Day 18 - Look Up, Look Down, Look All Around

Last night was one of the warmest since we left Nebraska.  We had both bedroom windows open all night and didn't use the electric blanket at all.  We left the campground for a day of sightseeing.  First stop was "The Mammoth Site" just outside of Hot Springs.  We had never heard of it until we arrived here.  In the 1970's a real estate developer was using a bulldozer to clear off land he had purchased for a housing development.  The blade of the bulldozer scrapped across the tusk of a mammoth.  He stopped the bulldozer until someone with a knowledge of fossils could be contacted.  The site has yielded to date, fossils from 59 mammoths.  Every year for one month students and scientists work in the site removing layers of rock/dirt to uncover more fossils.  The other 11 months, the fossils are studied and categorized.  I am posting a picture taken at the dig site.  The bones of a mammoth have been exposed but not removed yet.

Cloud bank over the mountains that brought in a cold front.

Below picture shows the box work formations in Wind Cave.

Above exposed skeleton of a wooly mammoth.
Below a tusk is clearly visible.

We then drove to Wind Cave National Park to take a cave tour.  I am posting a picture of what the cave is famous for..."box work" formations.  We were told that 95% of all box work formations are found here.  The guide explained that a box work formation is like brick and mortar with the brick
removed but leaving the mortar.  Look closely at the picture and you may be able to see the
formations.  Wind Cave NP has lots of wildlife.  We saw buffalo, a coyote, a deer, and prairie dogs.
Look closely at the picture of the buffalo and you will see a prairie dog standing from its burrow in
the background.  Carol's keen eye discovered the prairie dog!

Our last stop was Crazy Horse Mountain.  We both liked this the best.  Carol, Kara, and I were out
here 19 years ago and the only thing visible then was a hole which will someday be the under part of
his arm.  Now you can see his entire face and the top part of his outstretched arm.  Sculptor
Ziolkowski began the work in 1948.  He believed that the project should be funded with public
interest and not taxpayer money so he has never taken any money offered by the federal government.



When he died in 1982, he left detailed plans to be used with his scale models so the work could
continue.  Today his wife, Ruth, and seven of his ten children continue to work in the project.  Now
in addition the being able to see the mountain, there is a visitor's center which houses pictures, some
of his old equipment, and displays of Indian history.  It is very interesting.
As we were heading north to Crazy Horse Mountain, a cold front was coming from the north.  You could see the cloud bank over the mountains.  The temperatures dropped and the wind picked up.  We  would have liked to take a bus up to the site of the sculpture but it was so cold and we had not dressed for such a drastic change in temperature so we headed back to camp.  We had left Sandy in the trailer for nearly seven hours so we needed to get back.
We turned on the furnace when we got back and the winds had died down some.  I don't think we will have any windows open tonight!  The last picture I am posting is taken of a big burn they must of had out here.  There are signs down some of the smaller roads telling people that because of the burn, stay on the road.  It is possible to see some trees burned and others still green.

Tomorrow we plan to take Sandy with us and drive The Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road
and who knows what else or where else we may go.

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