Leg 3, Valentine, NE, to Custer State Park, SD, Saturday-Monday, June 27-29, 2009

Lots of Wildlife After last night’s storm, temps cooled considerably, and provided a 15 to 30 mph northwest wind. The storm did no damage to either the motorhome or car, though the car did get a fairly good, and much needed, washing. Kay worked on “Kay’s Take” for the journal, and when finished, walked around the campground visiting with “neighbors”; Donald formatted the journal, added pictures, and sent it out.

We opted to travel north, hit I-90, stop at Cabela’s in Rapid City, and head south to the campground. We were buffeted by wind the entire drive, with a substantial decrease in gas mileage (from our 9+ to 8+). Our first animal sighting was about 10 miles south of Murdo, SD, where Donald spotted a lone pronghorn. Traveling north and west, we saw several more, then saw a white-tailed doe and her newborn fawn, the first of several we saw during the day. In fact, a doe ran out in front of us, leaving her fawn behind, and Donald had to almost stop to avoid hitting it.

Arriving at Grace Coolidge campground in Custer State Park, we set up, had lunch, and drove the Game Loop Road, one of the most awesome drives ever, for wildlife watching—almost comparable to Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park. Topography varies from forested valleys to high plains to rocky crags. We saw many pronghorns, prairie dogs, white-tailed deer, bison, elk, burros, and big horn sheep.

One of Many Pronghorns

We attended the 9 PM interpretive program at an adjacent campground, and it included an overview of the park; it was good, but not the same standard as one sees in national parks.

Day 2, Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, and Fly Fishing We opted to eat breakfast at the Game Lodge restaurant, known for good food, and especially for wild game entrees at the evening meal. We were really disappointed with their breakfast buffet. We drove the Game Loop road again, heading south, and saw bison, pronghorn, and burros.

Twin Sons of Different Mothers?

As we approached the south exit towards Wind Cave National Park, we saw our largest herd of bison. We did a 1+ hour tour in Wind Cave, and though it is unique, neither of us found it to be comparable to Blanchard Springs Caverns, despite it being the 7th oldest national park! After the tour, we drove through Custer, SD, then the Needles highway to our site. The Needles highway was pretty awesome, with several tunnels just wide enough and tall enough for a normal size automobile.

Needles Highway

Upon return to camp, Donald strung the 6 wt fly rod, and we headed up the Grace Coolidge Walk-In Fishing Area. Grace Coolidge Creek is only about 3 or 4 feet wide and maybe a foot or so deep, with lots of small riffles and pools. However, there are several weirs across the stream, forming lakes about ¼ acre. Donald chose the third one up, and blind cast a #20 Kay’s Grey. On the third cast, he took a small rainbow. He saw a caddis hatch, and switched to a #18 caddis, and took another fish. He missed a couple of fish, and had several refusals. Switching to a Dunn’s Dun, he took another 3 fish on rises. The Dunn’s Dun has worked everywhere he’s tried it! Donald made a great skillet dinner with cabbage, bacon, brats, onions, and jalapenos. We added frozen peas and carrots at the end, beign hungry for veggies. Very Tasty! The rest of the day was spent downloading and cataloguing photos and videos.

Day 3, Custer State Park Our first priority today was cleaning up the batteries and battery compartment in the coach from our debacle on the first day of the trip. Surprisingly, the baking soda did a great job of neutralizing the battery acid. Our batteries checked out at 13.7 volts, so no harm. When reinstalling one of the batteries, Donald touched the negative ground to the positive terminal and got quite a spark! We checked all the electrical appliances and the batteries themselves, and did not observe any damage. It’s time to take a rest and get our heads clear, too many mistakes. After this maintenance work, we drove to Center Lake and hiked about 2 miles of the Grace Coolidge Walk-In Fishing Area, for a total of 4 miles roundtrip, crossing Grace Coolidge Creek 8 times. Though temps were in the low 80s, we had a great time hiking.

Kay Crossing Grace Coolidge Creek

We drove by Mount Rushmore, through Keystone, SD, to Sylvan Lake, and back the Needles Highway, arriving at our site late afternoon.

Sylvan Lake

A late lunch of homemade soup and sandwiches was followed by a nap, and a quiet evening. We depart tomorrow AM for Garryowen, MT, near the site of the battle of Little Big Horn. Our next stop after that will be to meet up with the other caravan members at Great Falls, MT.

Kay’s Take The burros in this park used to be used to transport guests and supplies over a 100 yrs. ago. When they stopped using them, the concessionaire left the burros in the park to ‘run wild’. They are nuisances and beggers – hehehehe! They hang out by the road, often near naturalist programs that are regularly scheduled each week – who said these creatures were stupid. They walk directly up to your car, stick their heads in the windows, etc. I stepped out to film a strangely cute burro baby who was a mottled white and brown color, and the next thing I know I am being ‘herded’ by two adult burros looking for a handout.

Kay's Friend

It was quite disconcerting. I jumped into the car at my earliest opportunity. Donald, of course, is snickering in the car, watching the whole charade.

The weather here has been warmer than we would have liked. During the day it has warmed up to the 80’s but has cooled down enough at night that we would have the windows open or the vent fans (kind of like an attic fan) in use at night. We can tell more and more people are in the park because this is 4th of July week, and so it’s a good time to be heading out – too many folks. One downside has been no cellular service or internet service. We’ve actually been forced to read and listen to music! No television reception either. It’s been quite nice and relaxing, especially in the evenings.

CampgroundGrace Coolidge Campground, Custer State Park, SD. This is pretty much a typical state park campground, with electric sites only. It is small, with only 27 sites; our site does not have shade. It is across the highway from a walk-in fishing area.

Special SitesGame Loop Road, Custer State Park, SD; Wind Cave National Park; Needles Highway

Driving Statistics

Beginning Mileage: 10,197.4

Beginning Time: 10:00 am

Ending Mielage: 10,434.6

Ending Time: 2:30 PM (Mountain Daylight Savings Time)

TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 237.2

Gasoline Consumed: 39.26 gal @ 2.579/gal = $101.25

Major Expenses

Gasoline: $101.25

Campground: $66 (for 3 nights)

Donald’s Fishing License: $16

Wind Cave National Park: $18

TOTAL: $201.25

Jun 29, 2009

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