Needle's Eye and Wind Cave
Day 9: Lucky for us, the fog lifted and the next day was bright and sunny. We made our way from Custer to Needles Highway (SD-87) to view the tall granite "needles" and beautiful pine forest the area is famous for.
Along this 14-mile stretch, you will find the Needle's Eye , a massive spire that looks like the threading end of a needle. Quite impressive. We parked, and I wandered around trying to get a good picture, but couldn't get far enough away to frame more than the top.
Across the road, we drove through this short tunnel hewn through the stone. With the car in front of us blocking our view of the opening on the other end, it looks like the entrance to the Paths of the Dead in LOTR. But I got the pic when we were inside.
Views on the other side were fantastic! Greg was very tolerant of my yelling "stop" every fifteen feet, so I could take a picture. This was one place where we didn't hurry.
The sunshine was great, but I was ready to go back underground. Next stop, Wind Cave. Finally, a chance to explore underground tunnels and get more ideas for the cave scenes in my mystery, The Body at Battle Mountain. Here I am all ready to go.
Small opening to another tunnel |
A formation called "popcorn" |
A dark tunnel shooting off the main path-- like the one Connie blindly dashes off into! |
Thank goodness for cave lighting |
Back in the sunshine, above the cave is the largest mixed-grass prairie in the US, home to lots of wildlife, including a herd of bison. Here is one of the local residents.
We'll see a lot more of these guys next Saturday when we travel through Custer State Park on the way to Mount Rushmore. Join us again. We'd love to take you along!
No comments:
Post a Comment