Mt. Rushmore

Located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a monumental granite sculpture by Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941), and represents the first 150 years of the history of the United States with 60-foot sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres and is 5,725 feet above sea level. The memorial attracts approximately two million people annually.

We reached Rapid City on May 4th, very excited to finally get a chance to visit Mt. Rushmore. Although I had been here with my family during a cross-country vacation when I was 15, I only had a vague recollection of the experience. This was to be Dan's first visit, and we were both looking forward to the experience. The weather was unseasonably cold, and we woke on the morning of May 5th to a light dusting of snow in our RV Park. As we drove up to the memorial, snow continued to fall, and we were wondering how this would impact our viewing.

When we arrived, it was quite cold and overcast; fog had started to roll in, and the faces of the presidents were sometimes obscured by the swirling mists and the moisture that had collected on their stone likenesses. We took a few pictures, toured the visitor center, and watched a short film on the history of the monument before deciding to leave and try again the next day.

We had much better luck when we returned on May 6th. The air was clear (although still cold, and now windy), but our view was unobscured and we were able to really appreciate the full impact of this masterpiece, trying to capture the feeling in about 50 or more pictures. I've included just a few of the very best for your viewing.