Badlands

Theo would not cross them. I told him we didn’t hike all this way to not see the top so in a moment of The Lord of the Rings nerdiness I said, “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you.” I know it didn’t make much sense, but I had to carry Theo to the peak, it was awesome That hike was probably the highlight of Custer State Park though I did see a lot of deer, Pronghorn, prairie dogs, and of course bison which would be chilling right alongside the road They seemed just like cows but with horns however it is something remarkable seeing one up close and how important a species was to the indigenous and invading peoples of history.

The next day I went to the Crazy Horse Memorial which is going to be the largest mountain sculpture in the world The Visitor center was full of history and though I wanted to read everything I could, Theo was in the car and I had little time I will say this, the little amount I did read gave me insight to how little I understand indigenous people and how movies/tv portrays them. The monument is funded solely by private investors and purchases visiting the memorial and gift shops, so I bought a few things there We likely will not see the great Crazy Horse Monument completed in our lifetime.

It’s also humorous to note that Theo’s legs would not work the entire day after hiking Black Elk Peak, I tried to take him for a walk but after 10 feet he just plopped After Crazy Horse I stopped at Black Hills Bun & Co. for a Buffalo burger which apparently won best burger in the U.S. in 2014. I got the double Buffalo patty with bacon, cheese, lettuce, onion and wow there is something so much tastier about buffalo meat than cow

Our third day in Custer State Park was somewhat of a lazy one being that Theo couldn’t walk and I just didn’t want to hike anywhere. We took the truck and drove the wildlife loop which was somewhat disappointing until I decided to find an unpaved road less traveled The sign said it was open to the public, but it was mostly gravel and in part a little sketchy I’m glad I took the road because that is when I saw some more wild bison

The last destination was The Devil’s Tower which is a sublime sight to see Dogs are not permitted so I walked the paved 1 3-mile loop around the tower and I’m glad it was a sunny day because it is just gorgeous The science of how it became to be is also fascinating, from what I read it was created from volcanic magma and pressure.

After visiting the tower, I decided to make the trek back home and wanted to camp one more night at the Badlands. The plan didn’t really pan out as I remembered there weren’t any bathrooms there and I was just completely drained of life from doing so much already Theo and I decided to drive as far as we could back home then get a hotel for the night; also, a proper shower was greatly needed and so was a proper bed The road home brought us to the middle of South Dakota at a Quality Inn which was pet friendly for a fee On the way home I found out my brother was going to be in La Crosse visiting his girlfriend and they got a campsite as well, so I did what I’ve been doing pretty good so far and set up camp, again. That night I got to see an incredible view of the city that Adam and Anna showed me which was pretty cool, La Crosse is way more beautiful than Green Bay