8/31/12 -- Dragonflies and Doing Nothing

Yesterday we hung around camp.  Nice and restful.  We've been driving hard for a long time.

We hiked down to the lake, down on the road and back on a trail.  There's a lovely dock down there where we sat and soaked in the beauty of the lake.  Adina enjoyed watching the Osprey nest.

Watching the Osprey nest and basking (note the warm clothing!)

I have met two interesting dragonflies lately.  Adina says I'm a bug whisperer because bugs seem to be interested in me but don't generally harm me.  The first was an amazing red dragonfly at Lake Leo.  I've never seen a red one before.

My red dragonfly

When we went down by Starvation Lake, I found another new kind of dragonfly -- one with brown striped wings.  I know there are many kinds of dragonflies, so I shouldn't be surprised to see a kind that is new to us.  This one posed for me.  I think it was smiling. 


Dragonfly with brown stripes on its wings, posing on the dock

For those of you who aren't into dragonflies, I also snapped a picture of the lily pads (especially for Winston).  I swear, they are a foot and a half long and a foot wide. 

 

Do any of you like lily pads?

 

We've had cool weather.  It is warm during the day, around 70-80 degrees.  At night, it cools down below 40 degrees. 

 

The campground host taught us a new trick for warming our trailer.  We bought a terra cotta flowerpot and we turn it upside down on our gas burner.  Then we turn the burner on fairly low heat.  The hole in the bottom of the flowerpot (now on top) serves as a chimney and the pot heats to a nice radiant temperature.  It heats the trailer nicely.  Of course, we turn it off when we go to bed at night. 

 

Who needs electric hookups?



8/29/12 -- Into Washington Mountains

The little campground at Cataldo ID was lovely.  I heard some interesting stories from the campground host.  He said:  In spring, a herd of moose come here.  They sleep in the campground and then cross the river to browse over there during the day.

Last spring, one moose cow had twins.  When they were old enough, she took them across the river like all the other moosi.  That was fine until evening when one of her calves absolutely refused to cross the river.


"Moose" River

The campground host said that Mama Moose stayed on the camp side of the river with her other calf but woe betide anyone who came between her and the river where her calf waited on the other side.  She never charged anyone, being a good camper, but she lowered her head and made honking sounds.  Her message was clear: Stay away from my calf, or else.  Everyone respected her space and stayed clear of that invisible umbilical cord that stretched across the flowing water.

The bathrooms were in a little building on a hillock.  The building was also on stilts high enough to require 4 stairs to enter.  It seemed a strange arrangement to us.  When I asked, I learned that the campground floods every spring and every fall with up to 4 feet of water.  Only the bathrooms and the two trailers belonging to the owner and the campground host escape the flood. 

The high water usually lasts a day or two, however, every year a bunch of reporters show up from Coeur d'Alene to write a story a bout the guy that was stranded by the flood.  He said, "It's no big deal to us, just what happens.  They are hunting for a story, that's all."

The next day we headed north to pick up state hwy 20 going west.  We encountered bad smoke in the Coeur d'Alene valley and it only got worse as we drove north.  After an hour or so, we found a MacDonald's and made good use of Karen Z's website on fires.  Thanks, Karenz and thanks, MacDonald's for free wifi.  We learned that the smoke was coming from fires clear down in Oregon.  We checked the Canadian sites too.  Going north looked really good.

The smoke cleared within a few miles and we traveled in blue skies with fluffy cloud bits.  The road up the Pend Oreille River was especially beautiful.  The river is named for a Native American Tribe, also called the Kalispel.  The name "Pend Oreille" comes from the phrase "hangs from ears" because many of the native people of this tribe wore large shell earrings. 

We stopped often to drink in the beauty and to take pictures.

Pend O'Reille River

We drove through beautiful mountains all that day.  At one point, we were only a few miles from the Canadian border.  Wow! 

The people who named the Black Hills hadn't got this far west.  The mountains here are covered with pines that look black in some lights, just like the Black Hills in South Dakota.

Last night, we camped at Lake Leo.  It was lovely.  We slept like babes at 4000+ feet elevation. 

We had a nice view of the lake.  It did make me think of Winston, though.  We miss our little traveling companion.

