Scotts Bluff, Chimney Rock and Panorama Point Nebraska

On my way to Colorado I passed through the western part of Nebraska.  When one thinks of Nebraska, one thinks corn.  Even they're football team is named the Cornhuskers.  But western Nebraska's scenery is closer to Utah's.

I stopped at Scotts Bluff National Monument.  Here is where the pioneers started to have difficulty crossing the terrian.  The Oregon Trail, The Mormon Trail pass through here.  I went for a 3 mile hike in the park and passed some amazing scenery.  Once on top of the bluff, Chimney Rock can be seen in the distance.

On my way down from the 400 foot climb, I met up with a rattlesnake on the path.  The ranger came out with a stick to move it out of the way.  Despite being in rattlesnake country for almost a week, this was the first one I spotted and only the second in my life.

I then made my way to Chimney Rock.  Much of the area is completely protected, so one cannot get to close.  Despite this, it's quite an impressive structure.  Seeing it so many times on the Nebraska quarter, it was quite neat to see it for real.  It's totally understandable how this point of reference showed up the most in the pioneers' journals.  It is quite striking.

Originally I planned to stay the night in Nebraska, but all my sleeping options seemed a bit shady, so I headed for the high point of the state.  At 5424 feet, it's higher than both Katahdin and Mt Marcy.  It's quite unreal, as there are barely what you'd call hills here.  I arrived right at sunset and just before a nice thunder and lightning storm.  Heavy flashes of lightning can be seen to the north.

Carhenge

Carhenge is a replica of Stonehenge and located near Alliance, Nebraska.  Instead of rocks, it's made up of cars.  Only five miles away from the route I took through Nebraska, How could I pass this up?

While at Devils Tower, I met a guy who left his camera in the car of somebody else.  All of his photos of Yellowstone and Devils Tower were gone.  I felt his pain.  My camera was stolen in Europe and all my photos from Amsterdam, Belgium and the first part of my England adventure (which included Stonehenge) were gone.  More reason to check out Carhenge.

The person who conceived of this idea, Jim Reinders, did so as a memorial to his father.  Carhenge was dedicated during the summer solstice of 1987.  Interestingly enough, Carhenge will be in the path of the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017.  I have to wonder if this had anything to do with its location.  Save this date!

Wind Cave National Park

Unfortunately due to time and money restraints, I did not get to explore the cave.  Since it was a Tuesday, the really adventurous tours were unavailable.  Still I would have enjoyed the tourist walk through the cave.

Wind Cave National Park, located about an hour drive south of Mt Rushmore, has plenty above ground to keep one interested.  The bison here are even more accessible than at Teddy Roosevelt National Park.

I chose to go for a short hike to Rankin Ridge which happens to be the highest point in the park.  There is a fire tower located at the summit, but it's closed to the public.  Fortunately there are plenty of views to be had without climbing it.

On my way down, there was a lone Bison on the road I walked.  What to do?  When he spotted me, despite the advantage in size he had on me, he moved into the grass.  A perfect gentleman.  I watched in awe, trying not to disturb him or piss him off.  A beautiful creature.  It's hard to believe this monster could be found all over the plains.  Now their range is limited to a few parks.

The drive out of the park provided more bison sightings.  I captured some film of another lone Bison on the move.  I'm not sure where he was going, but he was going.  Many cars stopped to watch and take photos.  He did not seem to mind (as long as we did not get too close).  The first herd of Bison could be spotted just before the park boundary.  Again, there were some bison on the move.  A few crossed the road to where the larger group were.  It was the first time I actually saw them run.  Pretty cool.

Harney Peak

Harney Peak from the south

Didn't realize how prominent this mountain was

Of all the state high points in the Midwest, this would be the first real hike with a considerable amount of elevation gained.  Harney Peak in South Dakota is higher than any point on the east coast.

The standard route to Harney is about 7 miles with almost 2,000 feet elevation gained.  Since I was at Mt Rushmore, I decided to do a loop hike.  This would amount to almost 18 miles, with the last 2 miles on the road.

The trail was across the road from Mt Rushmore, but I had quite a bit of difficulty finding it.  I asked a Ranger who pointed me in the right direction.  The start of the trail was not obvious at all.  Once on the trail the grade was quite slight.  Supposedly this trail provides great views of Mt Rushmore, but I didn't see any.

Friendly and pretty trail at first

Beautiful walk through the pines

I made quite good time to the first trail junction where I met a family.  I pointed them in the direction of Mt Rushmore.  I still made great time to the next trail junction and that's when the trail became quite difficult.  The elevation gain started to kick in along with the most blowdown I have ever seen on a trail.  I've experienced quite a bit of blowdown off trail in both the Catskills and the Adirondacks and it's not fun.  I also led a hike to Balsam Lake in the winter after an ice storm making that trail difficult to follow.  I passed a trail sign suggesting to turn around.  I came too far at this point.  Fortunately, the herd paths around the blowdown were good enough to where I could negotiate.

Blowdown as seen from the summit.  It must have been some storm

Finally, the well named Grizzly Trail (maybe not for actual Grizzlies, but for the fact the trail was a bear) came to and end and I reached the Harney Peak Trail.  Civilization had been reached.  After spending the past few hours solo, I now started to run into people.  Harney Peak is quite popular.  For a Monday, there must have been 50 to 75 people on or near the summit.  I met a mother and daughter who thought I was crazy taking the route I took.  This was coming from somebody who yesterday morning were at Yosemite.

The views from the summit were quite amazing.  Though not familiar with the region, it did not take me too long to figure out where stuff was.  I could make out the area where I would descend to and I could see the mountain that the presidents were carved into.  Though the actual faces were not visible.  The stone tower on top is quite impressive.  There is an area close by that appears higher, but a recent survey proved otherwise.

Black Hills have some interesting features

The way down

The walk down went fairly quick.  I took a good fall along the way while holding my camera.  At first, I thought it broke, but fortunately after removing the lens and battery it came back to life.  Since nobody was willing to pick up a homeless guy, I walked the last 2 miles on the road.  It felt good once back at the car.

Mt Rushmore is the mound in the middle and to the right

A closer look.  The parking lot is dead center.