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Distance: 110 miles Time: 3 hr 15 min.
I woke up early (6:15) since I wasn't used to the Mountain Time Zone. Was able to get some pretty views of the badlands in the morning. I decided to take the scenic loop connecting to I 90W. Making several stops, taking pics, doing the fossil walk took time. I even tried to setup my camera to shoot myself riding in this no man's land; but figured it was taking too much time. Gave up. Had breakfast on the way and reached Rushmore around 10:30 am.
Mt. Rushmore is regarded as the "Shrine of Democracy".
The park ranger had presentations on history of Mt. Rushmore on the presidential walk. Why Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln were chosen, why are they in that order etc. The place is very inspiring. I spent more than 2 hrs here getting to know American history. Bought a souvenir, posted a card with a Rushmore stamp, and off I was to check out "Crazy Horse" -- representative of the native Lakota Indians in the Black Hills.
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Crazy Horse was started by a sculptor who wanted to pay tribute to the tribes here. He didn't want govt. influence hence rejected any Federal grants. Because of this, only the face of the monument is sort of ready in more than 50 yrs into it.
The video about cutting of the mountain is pretty interesting. I wasn't too impressed with it overall; hence didn't spend much time here.
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One of the highlights of today's day was riding in the Black Hills. They are a paradise for motorcycle riding. I was advised by some riders to do the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park - Iron Mountain Road back to Mount Rushmore. It would take me about 3 hrs to do this. I didn't have that time scheduled but I decided to go for it. What a decision I made! Custer State Park is the largest state park in the US. The wildlife loop road is a pretty ride. You will see herds of bisons n deers grazing.
The wildlife loop connects to the Iron Mountain Road which heads towards Mount Rushmore. It's a tortuous road; heaven to practice your high speed turns. There are 3 tunnels on this road. From 2 of those, you see Mt. Rushmore coming out of the tunnel. The sculptor based some of his decisions from what he could see from these tunnels. It's mesmerizing. I loved it. I reached Mt. Rushmore once again at about 4:30 pm.
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Since I was lagging behind my schedule started immediately towards Rocky Mountain. I didn't have any hotel stay booked for this night since I wasn't sure how much ground I could cover. Again, the empty roads in SD and Wyoming which you see till the horizon with nobody on it. Sunset was around 8 pm and it got pretty cold. I had to take out my scarf for the 1st time. Temperatures were in lower 40s. Bike on reserve fuel, no gas station for miles, no light miles ahead, nobody on the road. I was lil scared I must admit; not because of the darkness but because I was low on fuel.
Fortunately in about 20 miles I found a gas station and hit I 25 S. I stopped at about 10 pm at a town called Cheyenne, WY. An eventful 15 hr and another 480 miles day was over. This was by far the best day of the trip. Thankfully, I haven't seen a drop of rain so far in my first 2200 miles. Hope it stays like that.
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