Winston, the Moose

The reason we thought of Winston is that he was always looking for lily pads, his favorite food next to coffee.  This lake would have made our little buddy purr!


Adina at Lake Leo (with lily pads)

We enjoyed Lake Leo but this morning when we woke up, the temperature had plummeted into the 40's.  We decided to move on and find a warmer place.  The road led down the mountain, so we were encouraged.  There was a WA state park we had our eye on.

The trouble was that somehow, we missed it.  Then we saw a funny little brown sign that said "Starvation Lake."  The name wasn't the most attractive but we decided to give it a chance.

What we found was a lovely camp on a pretty lake.  It's run by the DNR (Department of Natural Resources).  It's primitive, which is why I'm at a MacDonald's in Colville WA, writing this blog.  Everything electronic that we own needed to be charged and we also needed some supplies.

We found a nice handicapped site with a view of the lake and unhooked the trailer.  We'll stay there through the Labor Day weekend.  We want to avoid the holiday traffic.  Besides, we fell in love with iStarvation Lake Campground. 

We were amazed and delighted when we asked about the cost 4 of camping and of wood.  DNR campsites only require an annual pass, purchased for $35.00 wherever fishing licenses are sold.  Once you have that, DNR campgrounds -- and their wood -- are free!  We'll get our pass while we're here in Colville.  The campground host gave us a map of DNR campgrounds and there are quite a few near Vancouver.  Yes! 

We think we just found heaven.

Our Starvation Lake Camp

The table sits under a canopy so I don't even have to tarp the site (against the possibility of rain).  This table is made of 2 inch thick slabs of beautiful pine.  Here's a glimpse of it.  The pine needles came from the tree above us.


Starvation Lake Camp table top with 4 inch pine needles

We asked where the name of the lake came from.  A long time ago in settler times, a bunch of guys went up the mountain hunting.  They needed to lay in a supply of meat for the coming winter.  They were shooting everything in sight when they were caught in an early snowstorm.  They ate all their beans and all their biscuits while they waited for the storm to abate so they could go home.  When all they had was a ton of meat, they figured they were like to starve to death, right there. 

 

A few days later, some young bloods from Colville plowed their way up the mountain and found the stranded hunters.  They fed the fellows and took them down the mountain.

 

Nobody died.  Nobody starved.  Still, the name stuck.  Go figure.

 

We're right near the Pend Oreille Wildlife Refuge, laced with trails and lookouts.  We'll be exploring for the next few days.  Don't worry, I'll have lots of new pictures for the next blog!

 

8/27/12 -- Out of the Smoke, Mostly

I didn't really intent to post more than once a day but wanted to thank all of you for your prayers for our journey.  It went well.

We encountered thick smoke near Bearmouth MT where a fire burned north of us and in Missoula MT, an ancient lake, a bowl, that catches smoke from two or more states.  We ran the air conditioning most of the day and that kept us breathing well.

The mountains were beautiful, even through the smoke.  They feed our spirits.

One extra bright spot today was a rest stop just east of Superior MT.  The Superior United Methodist Church had a canopy and a table where they offered coffee, orange drink and cookies, their gift to those of us who travel.  We chatted with them and found out that the young woman at the table was to finish high school next year, then hopes to come out to Portland OR for college.  She wants to be a doctor.  When we talked to her more, we discovered that everyone calls her by her nickname -- Cat.  That's our granddaughter Kelsey's handle, only she spells it Katt.  It was a moment of delight and we journeyed on, smiling.

I drove 6.5 hrs today.  That is a record.  I am getting stronger.

We are camped by a river (and the freeway) in a nice rustic campground in Cataldo, Idaho, just east of Cour de Lene, ID.  Tomorrow, we'll enter Washington state and head north.  Isn't that what you do?  When you want to go south, you head north?

We intent to take state hwy 20 all the way across the Cascade Mountains, and then, well, keep watching the blog to see what we are going to do after that!

We are doing well, enjoying our trip and each other!  Sorry, no pictures today.  Catch the next blog to see where we are!

8/27/12 -- Fires in Montana

We have been checking the location of several wild-fires and forest fires in western Montana and going back and forth about what route to take.  Smoke from Idaho fires is also pouring into Montana.

