Custer state park

I woke up around 5:30 this morning and spent some time just relaxing in the van, straightening things up a bit and getting ready for the day. Part of the reason I lingered was because I had a beautiful view of the sunrise and wanted to enjoy that before heading out. It was a nice, quiet start to the morning.

The cemetery where I spent the night wasn't completely isolated, and I didn't want to be disrespectful by treating it like my personal campground, so after the sunrise I headed into town to find a restroom where I could do a little cleanup and get through my normal morning routine.

Once I got moving, I had a little over four hours of driving ahead of me. My destination was Grand Rapids, which happened to be the closest place with a Planet Fitness. After yesterday's adventures, I was more than ready for a real shower. The river had done its best, but there are limits to what can reasonably be accomplished with a camping shower and a questionable amount of determination.

One thing I've learned on this trip is that towns get a lot farther apart once you start heading west. Four hours was the closest Planet Fitness available, but it worked out well because it also put me within about an hour of my next destination.

At the gym, I kept things light. I definitely tweaked my back a few days ago during a workout, and I'd rather not turn a minor annoyance into a major problem. Between the driving, hiking, and carrying a backpack around, my back is already getting enough exercise. So for now, I'm on unofficial light-duty restrictions when it comes to lifting weights.

I did enjoy a hydro massage with heat, though, which felt fantastic, and I got one of the best showers I've had on this trip. It was also one of the nicest Planet Fitness locations I've visited, which felt like a nice little luxury while I'm still in what might be my last stretch of civilization for a while.

While I was there, I noticed a Sam's Club nearby and immediately sent an SOS message to my sister asking if I could borrow her membership. My food situation had reached a critical stage. For the last several days I've been working my way through a large supply of tofu tempura. This morning I woke up with the realization that if I had to eat one more bite of it, I might actually cry.

Sorry, Dad. I know throwing away food is practically a criminal offense in your eyes, but I ate tofu tempura for five straight days. I served my sentence.

So the leftovers are officially retired, and I celebrated with a Sam's Club pizza and hot dog.

With that important mission accomplished, I noticed there was also a CSL Plasma nearby, so I decided I might as well donate while I was in town. Why not? By that point I had already showered, eaten, worked out, and gotten a hydro massage. Apparently I was determined to get the absolute most out of civilization before disappearing back into the wilderness.

After all of that, it was finally time to head toward Custer State Park.

Technically, I was supposed to visit Badlands National Park first. Somewhere along the way I managed to get my itinerary a little scrambled, which means I'll be heading to Badlands tomorrow instead. It adds a little backtracking and maybe about a hundred unnecessary miles to the van, but honestly, that's okay. Badlands has been one of the places I've been looking forward to the most, so I'm absolutely not skipping it.

I've started to notice a pattern when approaching national parks. Long before I reach the entrance sign, I can tell I'm getting close. The landscape changes. The scenery goes from beautiful to something that feels special. Every time it happens, there's this quiet sense of awe that settles in.

Driving toward Custer was exactly like that.

The landscape gradually transformed into this incredible combination of rocky formations and dense forest. It felt like a crossroads between the terrain I had just left behind in North Dakota and the mountain forests farther west. It was absolutely gorgeous.

I spent the afternoon driving the Wildlife Loop Road through Custer State Park. Unfortunately, I didn't have much luck with wildlife. I saw a few deer, but no bison, no wild horses, and none of the other animals the park is famous for.

That may have had something to do with the extensive road construction happening throughout the park. Traffic was frequently stopped while crews worked, which caused vehicles to bunch together. Compared to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where I often felt like I had the landscape to myself, Custer felt considerably more crowded. I suspect much of that was because of the construction rather than the park itself.

The improvements they're making look great, and hopefully part of the project includes creating additional pull-offs. One thing I noticed was that there aren't many places where you can simply stop, sit or take a short hike, and take in the scenery. Most of the time you're committed to continuing forward whether you're ready to move on or not.

After Custer, I headed toward Mount Rushmore.

I wasn't especially interested in the museum or visitor center. I really just wanted to see the mountain itself. When I arrived, I discovered that while seeing Mount Rushmore is technically free, parking costs ten dollars and there isn't really an option to simply walk in.

For some reason, that annoyed me more than it probably should have.

So instead, I found an overlook on Iron Mountain Road and viewed it from a distance.

Honestly, I think I made the better choice.

Watching the sunset behind the Black Hills while Mount Rushmore sat silhouetted in the distance was far more memorable than I suspect standing in a crowded viewing area would have been. The colors were incredible, and the timing couldn't have been better.

Getting there was half the adventure.

Iron Mountain Road is absolutely wild.

The route winds through narrow tunnels, crosses steep wooden bridges, and twists around mountainsides in ways that occasionally make you question the sanity of the engineers involved. Some of the bridges curve so sharply that it feels less like driving across a bridge and more like driving up a giant wooden spiral staircase.

I've never seen anything quite like it.

It was a little scary.

It was completely awesome.

Tonight I'm camped in the Black Hills National Forest not far from the overlook. Eat your heart out, Nicolas Cage. I've been here too, although unfortunately I didn't stumble across any clues leading to a hidden national treasure.

Tomorrow's plan is to finish up my time in the Black Hills with a drive along Needles Highway, stop by Wind Cave National Park, and then backtrack east to finally experience Badlands National Park before continuing west.Read more