Ok, so I have to admit when Alex first told me we were going to meet his family in South Dakota I was not sure what to think. I was excited to see them but I’m like what even is there in South Dakota other than Mt Rushmore? I had no idea how wrong I was, the state absolutely exceeded all of my expectations. Mt Rushmore wasn’t even my favorite part of the visit.
Alex isn’t a big hiker, so I went with his sister and brother in-law. Let me tell you, Harney Peak Summit is in my top 5 favorite hikes I have ever been on, since I became an avid hiker about 2 years ago. When I say the trip exceeded my expectations, it was because of this hike. There was a stone lookout at the top, it was so beautiful. The sky was so blue and had the most amazing and perfect clouds I’ve ever seen. I would have never expected such beauty in a state that isn’t highly talked about, if I’m being honest.
As we drove to our other adventures, like Mt Rushmore and the Indian reservations I just couldn’t believe some of the things I saw. So many animals walking all over. I saw giant Buffalos, Elk, deer, etc. It was wild. People treated it like it was nothing, which was so shocking to me. Also, I can’t remember what they were called but these cute little animals that roam the fields (will post a video in my video section), I became obsessed with them on my trip.
We ended up going down into these caves out there as well, underground. Apparently there are hundreds of miles of dark unexplored caves down there. Pretty interesting me but the tour gave us some info on that. By the way, they are accepting volunteers to help explore down there. Could have got me had they not mentioned how people could easily get lost and starve to death in a pitch black cave. Hard pass. Over all though, the lighted part of the caves that were carefully sculpted were lovely.
Ok, the one thing people know about now…. Mt Rushmore. It was honestly a lot cooler than I thought it would be. As you start walking up its incredible, all 50 states have little engraved areas with their flags, idk it felt American AF. Then we get to the history on how they used dynamite and carved the details, it was pretty unbelievable. Like, I really had a hard time believing it.
For hiking, id definitely recommend making a trip to South Dakota. If I ever went back, id make that the main focus of my trip because the natural beauty that you are surrounded by out there is something worth checking out. So if youre looking for a short weekend getaway, this would be a great one. Also very low cost!
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