Mount Rushmore - Part 1

The kids recently had a 5 day weekend for fall break. Because these breaks only run through middle school, we wanted to take advantage of the time off.

Mount Rushmore has been on our wish list since we moved to Denver. It's only about a 6 hour drive.

We had grand plans to spend two and a half days exploring South Dakota. 

Then, "the most important soccer game of our season" appeared on the calendar and our trip got cut very short.

So, what can you do near Mount Rushmore in 24 hours? 

As we drove to town, we visited Custer State Park. We really enjoyed driving the Wildlife Loop and would do it again on another visit.

We thought this was a sheep, but were disappointed to discover it was only a mule deer. 

Needles Highway was closed in the park for road repairs. Next visit, that portion of the park (which include Sylvan Lake) will be a priority.

A few other spots we would visit if the time/budget allowed include the Mammoth Hot Springs Site, Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary and the Purple Pie Place. No one was in the mood for pie when we passed the restaurant. 

We spent about an hour in the park and then took Iron Mountain Road toward Mount Rushmore. Loved seeing the mountain through the tunnel.

We enjoyed seeing Mt. Rushmore lighted at night. 

Our fourth graders have free National Parks passes this year.  But, a National Parks Pass doesn't work at Mount Rushmore.  They don't charge admission - just a parking fee. But, your parking pass is good for a week. The trickiest part about visiting at night is avoiding the wild animals on the road.  We passed so many deer & other critters on our drive to the hotel.

We returned bright & early to see the park in daylight. The kids had a lot of fun exploring the park, using binoculars and listening to the Ranger presentations. 

There is a short path that takes you close to the base of the mountain. We spent about an hour and a half at the park. As we were leaving at 10:30, it was starting to get very busy (even in October).

We were very excited to see these two sheep wandering around as we left the park. As you leave Mount Rushmore, you pass through a little town with a number of restaurants and tourist attractions. We ate in the town on Thursday night, but drove through on Saturday to head to our next destination. 

Gem Lake Trail

I took the twins on a second hike with the Scouts this summer. 

We tackled the Gem Lake Trail outside of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Charlie wasn't especially impressed with our early morning adventure.

Eventually, he came around.

The hike felt like it was at a high elevation and included a steady climb. I would guess it was a "moderate" rating of difficulty. My guess is the youngest in our group was about 7.

After all that hard work, I will admit that Gem Lake was a little underwhelming. But, the kids had fun scrambling over the rocks.

The chipmunks were very friendly & ready to grab any snack crumb that was dropped.

On the way down, we enjoyed so many beautiful views.

We packed lunch & had a picnic near the parking area before heading home.

Not a bad way to start the day.

Mount Saint Helens

Summer travel is in full swing. My first noteworthy stop was Portland, Oregon for my annual work retreat. While downtown Portland was great, I was surprised how much I enjoyed our day trip to Mt. St. Helens.

We all packed plenty of reading material for our two hour journey, but we didn't need it. Our vans were driven by two very knowledgeable drivers who narrated our whole trip.

We learned that most of Portland has been retrofitted to withstand an earthquake over 6.8. Though, none of the many bridges in the city would survive. We learned that in Portland, like many cities, people built beautiful homes with a view on the foothills. But, the foothills are thick beds of silt which are vulnerable to slides. 

The beautiful beaches along the Oregon coast are covered in volcanic ash.  I learned that the mountain used to have a normal peak that blew off when the volcano erupted. When Mt. St. Helens erupted, the glaciers inside the volcano melted and sent 46 billion gallons of water rushing away from the mountain.

We had about 2 hours to explore the visitor's center and surrounding hiking trails. The area is a National Park - so don't forget your parks pass.

The view looked like a mix between walking on the moon and walking through beautiful mountain fields.

The purple flowers were the first to return after the the devastation. The flowers brought nitrogen to the soil and animals back into the valley.

It was fascinating to see all the tree stumps where trees were just knocked over.

The downed trees on private land were taken to California to special mills which were retrofitted to cut these trees with embedded rocks. The trees on BLM land were left as-is.

While the towns in the projected lava/mud flow were evacuated, no one predicted that the volcano would have a lateral blast too. Most of the fatalities were people caught by the lateral blast. 

 

After a picnic lunch and a lovely hike along a deceivingly hilly trail, it was time to head back to Oregon. We left a little dusty and tired, but with a new found appreciation for volcanoes and geologists.

Not a bad first hike of the summer season!

Rocky Mountain National Park

We blew off getting house projects done this weekend. It's becoming a trend. On Friday night, a neighbor had a porch party & we learned it was the peak weekend for fall color at Rocky Mountain National Park. It didn't take much convincing to ignore the "to do" list for another week.

After being surrounded by aspen groves in Utah, we were a little underwhelmed with the color in the park.

But, the mountains were magnificent.

We found little pockets of color & took a mile "hike" with the kids. 

No dogs on trails at the park, so furry Rocky was not allowed to play in his namesake park. He didn't seem to mind staying home.

It's mating season for elk and I thought we would see lots of animals (we didn't).

We did see a rafter of turkeys (had to look that up).

  

We thought we would beat the crowds by getting an early start to in the park. We did beat the crowds because I learned that the best time to watch elk bugling is at twilight. I think next year we will spend the night in the park. 

We heard one bugle in the park but no elk.  We saw three elk as we were driving home. Nick pulled over & caught a picture.  By next year, maybe we will have this figured out!

White Sands National Monument

Our last stop on the April road trip was White Sands National Monument. We stayed in Alamogordo which is a town that looks like it has hit hard times.  It's about 30 minutes from the park. Next time, I might try staying in Las Cruces.

This was by far the kids favorite stop. We borrowed the Jr. Ranger backpacks & headed out an a mile "hike."

The kids took turns reading the signs about the flora & fauna along the way.

The sand dunes reminded us of our favorite beaches in Montauk. But, there is no ocean here.

The dunes are made of gypsum which is water soluble. Normally, rain would wash away the dunes.

According to wikipedia, "The Tularosa Basin is enclosed, meaning that it has no outlet to the sea and that rain that dissolves gypsum from the surrounding San Andres and Sacramento Mountains is trapped within the basin. Thus water either sinks into the ground or forms shallow pools which subsequently dry out and leave gypsum in a crystalline form, called selenite, on the surface. Groundwater that does flow out of the Tularosa Basin flows south into the Hueco Basin."

The kids were anxious to start sledding, so we hit the slopes. You can buy wax for the sleds & "rent" sleds in the gift shop. I think it was $15 to buy the sled or $10 to rent it.

The kids never gained that much speed, but they spent hours playing on the hills. The winds in the area created the dunes, so there was always a nice breeze.

Greta eventually gave up on sledding & enjoyed the kite flying.

Eventually, everyone got hungry. We didn't have time to go into town, so we grabbed some snacks at the gift shop & headed back to do a sunset stroll with the rangers.

The kids loved hiking in the sand. I thought we were lucky to be there in spring when the sand was cool, but according to wikipedia, unlike the beach, this sand never gets that hot.

We enjoyed watching the changing colors as the sun started to set.

I can't remember what animal droppings Charlie almost stepped on, but the ranger pointed out water holes that the animals find.

I think we spent nearly 8 hours at the park & the kids would have stayed longer.

It is such a beautiful place. I am so glad we made the trip.

I know Nick was disappointed that he couldn't take off from work to join us.

If we make our way to Southern New Mexico again, I know the kids wouldn't mind spending another day or two at the greatest sandbox ever!