June 4, 2021 - Day Fourteen, Flight One
Badlands NP, Mount Rushmore Monument, Crazy Horse Memorial

After camping the last two nights, staying in an inexpensive EconoLodge in town seemed luxurious!  The room even had a LazyBoy.

I got my usual early start and by 7:30AM or so, I was winging my way southeast.  Here, I'm passing the town of Sturgis, famous for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  It's a 10 day event.  Attendance has historically been around 500,000 people.   Last year, despite the Chinese Flu, they still had 462,000 attend.  Apparently the bikers blew off wearing masks or observing social distancing and lived to tell the tale.
   
The Belle Fourche river winds off to the east.
   

I flew southeast until I reached the eastern end of the Badlands National Park.  I wanted to fly the park east to west, so the sun was behind me.

I reach the Badlands.
   
It's kind of interesting how the ground  will be flat grassland then suddenly give way to badlands.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
From roads, you can really see very little of the Park.  But from the air,  you can see it all.
   
 
   
 
   
Definately terrain you don't see every day.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
I approach the southwest end of the Park and start climbinb.  The Black Hills are dead ahead.
   
Although Mount Rushmore is marked on the sectional Chart, it was fairly obvious where it was from the air.  It's that bright area just right of center.
   
Can't miss it now.
   
And there it is:  Mount Rushmore!
   
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created the sculpture's design and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum.  The sculpture features the 60-foot heads of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, as recommended by Borglum.  The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation, respectively.  Peter Norbeck, U.S. senator from South Dakota, sponsored the project and secured federal funding.
   
 
   
Looking down at the Visitor Center, Lincoln Borglum Museum, and Presidential Trail.  Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually.
 
   
The money shot.
   
You gotta admit, Mount Rushmore is impressive.
   
One last look, then I head counter-clockwise around the north side of Mount Rushmore which is 7,242 feet at its highest.
   
Looking at the area behind the monument, which is where Nicholas Cage discovered the legendary Native American city of gold, Cíbola.  Oh wait, that wasn't real.  It was the movie National Treasure Book of Secrets.
   
I made a counter-clockwise circle around the mountain and came to the Crazy Horse Memorial.
   
The memorial has been in progress since 1948 and as you can see is far from completion.  The memorial is a non-profit undertaking, does not accept federal or state funding, and is located on privately held land.  The Memorial Foundation finances the project by charging fees for its visitor centers, earning revenue from its gift shops and receiving private contributions.
   
The Crazy Horse Memorial and the surrounding area.
   
The finished sculpture is supposed to be of Crazy Horse's upper body sitting on a horse, including the horse's head.  They have a long way to go.  As Jack Reacher would say, that is clear.
   
View from the side (south).
   
Visitors Center.
   
I left Crazy Horse and headed south, past the town of Custer.  This is Custer County Airport, just south of the town.
   
 
   
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