If Adina gets into too much smoke, her asthma makes her very sick. The last time it happened, she had to re-grow the lining of her lungs and it took her six months.  We are taking this very seriously.

There is a fire near Bearmouth MT, north of Interstate 90, that is producing a lot of smoke.  This fire has closed a side road but Interstate 90 remains open.

There doesn't seem to be any way across the Rocky Mountains from here that won't put us into a smokey environment.

There are beautiful back country mountain roads that we had hoped to enjoy.  This is not the time.  We are going to ride Interstate 90 as fast as we can and get through Montana and northern Idaho.   "As fast as we can" is relative as our speed drops to 35-40 going up steep mountain passes.  We will cross many passes before we reach Washington.

I won't be posting pictures of the fires.  If we see one, I'm not stopping to take pix.  I don't think we'll be in any real danger on this run, except from vehicles going over the 75 mph speed limit.  They treat us like a standing object.  I guess to them, we are.

Our main concern today is to get past Missoula and into the mountains beyond where we expect there to be less smoke.  I think we can do it.

Still, if you don't mind, stop a moment today and say a prayer for us.  I'll post again when I have electricity.

8/26/12 -- Last Days in Yellowstone

We have had three wonderful days to end our week here in Yellowstone National Park.  Many people who come here only watch Old Faithful erupt, maybe go to the Visitor’s Center and buy a couple of souvenirs.  Then they go to see the lower falls on the Yellowstone River and they think they have “done” Yellowstone.

There is more, much more.  We have seen a lot and yet only scratched the surface of all that Yellowstone has to offer.  We all three want to come back.  Yellowstone is like no place else on earth.

We spent one whole day at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.  Yes, there is a Grand Canyon here as well as the one in Arizona.  The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in Arizona is one mile deep and is so wide you can’t see the bottom if you stand on the rim.  


The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River is ¾ mile deep with walls so starkly steep that you can make out the rapids in the Yellowstone River far below you.

Looking down into the Grand Canyon

There are two falls on the Yellowstone before the canyon really begins.  Above them, the River is placid and relatively calm for a mountain river.  It runs over a couple of cascades and then plummets down the Upper Falls.  We went down to a platform built on the brink of these falls.  The amount of water plunging down made the stones beneath our feet tremble.



Upper Falls on the Yellowstone River
Tiny people on platform on the cliff on the right
We stood there, too!

Several points on both sides of the canyon gave us some magnificent views.  I don’t know if the pictures can do the depth of it justice.  Here in the rocky sides of the canyon, we see the yellow stone that gives the park its name.

Canyon Wall showing yellow stone

Adina and Drichab Anna hiked along the canyon rim for a while – I drove ahead to wait for them. 

A raven kept me company, his raucous voice imparting deep wisdom (I’m sure).  I didn’t get a picture of him, though he strutted and posed for quite a while, as Drichab Anna had my camera to help record their hike.  Please note that all our hikes in Yellowstone are at 6000+ feet above sea level.  We feel it in our joints.  Here are a couple of pictures from their Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Hike. 


Pinnacles far below the path

Yellowstone River 3/4 mile straight down

Tree growing out over the canyon
roots rest on the air alone

 The view that most people remember from this part of the park is that of the lower falls.  It is one of the trademarks of the park.  Drichab Anna took a wonderful picture of the lower falls from Point.

Lower Falls and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Another day we drove down toward Old Faithful but, instead of going there again, we stopped at all the interesting spots along the way.  Beryl Spring is one of my favorites.



Beryl Spring is a deep blue and bubbles continuously

We took a side trip along a one-way road through Firehole River Canyon.  We wound along the beautiful Firehole River. 


The Firehole River in a placid moment

Our road was on one side and huge rocky cliffs rose across the river on the other side.  We could see faces in the rocks – oops, then they were gone.  The rocks were brown and red and black. 

 

 

The Firehole River is so named because of hot springs that drain into it and geysers that rise along its banks.  At one place, lots of people had climbed down a long flight of steps and were swimming in the river.  It looked like fun but our interest in the drive lay farther down the road. 

We stopped and saw the beautiful Firehole River Falls.  Again, we could feel the power of the falling river through the soles of our feet as the earth trembled from the falls.

Firehole Falls -- Beautiful!

