Sharp's Travels

Greg & Jeanene picked us up at 8:15am. We headed for Sylvan Lake and hiked the trail all around the lake. It is so quiet and peaceful there. Not too hot, not too cold, just a perfect day for hiking.

We drove through Custer State Park. It is the second-largest state park in the United States. We visited the rock formation called the Needles. The rock has an eye in it like a needle. There are also 2 one way tunnels through the rocks. You have to blow your horn to announce you’re going through.

We took the wildlife loop road that winds through the buffalo range. Nearly 1,600 buffalo, one of the largest herds anywhere, roam free in the foothills of this 71,000 acre park. The buffalo herd is an impressive sight. The bulls can weigh up to 1,000 lbs. We came across 3 different herds. One buffalo was lying right in the road. We just drove on around him. There were plenty of babies in the herd. They all grazed right along the road.

We also saw some whitetail deer and lots and lots of pronghorn antelope.

The fields were full of prairie dog homes. They were racing around like crazy from one hole to another.

We exited the park at the south end and entered into Wind Cave National Park. There at Rankin Ridge we hiked up to the fire lookout at the top of the ridge. After all that we were starting to get hungry so we found a picnic area and set about making our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It was nice just to sit and relax.

We wandered back into Custer State Park and once again took the wildlife loop road. There were more buffalo, antelope, deer and this time we found the wild burros. They were right there on the road begging for food. While one of them blocked traffic, his buddies would go car to car looking for a handout. There were lots of little ones in this herd. Their coloring sure was different.

We would our way back to the 5th wheel and I fixed hamburgers and grilling beans for us all. Everyone was real tired from all our travels today.

For pictures of the day see album: Black Hills 9-1-08