There are 7 scenic loops through the Black Hills, and after reading about our planned tour, we drove one of the loops called the wildlife loop. The road was built in the 30's so that the wildlife can be seen up close and personal.
We saw the herd of buffalo that resides in Custer State Park. We are told that it is the core for all of the herds of buffalo in the US. The herd consists of about 1500 head who roam about the 71,000 acre park all summer and rounded up and culled to about 1000 head in the fall. There isn't enough food in the park to sustain a herd larger than that in the winter.
We also saw wild donkeys on the loop. They are the only animals allowed to be fed by the visitors. The donkeys are the direct descendants of the donkeys the miners brought when gold was discovered here in the 1800's.There are Prong Horn Antelope all over this area. they are one of the fastest land animals in the world reaching speeds up to 60 mph. They are fascinating to see.
Today we took the Fort Hays tour. The headquarters for the tour is about 40 miles from here, so we left about 6:40am to arrive for our breakfast buffet and tour. Some of the set from Dancing with Wolves is on the property.We met the owner and he told us about the tours and all of the things he has on the property.
He has several antique cars. Some restored some not. He has hands on antique tools, drill presses, grinding wheel, belt driven tools, a real hands on experience.
The narrated tour was 9 hours long with a driver, who was dressed in 1890's cowboy costume, named Matt. We saw Mt. Rushmore in the morning when the sun makes the rock appear white.We drove on the Iron Mountain Loop, which is windy, hilly and has many small tunnels in it. It also has what is called pigtail bridges. They are bridges on roads that are circular like a pigs tail. It was very interesting to see him drive that 54 passenger bus on and around those roads and bridges. We went through a tunnel that was only 4 inches wider than the bus, what an experience. There was a crowd on the other end watching to see if we would make it through the tunnel. He even stopped in the middle and put on his emergency flashers, what a hoot. He does this route everyday , so he is experienced.
We stopped in several different places for "an out of bus experience". The sites up here are so beautiful and the weather has been 'chamber of commerce' perfect, low 40's to low 70's with clear skies as if you could see forever.
The last stop on the tour was the Crazy Horse Monument. It is quite an operation. There is a huge museum and gift shop, with the family's home open to the public.
There is work going on on the mountain everyday year round. Matt thinks it will be completed in 30 years. He says he has talked with some of the workers on the project and they say they might finish in 15 years if all goes right and they get everything that they need to complete it. We then returned to Fort Hays to a great evening dinner and a cowboy band entertained us for a finale to a wonderful day. The tour was well worth the money spent.
There is still a lot to see and do here. We still have 4 days left and a lot to do. We just need to decide when we are going to do these things.Ta ta for now
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