On another side road to Fountain Flats, we found a riverside geyser on the Gibbons River.  The water upstream from the geyser was as cold as if it had come from a glacier.  Maybe it had.  There are glaciers here on the highest peaks.  Below the geyser, the water was warm and stayed warm for quite a ways downstream.

We often saw elk and old, grumpy bison bulls, most of whom were blocking traffic!  The bulls’ eyes were red and they swung their huge heads from side to side as they walked beside the road.  I think they resent the presence of anyone who blocks their way to the next resting spot or dust bath.

We loved the side road we took to Firehole Lake.  This is also on the Firehole River.  We saw a couple of geysers.  White Dome Geyser did us the favor of erupting while we were there.  It isn’t as tall as Old Faithful (everybody’s standard of measurement) but it has built up an impressive dome.

Firehole Lake was magnificent.  Lined with geysers, fed by hot springs, it really looks like the whole lake must be on fire.  Drichab Anna and Adina walked around part of it.  I watched from the car and nursed my migraine.  They come when then come.  At least I was able to go and see it.  There was a time when I thought I’d never be able to come to Yellowstone again.  Here are a couple of pictures from Firehole Lake:

 

 

Yesterday, Adina and Drichab Anna climbed down the mountain from our campsite to the Gardiner River.  The path to the river was so steep that Adina slid down on her seat and climbed back up on hands and knees.

Path to the river -- VERY steep

They waded and enjoyed the coolness of the river waters.  Drichab Anna put the top of her head in the water too! 

 

Adina enjoying the Gardiner River

It was like an oasis in the desert.

Rocky bar in the Gardiner River

That afternoon, it was sunny so we went up the mountain (by car) to the upper Mammoth Hot Springs drive, another one-way narrow road.  You really need to take the side roads if you want to see Yellowstone at its best.  We were able to see some hot springs that are still active – a real treat.



A Spring that looked like a buffalo -- this is his head

A Living Spring

We heard that Norris is burning, some 800 acres, just south of Mammoth, where we are camped.  We smelled the smoke in the air Saturday night.  The hazy air is pink in all directions.  We were  at Norris just the day before.  That felt a little strange. 

We had planned to leave Yellowstone on Sunday morning anyway (today) as we must drive to Bozeman, Montana to say farewell to Drichab Anna.  She has to work on Monday and flew out of Bozeman this afternoon.  It was a sad good-bye to see her go.  We will miss her humor and her good companionship.  We will also miss Winston who went home with her.  He livened up every day, and so did she.  She was so much fun to play with.

Adina and I always enjoy each other, too, as we travel.  We had planned to drive to a town half-way to Missoula but learned of a fire on that road.  It still is the best route for us to take but we chose to stay in Butte (that's Bee-oot', for those of you who thought of creative pronunciations).  We are at a KOA so I have a strong wifi connection, Adina has a swimming pool and we have access to laundry facilities.  Tomorrow we will continue our odyssey across Montana. 

 

8/21/12 – We Are In Yellowstone National Park!!

Map of Yellowstone Park

After we left Columbus, MT, we drove a total of 231 miles, and came in the North Entrance into Yellowstone National Park.  Camping can be hard to come by in Yellowstone and we couldn’t make a reservation since we weren’t sure when we’d arrive.

We lucked out!  We found a lovely campsite near the entrance just below Mammoth Hot Springs.  We are camped on the side of a mountain, surrounded by huge sagebrush and twisted evergreens with tiny needles. 

Because of the wildlife in the area, we can’t keep any food outside, even our water jug.  Brown metal boxes are provided in many campsites.  They are called “Bear Boxes” because the bears can’t figure out how to open them.  No one has seen a bear in our campground since spring.

We have our own wildlife.  A magpie has visited us several times. 

And we have elk.  A herd of a dozen or so of these magnificent creatures spend their days in the valley below us, browsing on sage, wildflowers and bark.  At night, they climb through our camp, up the mountain to the soft, green grass around the hotels and Visitor Centers at Mammoth Hot Springs.  When a lot of cars stop to gawk and take pictures, it’s called an Elk Jam. 

Elk Herd heading up the mountain
Leaving the bushes by the restroom
Mrs. Campground Host in background

Every morning and night they pass around our campsite.  They like to eat the bushes around the restrooms.  The herd consists of one large buck with a huge rack (of antlers), a dozen or so does and three or four calves. 

