Tag Archives: South Dakota

Wacky questions Park Rangers hear . . .

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We couldn’t make these up.

At each park we’ve chatted with the wonderful park rangers, asking them what kinds of strange questions they hear. They’ve been very diplomatic with their answers to us, but also had some real gems to share. Honestly, for some of them it’s hard to know what to say! Kind of reminds us of a bumper sticker we once saw: Go outside. the graphics are amazing!

Almost every single western park: When do the mule deer turn into elk?

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Dead Horse State Park, Utah: Can you see the Pacific Ocean from here?q1
Canyonlands National Park, Utah (at the canyon rim): Is that a green screen behind you?

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Badlands National Park, South Dakota: Who paints the rocks?

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Arches National Park, Utah: How long did all this take to build?

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Dinosaur National Monument: Why aren’t you a Young Earth creationist?

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Black Hills, Bison & Custer

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We travelled further west along I-90 into the South Dakota Black Hills, an area best known for wildlife and Mt. Rushmore (did the obligatory stop; it’s striking, but it didn’t hold our attention for long). The Black Hills tend to get overshadowed by the “wow” factor of the dramatic Badlands but we found it just as beautiful and just as wild, in its own way.

We camped (at the lovely Stockdale South Campground) and explored the Black Hills’ Custer State Park, South Dakota’s first state park and a don’t-miss stop. If you go this way, head into the excellent Visitor Center for information and a breathtaking widescreen movie about the region (got lots of background that helped us map out the next few days). Kevin Costner narrates, which doesn’t hurt things either!
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Over the following days, we drove all the major scenic roads (which is, like, every single roadway): Iron Mountain Road with its pig-tail bridges (held up en route by a bison jam), Wildlife Loop Road, the drive to Wind Cave National Park and the nail-biting, hand-wringing, seat-clutching twists and turns of the narrow Needles Highway to the north. The latter involved three low and narrow tunnels cut into the rock that had us pulling out a tape measure first. Not kidding.

The Lakota called this land the “hills of black,” hence the name. There is a beautiful, pleasing roll to the land; the hills are covered with dark green ponderosa pine, the air is sweet with its fragrance and around every turn you’re likely to see deer, prairie dogs, elk, prairie dogs, pronghorn antelope, bison and maybe even . . . prairie dogs.

Custer State Park protects the American prairie bison. In the early 1800s, there were an estimated 30 to 60 million of the massive creatures. By the 1890s they’d been hunted down to near extinction – fewer than 1,000. Now, protected, there are 400 bison born at the park every year. The numbers are climbing and the main herd struts down the roadways like they own the place. Rigby was very interested.

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Further to the south, Wind Cave National Park is “one of the biggest pieces of Swiss cheese you’ll see.” The park protects the underground cave environment known as one of the few places in the world where there are large rock formations of boxwork. To the Lakota, Wind Cave is a sacred spot – the place marking the emergence of their people into the world above.

People kept telling us not to miss the Needles Highway. This would be immediately followed by clucking about how low and narrow the rock tunnels are. This was followed by the tape measure. In the end, we decided “nothing ventured, nothing gained” and it turned out that we made it through with no problems.

It is a spectacular drive. Twists and turns, lots of lookouts and drop-offs. Beautiful views of the Black Hills and towering granite spires that give the roadway its name. We stopped and did a hike along the Cathedral Spires Trail. Most of the way in the weather started to turn (that happens incredibly quickly here) and we cut it short and went back to the van. Getting caught in the mountains in fog and rain . . . not such a good thing.

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But those Black Hills – they are high on our list of places to visit again and again.

www.visittheusa.ca  

 

No, they don’t paint the rocks here!

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Some things are worth getting up early for – and watching the first morning light wash across the rocks at Badlands National Park in South Dakota is one of them. We set our alarm and were into the park in time to sit and have a picnic breakfast by the rim. Wow. So beautiful and so serene that it’s impossible to find words. Hopefully some of our photos will give an idea.

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We were beat to the overlook by a couple of serious photogs, who’d settled in with their industrial-strength coffees, tripods and lenses the size of small bedrolls.

Badlands National Park protects the largest expanse of mixed-grass prairie in the U.S. It’s prairie dog heaven and at one time these grasslands were home to tens of millions of bison. In the space of less than a century the bison had been hunted to the edge of extinction (from 30 million to fewer than a thousand). Now they are protected, procreating and numbers have been building.

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Caution: not to scale.

The grasslands are just beautiful but the real star of a visit is the spectacular rock formations – pinnacles, canyons, rock outcrops with vivid coloured bands marking the different geologic eras. (According to the Park Ranger, they often get asked: “Who paints the colours on the rocks?” Sheesh.)

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The Badlands are also known for rich fossil beds, but not those of dinosaurs. This was an inland sea environment, so the fossil remains that have been discovered are water creatures like alligators.

