired off a few rounds.  We then went to Rapid City for lunch and a visit to the Museum of Geology. I did buy a geode and I plan to crack it open when I get home.  On our drive back to Custer it started to snow.  Nice little flakes, not so bad.  We decided to relax in our hotel rooms and plan our activities for Wednesday.  Around 8 I looked out the window and noticed it was still snowing.  Happy Spring!
There is a scenic byway that you can drive in Custer State Park that takes you through tunnels and you can view Mount Rushmore and it is closed during the winter due to the snow and treacherous driving conditions. It was scheduled to open May 1 and we planned on driving it and doing some hiking around Sylvan lake.  With the temperature currently 24 degrees, that plan will have to wait for Thursday or Friday.  Not sure what we are going to do today but hopefully the snow kills the ticks.