Mt. Fogmore Becomes Mt. Rushmore

Kicking it old school. A map and a marker.

There’s a three-letter word that describes most of our Thursday travels: FOG.

As we drove east from Cody to Mt. Rushmore - 370 miles - we encountered heart-stopping-white-knuckle-Jesus-take-the-wheel conditions as we crossed the Big Horn Mountains. 

Dicey road conditions in Wyoming’s Big Horn Mountains.

It was terrifying.

Steep grades, hairpin turns, no place to pull over and fog so thick at times that we could barely see the lines in the road.

There was no stopping, no going back.

Once we were through the range, however, the sun popped out and it was easy driving the rest of the way to Mt. Rushmore. Our goal was to arrive in time for the 8 p.m. lighting ceremony in the park service amphitheater, so we drove at break-neck speeds to make up for our mountain crawl. We pulled into the parking lot precisely at 7:30.

We sprinted uphill to the amphitheater, trying to catch our breath in the thin 5,725-foot-elevation-air only to look up and see this:

We drove 1,000 miles for THIS?

We dissolved into uncontrollable laughter. Seems we’d driven hundreds of miles to the Black Hills of South Dakota only to arrive at Mt. Fogmore. 

The entire mountain was engulfed in a cloud. 

The program began and the ranger cautioned that fog comes and fog goes at Rushmore. Sure enough, by the time roughly 1,500 tourists belted out “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the fog miraculously lifted and there they were: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln.

Mt. Rushmore is best seen at night.

Almost as if the National Park Service has a giant fan to blow away the cloud cover at the perfect moment.

I’ve been to Mt. Rushmore twice before, always in the daytime. To be honest, both times I found it a bit underwhelming. By contrast, the nighttime illumination and the program that goes before it is glorious. If you’ve been to Mt. Rushmore but only during the day, go back at night! 

During a short film at the lighting ceremony there are clips of the army of workers who dynamited and carved the presidential quartet out of granite. An amazing feat.

At the conclusion of the program the ranger invited all active duty and retired military to the stage for a flag ceremony. Dozens made their way down. Not surprising, I suppose. This iconic National Monument would have to hold a special appeal to those who served.

Retired and active duty military on stage for the National Park Service flag ceremony.

And another bull rider bites the dust.

PS: After I finished yesterday’s post we headed to the Cody Nite Rodeo, an every night event all summer long. I’ve been to much bigger rodeos, but this one had a sweet, small-town vibe that was fun and the perfect way to wind down after a day of travel. 

The rodeo’s a must-do thing in Cody, along with the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a surprisingly wonderful museum  that’s a Smithsonian affiliate. How good was it? Our 5-year-old begged to stay.

So did I, but we had a date with four presidents in South Dakota.

Someone needs to peel all of those stickers off the state sign.