Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

September 15, 2013

Cloudy and cool
Lat/Lon 43 52.49N 103 27.33W

On the way to Mt. Rushmore, we stopped to check out a pretty lake,...



and just when you think it's safe to turn your back,...  Attack!!!!

~~~~~

Nearing the top of the mountain I was fascinated by the big granite spires jutting skyward.
They were massive!  So majestic looking.

Then, as we came around a wide sweeping curve,  I realize I had been taking photos of the BACK of Mt. Rushmore!  

Holy Cow!  There they are!  George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The faces I've seen in photos since kindergarten.  Those dudes were RIGHT THERE!  It was a surreal experience.  I didn't think I'd be all that impressed because I've seen so many photos over the years.  But somehow it was different to see the real thing.

Today's history lesson will be brief.  

Work began on Mt. Rushmore in 1927, and ended in 1941 when money ran out and additional funds we hard to find due to the Depression of the 30's and the onset of WWII.   

Mt. Rushmore was never completed to the sculptors plans. 

The sculpture at right is a 10 ft tall 'model' that was used to carve the mountain.  Washington was supposed to be a full bust.  Jefferson was supposed to have a hand on Washington's arm.  Lincoln was supposed to have his hand on his collar, and Teddy just kinda got the short end of the stick all the way around being plopped in the back.  I guess he's the only one that got finished! 

There is a trail that leaves the viewing platform and goes along the front of the monument.  

The trail starts out nice and easy, wanders around to a high meadow, and then drops down to a building where the above sculpture is displayed.  Then the trail kicks your butt on the return trip up!  (But they warn people of that at the beginning of the trail with a big sign.)

There was a cave along the trail where you could peak out a crack and see up George's nose.

The trail took us quite close to 'the guys'.  Did you know George's nose is 21 ft. long?  (And I thought I had a big nose!)

Their faces are 60 ft high.
That Abe, he's a handsome devil, isn't he?  'Course I've always been a sucker for a man with facial hair.

Throughout this trip, (through Bonners Ferry, Glacier Park, etc.), I'd hoped to see a moose, mountain goat and/or bighorn sheep.  

So the highlight of my trip so far was to see a mountain goat near Mt. Rushmore!