After sleeping in for a little bit I decided to get up and get some breakfast so I could get to the laundromat before a crowd gets there. Today was two load day and I made sure I had enough ones to get some change. The whole thing will cost me around 6 dollars to wash and dry the clothes. When I got there I was happy to see that no one was there yet. So I got the clothes going and sat down in one of there not so comfortable chairs to read a Clive Cussler novel I brought. In fact I brought 4 of his books to read while I am here. I finished one already and just started a good Kurt Austin adventure of Cussler's.
After laundry was done and put up where it belonged, I headed out to Custer State Park outside of Rapid City. Dad took me to that park when we were motorcycling. It has some interesting roads and tunnels and views from the Black Hills. The place is also a habitat for Bison and free range donkeys, as well as other wildlife. When I reached the entrance I just happened to see a small herd of Bison crossing the road and like Yellowstone, the cars were backed up trying to get pictures. The cost for entrance into the park is 20 dollars for a 7 day pass. What is interesting is that the park has many entrances and exits as you travel the highway. You will find yourself leaving the park and then heading back into it several times. They give you a sticker to put in your window so you can just pass the gates when you have to enter again. I was hoping to be able to do a small hike, but the weather started getting cloudy. After traveling several miles and seeing some great views of the Black Hills, it started thundering and lightening. But the rain was not real hard and seemed to pass by quickly. I arrived at Sylvan Lake and decided to try my luck on a trail. I pulled over to a trailhead parking for what they call Little Devil's Tower trail. I found a parking spot, which were very scarce today as many people were in the park visiting. I changed into my hiking shoes, put on some sun screen, grabbed a water, and grabbed my retractable hiking stick and headed out. I figured I would do about two or three miles through the forest and hills. The temps were great for hiking and the area was really nice. The granite rick formations were amazing and I was able to climb and lot of them easily. I made it to Sylvan Lake and walked around it taking pictures and videos. The lake was packed with people and there were several great rocks to climb on for some good shots of the lake.
After the hike I drove around some more in the park trying to hit all the tunnels that they had. One of the best tunnels was called Needles Eye tunnel, next to the Needles Eye rock formation. Every tunnel in the park is single lane and Needles Eye was very very narrow. I think I had a foot to spare on each side of the truck. I put some great pictures and videos up on Facebook of the Needles Eye area. One of my favorite things about the park and the pullout areas was the amount of rock areas a person could climb upon. I enjoyed doing that and most of the tourists seemed to also. After leaving Needles Eye I went through three more tunnels. The last two tunnels were carved so that when you exited the tunnel you had a complete view of Mount Rushmore. Very nice and very well crafted tunnels.
After leaving the park I headed to Wal-Mart to get some supplies I needed. I then headed back to the trailer for some dinner, having missed lunch I was pretty hungry. Tomorrow is my second day off and I bought some steaks that I think I will be cooking up for lunch tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures and videos below. More are on Facebook. Take care.
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