Saturday, October 1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RON! WE HOPE YOU HAD A PURR-FECT DAY!

Day 355 – This morning we had appointments for our COVID boosters, so we were up and out early. We drove to Rapid City, SD (a little over an hour from Custer), got our vaccines, and decided to do some exploring while we were out. We picked up Jersey Mike’s subs for a picnic lunch and headed south.

We took the Iron Mountain Road, a long, scenic winding drive through fabulous scenery. It was raining lightly. There were plenty of pull-outs. There were incredible wooden bridges (Spiral Overpasses). We stopped at the Peter Norbeck overlook to see the view of Mount Rushmore. We passed by the entrance to another scenic drive, the Needles Highway, a trip to see needle-like granite formations. It looked awesome and we will do this one another time.

We then took the Wildlife Loop Road which takes visitors through some of Custer State Park and the open grasslands and pine-speckled hills that contain so much of the Park’s wildlife. We stopped for lunch at a picnic area overlooking a pretty lake.

Yesterday was the annual Bison Round-up, which people came to view from all over the country. We’d hoped to attend this event, but due to the large crowds, we couldn’t get a campsite over the weekend in the State Park. This year they had about 1,400 Bison in the herd. The round-up took place near the corrals on Wildlife Loop Road. There were two viewing areas set aside for spectators with shuttles available to the public. Guests must stay in the viewing areas until the herd is safely in the corrals. Testing, branding, and sorting begins thereafter. The Bison are given health check ups, their shots, and are checked for injuries, illness, or pregnancies. The only Bison that are not rounded up at this time are the older, bigger males because they are too aggressive and dangerous.

“It is truly a magnificent sight to see – bison rumbling across the plains driven by cowboys and cowgirls on horseback. It takes you back to days gone by and lets the spectators catch a glimpse of old west history.” from Custer State Park Tatanka brochure, 2022. Tatanka is the Lakato Native American word for bison or buffalo.

After lunch we continued on the Wildlife Loop Road. We were afraid that since all the Bison had been recently rounded up, we wouldn’t see any. Wrong! As we approached the corrals, there were hundreds of them browsing the grass behind the fence by the road. So we got to see them up close without encountering the large crowds.

The Drive within the State Park was very scenic overall. There were many fall colors. We saw a lot of animals including the Bison, herds of Antelope, Prairie Dogs, Wild Burros, a chipmunk that was interested in our lunch, White-Tailed Deer, and Mountain Blue Birds. We will drive this Loop again; there are definitely lots of animals to see.

We completed the Wildlife Loop Drive and got back on the highway heading back to the town of Custer where we were camping. We stopped at Blue Bell Campground, one of several campgrounds in Custer State Park. We wanted to see our campsite – we’d been able to reserve a site AFTER the weekend and when the crowds had departed. We move to that campground from our KOA Campground on Monday and will stay for 4 nights.

By the time it got dark, we were feeling the side effects from the Vaccine shot we received this morning. Early to bed for us. Doubtful we’ll be doing much tomorrow!