Crazy Horse Autumn Volksmarch- a bucket list hike :)

I vacationed with my family to South Dakota as a kid many times and every trip included a visit to the Crazy Horse Memorial. I was fascinated by this mountain carving and looked forward to seeing the progress made every time we went there. I loved seeing it both during the day and lit up at night, but what I really wanted was to see it up close. There is only one time during the year where visitors are allowed to hike to the mountain carving. The Crazy Horse Volksmarch is the most popular organized hike in the United States (15, 000 walkers in a record year). It is a 10K (6.2-mile) hike to the arm of the world’s largest mountain carving in progress. Traditionally it is held the first weekend in June, but this year the Crazy Horse Memorial added the first autumn volksmarch. When I read that they were doing this I started planning a trip with my husband immediately. Our 5 year wedding anniversary would be in September and I thought this would be the perfect way to celebrate. We made a reservation to stay at a cozy little cabin in the woods and the countdown to our weekend getaway began.

This summer passed in the blink of an eye and before we knew it fall was here and it was time for our South Dakota adventure! We left early on the morning of Saturday September 28th and began our 5 1/2 hour drive to the cabin in Keystone. My dad had helped us plan our route which included required food stops- the first being a truck stop with legendary pie. I am glad we listened. There is nothing wrong with chocolate chip cookie pie at 10:00am either. ;)

Breakfast of champions :)

The drive was beautiful- wide open spaces, blue skies, fall foliage, and those magical Black Hills. I was worried they may have lost some of their magic to me after living among the grand Rockies in Colorado for the past year and a half, but I still found myself enchanted by those hills. Jim agreed that they were very special too. Our first day we took a scenic drive on Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park and saw the buffalo and the very friendly burros in the park. I had fond memories here as a kid and it was just as fun coming back as an adult! :)

My new friend :)

Such beautiful animals!

These burros have no fear and they expect you to feed them since everyone does... even though you are not supposed to do it. We followed the park rules so once they realized we didn't have food, they moved on very quickly! Clever little guys.

We had a nice picnic at this beautiful spot

The second day of our trip included the Crazy Horse autumn volksmarch- my bucket list hike! :) We woke up in our little rustic cabin at sunrise and got ready to head out.

Beautiful sunrise seen from our cabin

Our cozy cabin in the woods :)

It was going to be a beautiful day, but definitely a bit cool and windy so we had on many layers. We arrived at the memorial around 7:30 a.m. Admission to the memorial was waived for hikers who donated 3 cans of food per person to help the Feeding South Dakota food bank. We gladly handed over our assortment of soups and ravioli and were directed toward the upper level of the visitor complex parking lot. We parked the car and started putting on our coats, hats, and gloves. The man parked next to us was getting ready as well and started chatting with us. He noticed our Colorado license plate and asked us if we were affected by the recent flooding. We told him that thankfully we were not and he shared that he had relatives close to our area as well, but were also fortunate not to have any damage to their homes. He was very friendly and told us to enjoy the hike. We told him the same. We then registered for the hike and paid our $3 hike fee. It was about 7:40 a.m. at this point. The hike officially began at 8:00 a.m. so we decided to grab a cup of coffee at the cafe in the museum before starting. I took a picture by the model of the planned statue, with the Crazy Horse Memorial in the background.

When completed the Crazy Horse mountain carving will be 641 feet long by 563 feet high. Crazy Horse’s completed head is 87 feet 6 inches high. The horse’s head, currently the focus of work on the mountain, is 219 feet or 22 stories high. I don't know if it will be completed in my lifetime, but when it is it will be a sight to see!

After warming up with our cups of coffee it was time to begin the hike.

Ready to start the hike!

View of Crazy Horse from the parking lot

There were lots of people on the trail already, but it wasn't jam packed the way I imagined it would be. I was happy about that. Although it was windy, the sun was shining and it felt great hiking in the crisp, fresh, autumn air. We were surrounded by beauty, even at our feet. The dirt trail glistened as it consisted of many crystallized rocks and minerals. The trail rises about 500 feet up to the mountain. I took many photographs along the way of the changing leaves as well as the mountain carving as we got closer and closer to the summit. I know this hike would have been more challenging prior to our move to Colorado. I could tell Jim and I had become accustomed to the higher elevations as we plowed our way through some of the steeper inclines and passed many hikers who started before us. It was rewarding to see how my hiking experiences have paid off!

