Custer State Park - The Wildlife Loop

Roger here...  You may be wondering what you are seeing in the above picture.  Is it a cave?  A blurry geological formation?  Another tunnel?  One of my sunset pictures?             


Actually, it is the head (specifically the teeth) of a wild burro inside our car searching to see if we had any more apples.


What a great morning we had.  Our sole itinerary was a slow drive through the eighteen-mile wildlife loop through the southern half of Custer State Park. 

 We took both dogs with us, anticipating a hike through the prairie.  


Soon after turning onto the loop we encountered a 

pronghorn.  Bandido let it be known through growling and low- volume "woofs" that he would not allow the pronghorn to hijack our car.


A few miles later, we drove by another pronghorn that was grazing within a few feet of the car.  Pretty animals.  More "woofing."

Bandido's machoism soon faded.  We rounded a corner and found ourselves in the midst of a herd of wild burros.  


Bandido quickly became Mr. Chicken Dog when the burros approached the car and begged for food.


Bandido here... "Hey guys.  Don't worry about me.  I'll just sit here in the middle of the back seat until we move on.  I bet mom and dad brought a bag of apples or something for you to nibble on.  No problem for me!"


I have to say that this was the most fun I have had in a long time, and I have been having a lot of fun lately.  We did indeed bring a bag of apples, anticipating some good times with the burros.  They did not disappoint.  Whenever we stopped the car, they quietly pushed their heads through the open windows, sometimes startling us because they were so quiet.  Dianne hooted (I refer to it as the Grandma Robison hoot) more than once, when burros nudged her, demanding another apple.  We went through a dozen apples in about ten minutes.  By the way, Chaplin stayed frozen in his normal car-traveling position, his head between Dianne and me with body on the floor of the back seat.

Bandido here...  "Hey dad, why are you petting that burro?  He looks like an ass to me.  Not that I care. I'll just sit here, quietly, in the middle of the back seat."

Dianne could not resist taking a couple of shots of the little ones.

Time to move on...  A few miles down the road we encountered a prairie dog colony.  Bandido regained his courage and woofed at the little buggers every time they scampered along the prairie.  Dianne went into the field, trying to get a good picture -- a difficult task.  Every time she approached camera range, they dove into their burrows.  She did get one decent shot -- not sure how.

When we arrived at the trailhead for the three-mile loop hike, we discovered a warning sign.  Beware of ticks.  NO THANKS.  We took the dogs on a long walk on a paved (non-tick) path when we returned to the campground. 

Just before exiting the wildlife loop, we hit the mother lode -- more buffalo (bison) than I have ever seen at one time.  Hundreds of them on both sides (and the middle) of the road.


Bandido here... It was fun trying to intimidate the prairie dogs.  However, these big cows (buffalo/bison) are the biggest animals I have ever seen, and they are right next to the car.  I'll just sit quietly in the center of the back seat."


Hard to decide which pictures to show.  Here are a few.

Bandido here...  Well, I am back at the campsite now and very happy to be chasing the occasional robin that gets too close to our motor home.  Not sure I want to see any more of those hairy, monster cows.


The pet pictures of the day shows Chaplin resting on my lap while Bandido guards the motor home.  

Custer State Park - Day One

Hi all, Dianne here.  Back in the early '80s we first saw Custer State Park on a trip with our two little girls in our pop-up camper.  

(Sorry, Girls, Mom couldn't resist)  At the time we vowed to come back.  Now's the time!  On that trip, we made it all the way to Yellowstone and back to Indiana, with all the food prep, kid-tending, and short schedule that went with it.  Makes me tired to remember it!  This time we've allowed ourselves six full days to really experience all that this wonderful park has to offer.

Custer State Park is so unique that we have to keep reminding ourselves that this is not in the national park system.


We are in the Game Lodge campground, which affords us 50 amp electric, but no water or sewer.  Out come the paper plates this week!  Here's the view from our front windshield:

Here's a shot of our camp site:

Best of all, there is a two-mile paved hiking/biking trail (The Creekside Trail) right from our campground that winds along a small stream. 

 Great for walking the boys and for riding our bikes. 

 The trail goes right past the picturesque State Game Lodge, which served as the "Summer White House" for President Calvin Coolidge in 1927, and also was visited by President Dwight Eisenhower for several days in 1953.  

Our first full day in the park was spent driving the spectacular 14-mile Needles Highway.  The road winds through pine and spruce forests, meadows surrounded by birch and aspen and rugged granite mountains.  