We spent most of the day meandering along the park’s Scenic Loop Drive. It skirts the jaw dropping geologic feature of the Badlands – the 80-km long Wall, a formation that is still eroding (albeit very slowly) and divides the park into upper and lower prairie regions.

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This is the ancestral home to the Lakota who consider the land to be sacred, a living, breathing entity. It was also here that Lakota leader Bigfoot and his people were killed at Wounded Knee.

At the western entrance to the park is the famous Wall Drug (you can’t miss the billboards that hock the spot for 200 miles in either direction). If you like tacky retail, restaurants, more tacky retail, this is your place. We’re glad we didn’t give it more than a stop for an (overpriced) ice cream cone.

Westward to the beautiful, beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. More on that next time.

www.travelsouthdakota.com

www.visittheusa.ca 

WARNING: “Guitar porn” below

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Just when we were beginning to think Iowa was nothing but corn fields, we crossed into South Dakota (more corn but also enormous fields of bright yellow sunflowers) and stopped in the college town of Vermillion.

Had never even heard of Vermillion. Another surprise – who would have thought that it’s home to a world-class collection of instruments at the National Music Museum (NMM)? The billboard coming into town was a clue: “Les Paul, More Stradivarius.”

WARNING: Guitar porn below!

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Set aside the sheer beauty of this massive collection: 13,000 instruments are in the archive; just 1/3 are rotated out on display at any one time.

There are many one-off instruments – experiments tried and abandoned because too expensive to produce or too specialized for the market of its day. Over the years, the NMM has acquired numerous instruments from various musical icons – Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash – and it’s just very cool to gaze upon the guitar on which Dylan wrote “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” or on which Johnny Cash performed at Folsom Prison.

What’s clear is the dual influences of art and commerce on the progress of western culture.

We were knocked out by the tendency of instrument makers to consistently push the limits of their craft to perfect, innovate, improve and modify their designs. There was more than just art happening – there was the necessary money-making part of the equation. The instrument makers needed to satisfy their existing customers and grow their customer base.

Each designer pushing his own talents into new territory and challenging his peers to do the same. This seems like the grand energy that propels this art and commerce linkage: it’s not enough to make one lovely, ringing tenor banjo if you’re Orville Gibson. The world is going to beat a path to your door – if it’s any good – and you’re going to have to incorporate the design and artistic suggestions of your clients if you want to sell to them.

For one thing, you have to recoup your costs of production. But what good is it if all you do is recoup your costs? How are you going to make the next one if you don’t turn a modest profit?

The result is a virtuous circle that is on full display from exhibit to exhibit, through handcrafted Violas da Gamba from the 16th century to the Golden Age (before World War II) of Martin acoustic guitars.

Memories of Craig’s high school band days came roaring back (Jo … not so much!). The brass band section, particularly some of the designs by the C.G. Conn company of Elkhart, Indiana. Who didn’t play on a Conn instrument? These were simply fascinating as they tried to create instruments that produced more than one timbre for orchestras and players looking to enlarge the palette of sonic possibilities at their fingertips.

A terrific feature of the NMM is the iPod and headphone audio tour. You can listen to the instrument inside a glass case along with a short commentary on its features, design and manufacture.

We needed a couple of hours (and could have stayed longer). Get the iPod and headphones. They are included with admission and more than worth it. Wander through the exhibit rooms full of instruments you erroneously think you have no interest in.

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Highlights:

  • BB King’s Black Gibson ES-355 (Lucille)
  • 5 Stradivari instruments
  • Gibson Guitar Style 03 (1902) made by Orville Gibson
  • Mint condition D-28 Martin (1941)
  • One of Stevie Wonder’s Hohner Blues harps
  • Trumpet used as a prop in the film Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
  • Martin D-35 used by Elvis Presley (1976-77)
  • The Fred, Gretsch – Chet Atkins electric guitar
  • Martin D-28 used by Johnny Cash for the last 30 years of his life
  • Kay guitar played by Muddy Waters
  • Very rare Jacob Stainer violin in mint condition (1668)
  • Theremin – the world’s first electronic musical instrument NMM1

National Music Museum, on the University of South Dakota campus. www.nmmusd.org/

www.travelsouthdakota.com 

www.visittheusa.ca

Words on the page

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Our stories and articles appear in Canadian magazines and online.

Spring and fall, we load the van – with everything from guitars to laptops – toss in a thick bundle of maps, several notebooks and roll down the road. We meet great people, gather wonderful story material and then write, write, write. Browse the links to some of our pieces in print:

BIG TRIP #1: ROOTS OF AMERICAN MUSIC: 9,000 km through the Southeast U.S.

Music Trails of the American Southeast1

BIG TRIP #2: TUNES, RUINS & STARS: 13,000 km across the American Southwest

American Southwest

BIG TRIP #3: HUGGING THE ATLANTIC COASTLINE; MUSIC INLAND: 7,064 km

Google Maps Big Trip #3 PDF-page-001

BIG TRIP #4: ROCK & ROLL: 10,950 km exploring western U.S. National Parks

 MISCELLANEOUS