Spearfish, South Dakota

It's been an eventful day!  I drove through Spearfish Canyon, visited Deadwood (and it is dead on Sundays), checked out Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.  I'm just getting ready to freshen up and go to an early dinner.  I thought I'd load some pictures and perhaps later tonight share more of the details.

You can see that spring is starting to green up the prairie.  In the distance are the Black Hills, named so by the Native Americans.  The hills are black with pine trees.

One view from Spearfish Canyon road.  You can see the sky was clear.  It was a gorgeous day.  I loved this drive so well that tomorrow when I head out I plan to drive it again!

The canyon has been cut over the years by this river which is currently running swiftly due to snow melt off.  I also hope to get better pictures of this fast rushing river tomorrow. 

I don't need to tell you what this is.  I took several pictures of this.  It really is impressive but not nearly as impressive as Devil's Tower.  That is a natural form in the middle of nowhere.  This is a manmade form in the middle of some pretty wonderful land.  By the way, notice that a few wispy clouds are forming.

There are many wonderful rock formations in the Black Hills, some massive and contorted shapes.  See that big cloud in the distance?

 
This view of Washington comes after you've left the actual park. 
 

The Native Americans considered the Black Hills sacred country.  It's easy to see why.  I had two antelope cross the road in front of me, a mountain goat leap down the nearby rock cliff, and there were signs telling us to watch for bighorn sheep.  There were a number of fishermen standing in what had to be icy cold water trying their luck.  If you remember how stark the land is not that many miles away, this seems like paradise in comparison.

Notice the cloud is getting bigger?

Crazy Horse is a private enterprise, entirely funded by tourists and donations.  That is why this has taken so long to complete.  The family is committed to not taking any tax dollars for this project.  By the time I left Crazy Horse, the sky was billowing with dark bottomed clouds.  No real wind to speak of though.

See those dark clouds?  This day was a mix of weather.  I drove in and out of rain, sometimes just a few drops and other times drops that looked and felt like buckets.  The most amazing weather though was what I can only describe as marble sized snow balls.  They weren't hard enough to be hail but they were certainly not snowflakes.  Maybe it was hail in the making.  The road became covered with them before I drove out of it and into the sunshine again.  Very bizarre.