There were interesting tunnels and formations all along the drive.

I wish the photos had smell-o-vision, for the crisp, cool air was fragrant with pine.  


We stopped to hike around lovely Sylvan Lake.  Wow, what jaw-dropping scenery! 

 Bandido enjoyed the day with us, but Chaplin stayed behind because he does not enjoy twisty-curvy roads in the car.  We took so many photos on this hike (all are beautiful) that once again I made a slide show of them.  See link below if you have time to check them out (it's worth your time, these are especially pretty!):


http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y14/DianneN/Custer%20State%20Park%20Needles%20Highway/?albumview=slideshow

After our hike we enjoyed a picnic lunch along the lake shore at yet another beautiful spot.

Once we completed the scenic drive, we drove on to Mount Rushmore.  We had taken our girls there during our '80s trip.  Since we have a national park pass, we thought we'd duck in for a quick re-visit and to get my National Park Passport stamped -- That is, until we realized it would cost $11 just to park the car.  Since we'd already "been there, done that" we drove right on by, and I snapped a quick shot from the road.  


Check back soon, for we have some awesome photos of the wild burros, pronghorns, and buffalo taken on the Wildlife Loop Road this morning.  

The pet photo of the day shows Bandido enjoying our campfire with us last evening.  We lovingly call him the "Big Lug," but he still thinks he's a lap dog!

Chadron State Park -- Nebraska

Roger here...  What is that crawling on my leg?  OMG what are those black things on Chaplin's legs?  Ticks!!!!!!  I still feel like things are crawling on me, even though they are not there.  Ticks, I don't like ticks!  How it happened....

We left the Scotts Bluff area for a short, scenic drive to Nebraska's oldest state park -  Chadron State Park.  We pulled into the park, paid the separate entrance fee (in addition to the campsite fee), and rolled into a beautiful (mostly deserted) campground.  After changing sites to accommodate the satellite dish (pesky trees), I hopped in the car to buy wood for a campfire.  A campfire.  Yes, a campfire.  We were finally in an area where there is NOT a burn ban.  There was actually a trace of humidity in the air!  

After a great night of sleep, we decided to tackle one of the many trails.  Our goal was pretty lofty, 5.2 miles, but there were several options for shortcuts back to the campground, if it became an ordeal.  

Off we went.  The first part of the trail was mowed grass.  About ten minutes later, we dropped into a narrow, wet, muddy gulch.  Five minutes later...  "What is that crawling on my leg?"


This time I was the one demanding to end the hike.  Dianne readily agreed.  After a hasty retreat back to the motor home, we spent 45 minutes tweezing ticks off Chaplin and Bandido.  They were easy to see on Chaplin, but difficult to find on the furrier Bandido.  Nonetheless, we found several and think we got them all.  Creepy, crawly, bloodsuckers, yuck!!!!


Here's a nifty tool we keep on hand for just such an occasion.  It works as advertised and was really useful this day!  As always, I include these links just as an FYI; I don't have enough readers to get anything from the links. -- D.

After the trauma, we decided to walk the scenic drive (pretty much the hike we abandoned) -- on the paved road.  It was immediately evident that the walk would involve quite a bit of the uphill/downhill thing.  Chaplin was lagging behind and definitely not happy.  So, Dianne jubilantly took him back to the motor home (where she continued to flick ticks off her feet and legs) while Bandido and I forged on. 


 Dianne here -- I thought I had squished the ticks that we took off the dogs (even grinding them into the ground with the point of a stick).  Turns out, they all must have come back to life, because as I sat trying to concentrate on a Sudoku, at least three of them crawled through the side holes of my Crocs and I felt them crawling on my feet, trying to find a "meatier" spot to bite me.  A mom and kids walked past, and I overheard them talking about ticks.  I spoke to them for a minute.  The mom said they were from this area and come to Chadron a lot.  After one hike, her little boy found 27 ticks on him!!!  She said they had a contest to see who had the most ticks.  She said you can't squish them to death; the only way she has found to kill them is to drown them in beer.  After the third tick crawling into my shoe, I needed a beer or two or three....  Back to Roger's hike:


The five mile walk, though exhausting, was scenic.  

After about four miles, Bandido was ready to be home.  He pulled me over to a picnic area and laid down.  Glad we brought plenty of water for the two of us.  Glad Dianne decided to go back :-)  (My legs were still sore from the hike up Scott's Bluff -- D.)