Autumn beauty

So beautiful!

The changing aspens are my favorite!

Getting closer!

We will be standing on this arm soon!

The Crazy Horse Memorial mountain crew uses precision explosive engineering to carefully and safely remove and shape the rock of the mountain. Since the dedication of the face of Crazy Horse in 1998, the work has been focused on blocking out the horse’s head.

There were 4 checkpoints along the way where the Boy Scouts of America and other regional nonprofit, youth-oriented organizations were selling refreshments. We reached the final checkpoint and were cheered on by the friendly youth groups who were encouraging all the hikers that they were almost there!

At the final checkpoint!

We climbed up the final stretch of the gravel work road and reached the massive stone face approximately 6,500 feet above sea level. We did it! It was awesome to see the carving that close. The detail is incredible. I obviously knew that the carving was huge given it's measurements, but being that close to the giant head really made me understand just how huge!  It’s one thing to see the sculpture from the memorial’s viewing area, but it’s truly impressive to stand next to Crazy Horse’s head, which could fit all four 60-foot-high heads from Mount Rushmore inside it.

Truly amazing!

We did it! :)

 

The panoramic view of the Black Hills from the summit is gorgeous. I could see the Crazy Horse visitor center and museum which was pretty neat considering all of the times I looked up to the mountain from down there as a kid wondering what this very view would look like. Well now I know what Crazy Horse sees. :)

Crazy Horse has a nice view :)

We took a bunch of photographs.  Many offered to take our picture if we would take theirs so we have a lot of nice photos together. We even gave a brief interview to a journalist from the Rapid City Journal about our hiking experience.

http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/crazy-horse-autumn-volksmarch-draws-roundup-crowd/article_ec468f45-bde1-56d9-9db3-a66d23eaac62.html

We hung out at the summit for about 30 minutes and then headed back down the mountain as it was starting to get very windy. The return path took us by the tunnel under the arm.

The descent was much easier and followed a gravel work road the whole way down. Near the end we passed the "Never Forget Your Dreams" sign- the motto for the Crazy Horse memorial project and a good reminder for us all!

I couldn't agree more!

It was a very memorable hike. It is not every day that you get to walk on the 263-foot outstretched arm of a legendary Lakota leader! We toured the beautiful museum and I bought a souvenir t-shirt and Christmas ornament before leaving the memorial.

One last look at the mountain

We came back to our cabin  and cleaned up before heading out to see another historic site- Mt. Rushmore! I remembered the drive as a kid and thought it was so cool when you rounded that bend in the road and suddenly the faces appear. Jim loved it too! He has always wanted to see this monument so I was so happy I could be there with him for the first time. We even came back to see it at night for the lighting ceremony.

Awesome!

Mt. Rushmore at night

We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the nice man we talked to in the parking lot at the Crazy Horse Memorial was actually our cabin neighbor. Small world! He came by after we got back from dinner and the night viewing of Mt. Rushmore to share some of his wine and his stories with us on our porch. It was great way to cap off the evening.

Jim and I woke up at sunrise again on Monday as we planned to take one last scenic drive through Spearfish Canyon before heading back home. This was another favorite destination from my South Dakota trips as a kid, but I couldn't wait to see it in the fall. We had to have breakfast at Cheyenne Crossing before heading into the canyon. This was my family's favorite place to eat. They are known for their Indian tacos served on Indian fry bread. Although, it was only 8:00am, I had to order it. It was every bit as delicious as I remembered. :)

A family favorite

The legendary Indian Taco. The fry bread is what makes it!

Spearfish Canyon is definitely one of the prettiest places I have ever been to and it is truly magnificent in the fall. The colors were spectacular!

Scenic drive through Spearfish Canyon

I could sit here all day!

Roughlock Falls

This was my first time here in the fall. The colors and the views were breathtaking. Fall is the best time of year!

We had such a fun weekend in South Dakota! I have many wonderful memories there from vacations as a kid and it was so great being there again with Jim making new ones!

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the great state of South Dakota, I highly recommend you coordinate your trip with the Crazy Horse Volksmarch! It is an experience you won't forget. If you have done it already I would love to hear your stories!