This morning I hooked my computer to the outlet at the restroom and was working away on my pictures when I suddenly looked up.  An elk doe was browsing about 5-6 feet away.  We did parallel play for a while and then she left to find another bush.  Pretty soon, I heard her calf bawling for her.  They sound like a strange bird or a human child.

Elk Doe and Calf about 6 feet from our Campsite
Looking up the Mountain

People have to be careful around them, though.  We know we mustn’t approach closer than 25 feet (unless they come closer).  Bucks are dangerous as they are protecting their herd.  Does are less fearful unless they are protecting a calf.  This is their territory and we have to respect that we are gifted to share it for a bit.  However, it does have to be on their terms.

Young buck who stopped across the road

Sometimes people do stupid things, like trying for a full face close-up picture or walking toward them quickly.  The creatures here are wild, not tame.  One fellow was gored earlier this summer.  Recently, an elk ate the front of one couple’s tent.  Of course, they probably had food in their tent.  The elk that chewed the heck out of that tent probably didn’t swallow any of it – just gnawed on it.  You can imagine how the couple felt about that! 

You can’t trust bears.  Elk are okay.  What a joy to share our lives with them for a bit!

I sit in our campsite and look at the mountain across the valley-canyon.  We are camped at 6000+ feet and that mountain across from us is much higher.  The top is a ridge of basalt columns.  The bottom 8/10ths are like skirts falling gracefully from an ballroom gown. 

The day we arrived, we drove ¼ miles up the mountain to Mammoth Hot Springs.  When we were here 16 years ago, the whole mountainous spring was vibrant with color – reds and golds, blues and browns and brilliant whites.  They were amazing.  The next couple of pictures are from "the old days."





Pools at Mammoth by Author: Jon Sullivan



Jupiter Terrace and Spring: National Park Service

Things have changed here.  I was horrified at the scene.  Most of the Hot Springs have dried up.  Only a few trickles remind us of its former glory.  The mounds of limestone that have built up for centuries are now grey.  It made me sad to see it.  



Jupiter Terrace Today

The Ranger said that it is because of the drought that has affected the whole country.  I guess it is affecting the whole world.  Maybe it is climate change.  Maybe it is cyclical.  Whatever it is, I only know that crops all across the Midwest were not as lush and that Yellowstone has lost a place of beauty here at Mammoth.  Perhaps if the rains return, Mammoth will regain its former beauty.

Yesterday, we drove 51 miles south into the park to the Old Faithful area.  It doesn’t erupt quite as often as it used to but it is still so regular that the Rangers can post the exact time of the next eruption. 

 Winston the Moose stayed with me and Adina while Drichab Anna drove all over creation finding a parking place.  Then Adina went looking for Drichab Anna and Lee, from Los Angeles took this picture of Winston and me.   She was traveling with her brother and his wife from Beijing, China.



We sat on logs and benches to wait for the eruption and ate lunch.  The sun should have been too hot but there was a lovely breeze and we enjoyed ourselves.  The woman who sat on the ledge in front of and below us was from Texas.  We heard many different languages from all over the world.  Whatever else people see at Yellowstone, everyone comes to Old Faithful. 

As the geyser built up to its eruption, more and more steam began to come out of the vent.  Several crows flew close to Old Faithful, ruffling their feathers and bathing in the steam from Nature’s best spa.

Our wait for the eruption was well worth it.  Old Faithful continues to erupt as it always has, shooting hot water and steam between 120 and 180 feet into the air.  For as many times as I have seen it, seeing it again always takes my breath away.

Old Faithful

After Old Faithful, we hiked through the geyser basin adjacent to it.  I turned back after the shorter loop.  Drichab Anna and Adina continued on to finish the hike.

Geyser resting

Geysers' mineral-rich water deposit limestone every time they erupt which creates cones at their mouths. 

Chromatic Pool

Adina at one of the pools

Grotto Geyser erupts most of the time

Adina and Drichab Anna had nearly reached the farthest point on their long loop when they were caught in a Rocky Mountain Downpour.  It was sort of like a really heavy Wisconsin rain.  They pressed on and reached the most beautiful pool in the park: Morning Glory Pool. 