Oh c'mon Bandido!  Take time to smell the pretty flowers!

When we reached the campground and turned a corner, as soon as Bandido caught sight of Dianne relaxing in a lawn chair, he pulled us both into a full run.  So happy to be with his mommy.  Doggie exercise for the day -- done.


The pet picture(s) of the day were taken back at the campground near Scotts Bluff.  I was sitting outside when Dianne came running out of the motor home, proclaiming that the dog visible from the front windshield had to be a Blue Heeler (Bandido is mostly Blue Heeler).  She ran down the street and quickly arranged for the two dogs to have a play date.  As it turns out, Dakota was indeed a full-blooded Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler).  Watching her, it was obvious that she was a great dog.

It was fun watching them meet and then chase each other.  Good ending to the day.

(It was so much fun to watch the two of them play.  Their mannerisms were very much the same, and there was lots of rough-and-tumble and boxing with their front legs.  Bandido finally met his match! -- D.)

Dianne will be writing the next post from Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota -- a jaw-dropping place.  We will be there for six full days -- lots of fun ahead!

Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska, plus a "Trudge Report"

Hi all, Dianne here.  Our second day in Gering, Nebraska was spent at nearby Scotts Bluff National Monument.  Scotts Bluff was a famous landmark for the wagon trains moving west on the Oregon Trail.  I'll save the history lesson for later, but first a "trudge report":

 See the wind-ey trail going up, up, UP to the top of Scott's Bluff?  If only this photo had audio with it, you would hear comments like this:


"We're going all the way to the top??"
"Huff, Puff -- What part of this do you think is fun?
"YOU NEED A YOUNGER WIFE!!!"

I admit to whining a good part of the way, between gasping for breath. 

In his defense, Roger did offer to turn back and drive to the top (see photo below showing the paved road -- even the road needed a tunnel!)

Realizing that we hadn't had much exercise lately, and that the dogs (especially Bandido) needed some strenuous exercise, I decided to "suck it up" and trudge on.  (Another factor was the cute shorts I'd just bought at Cabela's -- didn't want to get too fat to wear them before even cutting off the tags).

Anyway, as usual, Roger was right and I'm glad we hiked it.  We would have missed some beautiful scenery, had we just taken the drive.  I'll just say that I enjoyed the hike back down a lot more than going up!

What a beautiful day!  Low 70s, sunshine and beautiful spring flowers everywhere.  


 Bandido got to wear his backpack, and he and Chaplin both sported new bandanas.  Roger got to sport his new Cabela's hat.


To see a photo slideshow of the entire hike, you can click on the following link to my photobucket web album:


http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y14/DianneN/May%202011%20Scotts%20Bluff%20Hike/?albumview=slideshow

After the hike we were all starving, so we had a picnic lunch outside the visitor's center.  Roger and I took turns inside, and we both enjoyed the 12-minute movie recounting the history of this site.  

While Roger was inside taking his turn, I took the dogs on another short interpretive hike.  I saw representations of the three types of covered wagons most people used to go west.  


When we got to the Platte River area, I dug out and re-read a very interesting book I'd bought last year at one of the national parks.  It recounts diaries of women who made the trip on wagon trains during the 1840s - 1860s.  After reading about the hardships they endured (including cooking outside over an open fire in the rain, deaths from cholera and childbirth, Indian attacks, walking 15 miles a day over mostly monotonous prairies) it meant a lot to me to walk just a bit of the actual ground they passed over.  


The short hike past the covered wagons led to a section of the original trail where wagon ruts are still visible after 150 years.  

The wagons had to pass single file through a bottleneck here at Scott's Bluff, and the wagon wheels wore ruts into the sandstone.  

Since we were nearby, we drove 16 miles to get a quick look at Chimney Rock, another milestone on the Oregon Trail.  It is listed as a national historic site, but it is maintained by the Nebraska Historical Society, so our national park passes only allowed a discount here, not free admission.  

Another short movie in the visitor's center, and a view of Chimney Rock.  This is as close as you are allowed to get to it.

Here's a link to the book I read on Amazon, if you want more info.  I know there are other pioneer diary books available, as well. 

Roger took about 800 photos of a very pretty sunset from our camp site.  I'll let him pick through and decide which one to post!

The pet photo of the day shows my handsome boys after our picnic, modeling their bandanas: