Ken's Journal
No. 4 - Summer 2004

Mount Rushmore, Hill City, SD - 07/30 - 08/03/2004
Days 34-38 on the road. Part II.

Ok, so once you've done Rushmore by day and night, and Crazy Horse, what else is left in this area? Well, quite a bit actually. First there's the Black Hills themselves. There's the scenic drives through the Black Hills and many hikes as well. The most popular drive in the immediate area is along US 16a (Iron Mountain Road) south from Keystone, through Custer State Park then onto State Route 87 to US 16 and Hill City.  This 50 mile loop is through some of the most spectacular scenery you'll see anywhere. It's also through seven narrow tunnels (four on 16a and three on SR 87) blasted through the rock so this route is NOT for the average RV or anyone towing a trailer.

Here's a shot of the "Black Hills" from one of the overlooks. I didn't take many of these because one looks like another. Look at this a year from now and it could be anywhere - it's just nice scenery. Although this part of SD is beautiful, there's really nothing outside of Rushmore and Crazy Horse in a picture that would tell you the picture is uniquely SD - it could just as well be a picture of the evergreen covered mountainsides in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine or any of a dozen other states. So when you're composing a pic, you want to look for something that uniquely describes where the picture was taken - If some months after your vacation you have to ask , "where was this taken?" then it's just beautiful scenery - nothing wrong with that, you just need to be aware of that. So why are they called the Black Hills? Some say because of the heavy cover of evergreen and some say because of the "black" granite - you pick the one you like.

This is Sylvan Lake in the Sylvan Lake Recreation area of Custer State Park. This recreation area sees some heavy traffic. The lake is beautiful and has several swimming areas and a boat launch or two. There's also a nice snack bar, gift shop, restaurant, lodge, pavilion and paddle-boat, rowboat and kayak rentals. 

I took this shot on a hike around the lake — 4.5 miles. First is a level 1/4 mile east around the shore of the lake. The next 1/4 mile drops some 600 feet into a rocky (very) canyon. The canyon part of trail has some handrails installed because the way is boulder strewn and very steep. After that the trail levels out with some ups and downs and then starts a gradual uphill with many switchbacks for about two miles. The elevation gain on this stretch is some 700 feet. Then the trail drops to the lake and continues around it with minor ups and downs for next 3/4 mile. A nice hike overall.

So now what's on the agenda? Well, until I discovered the front brakes on the Jeep were shot, I was going to the Wind Cave National Park, the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, the Jewel Cave National Monument, Sturgis and whatever else I could fit in the time I had. There is enough going on in this area to keep you busy for a week — the State of South Dakota and the local Chambers of Commerce have done an excellent job making this area a tourist Mecca.

Brakes? We don't need no stinkin' brakes! When walking back to the Jeep in the Crazy Horse parking lot, the sun was just right and the front rotor caught my eye — there were two deep scores in the metal — the pads were down to the rivets and at least one rotor was shot. (I noticed it was a little hard to stop sometimes!) This was late on a Saturday afternoon and I still had Sunday to go. Saturday was shot so I couldn't even call anyone about getting a brake repair job and of course, no one is open on Sunday. I had planned to leave Monday for Devil's Tower and then on to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. A quick check of a map showed that this was the last civilization I was going to see for awhile. So I had no option but to get the brakes done before I left the Rushmore area.

I extended a day at the campground and planned to call around the first thing Monday morning - the only larger city is Rapid City, some 30 miles to the north. (A "larger" city is any city with a Wal-mart.) So until Monday, I just took it easy on the roads and cut out a couple long trips. Saturday night I went to the Lighting Ceremonies at Rushmore and on Sunday, I took the short trip to Sylvan Lake and the hike - it takes a little practice trying not to use your brakes in the mountains - but you can do it - you just have to pay a little more attention to the road than normal.

On Monday I made a couple calls to brake shops in Rapid City and on the second one hit the Jackpot. I told the service manager about the problem and said I wanted both rotors and all pads up front replaced. He said to bring it right in and they'd fix me up. So I left the campground at about 8 am and got to their shop in Rapid City by about 8:45 am. Believe it or not, they had all the parts ready for me. As it turned out, the rotors were the wrong ones (leave it to Chrysler - they used two different rotors on the Cherokee - the difference is about 1/16 inch of offset) but they got the right ones in a hurry and I was out of there, did some grocery shopping and was back at the campground by 11:30 am. The price was a little steep - $330 - but you try to get a brake job in four hours from the time you call a shop!!

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