Morning Glory Pool - with raindrops

They came back very late, thoroughly soaked. 

Today, our moving van arrived at our new digs in Vancouver, WA.  Our granddaughter, Kelsey, and her friend, Ruche, met the truck and supervised the unloading.  We stayed in camp so we could be sure of being able to use our phones (mountains do produce a few dead zones).  We talked to them several times and they did a great job!  Thanks, you two!  Kelsey said that our new place looks like our home.  That felt really good!

We gathered a lot of pine wood from where the Rangers cleared a fallen log.  It was in a campsite where people had left.  Now we have a wood supply for the next several days.  Tonight we’ll have a splendid fire, roast marshmallows and make s’mores.  Then at 9 p.m., there will be a Ranger Program.

I don’t know when I’ll be able to blog again because we don’t have an electric hookup in our campsite.  You can just keep checking the blog, if you want to.  However, I do send out emails to let people know when I post.  If you want to be on my blog-email list, send me a request.  My email is listed in the right column, under my picture.

8/18/12 – The Black Hills, Wyoming and Montana – Wow!

We want to spend most of our time showing Drichab Anna the sights in Yellowstone Park, so we only hit a couple of places in the Black Hills. 

The first one was Wind Cave in the southernmost portion of the park.  Adina and Drichab Anna wanted to see Wind Cave because they both like caves and had never been there.  I really wanted to see Wind Cave for a personal reason.  I’d only been there once before – 43 years ago. 

I went there with my husband, Rich, and our son Pete who was 5 or 6 months old and all three of us went on a great tour of the cave.  I carried Pete on my back in a child carrier, a backpack with a metal frame and holes for his little legs. 

It was sort of like the picture on the right if you subtract the shade cover, the extra framing and the extra strap in front between the shoulder straps.  Pete's carrier was a metal oval with a bag hanging down.  The straps were two pieces of webbing, no padding.  It was simple, but it did the job. 

Wind Cave is a multi-level cave, one of the longest in the world.  Some 130+ miles have been explored.  We didn't walk that far, not this trip!

On my first tour through the cave, we squeezed through narrow passages, so narrow that I had to take Pete from my back and we passed him through the passage, hand over hand, down the line of strangers.  We climbed ladders up and down, handing Pete up separately as most of the ladder-passages were too narrow to carry him. 

As we went through the cave, Pete's eyes were wide as he looked at everything.  He cooed and gurgled and grinned, having the time of his little life.  Everyone loved him, of course, not that I am prejudiced about thinking that they should. 

Wind Cave was like no other cave I had ever seen.  I never forgot the experience and was looking forward to seeing how the cave had changed.  I knew it would be more civilized now.  Humans do that, make things easier for themselves.  Instead of ladders, there were steps and a concrete path with ridges for the slopes.  When we had descended 220 below the surface on 280 steps or so, an elevator whisked us back to the surface, ½ a miles from where we had begun.

Wind Cave is a very dry cave, located at 5000+ feet.  Because of its dryness, it doesn’t have stalagmites and stalactites.  Instead, it has some unusual features, three of them.  The Sioux believe that it is the birthplace of their people.  The Trickster lured them out of the cave and then they could not find the entrance to return.  Kristen, our guide, showed us the hole that was the original entrance and maybe where the Sioux left the cave centuries ago. 

Popcorn formations cling to the ceiling.  They are little white bumps, like tiny upside down snow heaps.  They exist in other caves but don’t usually get much attention because of other, more spectacular features.  Wind Cave also contains frostwork, looking as if all the ridges are tipped with frost.   

One of the most amazing and unusual features is the boxwork which clings to ceilings and some walls.  We learned that 95% of all the boxwork in the world is found in Wind Cave.  The other 5% are scattered in caves all over the world.  Here are some pictures of boxwork:



Boxwork with Frostwork



Just like a jig-saw puzzle

After we left Wind Cave, we opted to skip Mount Rushmore.  Okay, I know that is sacrilegious but in our limited time we had another stop we wanted to make and it would have required several hours more of twisty mountain driving that would have taken us out of our way.  Lest our trip record be incomplete, here is a picture of Mount Rushmore which we didn’t see.  Now we can all see it together on this blog.

