Mount Rushmore & Crazy Horse
How can a visit to South Dakota not include a visit to Mount Rushmore? Arriving early (6AM or so) the morning after a massive storm came through the area (complete with tornado warnings) left the Presidential Trail Loop closed in the morning as maintenance cleared up fallen branches. Still, the morning light on the faces of the President’s was really something (and you can see the color change later). I did return after a couple side trips in the afternoon to walk the trail.
Gutzon Borglum was handed ceremonial drill bits in August 1927 and later that year the carving actually begun. It was completed in 1941, months after Borglum died. Some say “it was smaller than I thought” but it’s kind of an optical illusion (think Disneyland castle). In reality, a person will fit in the eye of Washington (and they do when doing maintenance). A couple photographic notes… there is a cool spot on the Presidential Trail where Washington is framed through a crack in the mountain. The other is a turnout on highway 244 that gives a neat profile shot of Washington.
I did leave and come back, making a quick run over to the Crazy Horse Memorial which will be the world’s largest mountain carving when completed. It started with the first blast in 1941 with five survivors of the Battle of the Little Bighorn attending, and continues today. Because I was so early, it really hadn’t opened so managed to grab a couple shots from the distance.
As always, click on the photos to open up in a lightbox to scroll through. Enjoy!