We drove north up the west side of the Black Hills, drinking in the beauty of the place.  Our second Black Hills stop is one that we all wanted to see.  Early in this century, Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, felt that the Mount Rushmore sculpture didn’t tell the whole story.  Mount Rushmore honors four  important US Presidents who helped lead and mold the taming of the west.  Henry believed that a similar kind of monument should be carved to honor the part that Native Americans played in the early days of this country.  He commissioned Korczak Ziolkowski, a sculptor, to choose a mountain and carve such a monument.  Korczak chose Thunderhead Mountain, sacred to the Oglala tribe for the carving.  He began the project in 1948.  An Indian Museum of North America and a Native American Cultural Center are also part of the Monument.  We enjoyed the Cultural Center, watched Native artisans at work and left a few of our tourist dollars there.

Korczak chose to carve an image of the great Native leader, Crazy Horse.This great sculpture was something we wanted to see.  When I saw it 43 years ago, it consisted of a ledge and a hole in the mountain.  I wanted to see what had changed.  Adina and Drichab Anna just plain wanted to see it.  We figured an hour or so should suffice for our visit.  We stayed longer than that.

  Thunder Mountain has indeed changed.  You can see that much sculpting has been done.  

Crazy Horse’s face is complete and magnificent, 87 feet high. The heads of the US Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet high. This picture shows the face in clear detail.

While we were there, the company blasted another hundred+ tons of earth.  I think of sculpting with little knife-like tools, or maybe a hammer and chisel.  This sculpture is larger than that.  When it is finished, the sculpture will be 641 feet wide and 563 feet high making it the largest sculpture in the world, dwarfing Mount Rushmore. 

When it is finished, the sculpture will show Crazy Horse and his horse emerging from the mountain.  He holds his arm outstretched.    According to Korczak, he is answering a rude question asked by a white guy after the final defeat of the Native people: “Where are your lands now?”  Crazy Horse replied, “My lands are where my dead lie buried.” 

A sad word, full of pain.  Korczak did not live to see even today’s progress on the sculpture.  He died in 1982.  Now his sons carry on his work.  Will his grandchildren and great-grandchildren finish the work?  I do hope so.

After driving out of the Black Hills, we stayed last night at a Very Expensive KOA at Spearfish, SD.  It was a nice place and we were happy to use their laundry.  One couple stopped and decided they wanted a rig just like ours.  Of course, we showed our trailer off with pride.

This morning, we met a couple who were full-timing it.  We aren’t quite doing that but it sure sounded like fun.  They had a lovely puppy with them and Winston got to meet their bear (whose name I have forgotten) and Lucy Lion.  We all enjoyed playing with them in that way.  We all compared notes on how we had remodeled our trailers.  We enjoyed spending an hour with them before hitting the road.

Wyoming is full of wide open spaces, mountains, ranches and stretches of sage brush.  It is so restful to see country like that. 

We rode Interstate 90 all day, inching up steep hills at 45 mph and not driving at the 75 mph speed limit.  The couple who liked our trailer honked and waved and smiled as they passed us and over the next foothill/mountain.  Many stretches of road in Wyoming are red, from the red rock in the area which makes a nice change. 

We made one stop today, at the Battlefield of the Little Big Horn National Monument, just north of Garyowens and near Crow Crossing, Montana.  This is the site of Custer’s Last Stand.  The Indians won this battle, but lost the war to retain their ancestral way of life.  The US government was determined to get them off the land that was so useful to settlers and to confine the Native people to a reservation.  Their nomadic lifestyle threatened US westward expansion.  We watched a video where they presented both sides with respect. 



In the battlefield, soldiers and Natives were buried where they fell.  Stone markers stand at each grave.  US soldiers have white stones and Natives have brown stones.  Here is a marker for a Native man.

It was a sad place to be.  We knew it would be.  We wanted to honor the spirit of those who fell and to pray for peace for all people. 

This we did.

Tonight we are at Columbus MT.  Tomorrow we drive to Livingston MT, then head south into Yellowstone Park.  We’ll sleep there tomorrow night.  I don’t know if we will have an electric hook-up for the next few days.  Some places in the park will not allow our phones – or our wifi hotspot – to work.  When I can blog again, I’ll catch you all up on that we do and see. 

What an adventure this is!