ajalldredge.blogspot: Custer State Park

My personal favorite of our time in South Dakota, Custer State Park. I want to return someday to camp and hike....or maybe just live in the middle of this incredible piece of ground. We were assured by the Rangers at the Badlands that we would see Bison in CSP, but WOW! We got up close with these beasts. We saw some along the main road, but hoping for a better view we turned down a gravel road. Not far beyond the first set of hills we came across a small herd crossing the road....they brought the van to a complete stop while they leisurely rambled across our path. One bull got close enough to lick the van and once he tasted the salt from the roads he must have used a secret buffalo language to tell his friends. Our van was surrounded by them and the sound of their big tongues smacking against the sides of the van. The kids and I were laughing, but Aaron wasn't quite as amused. When he tried to drive forward the first bull got upset and smacked his head against the van, we were surprised he didn't leave a big dent! We did finally inch forward and make a path for ourselves. I doubt we ever forget that afternoon! Another big event of the day was stopping in clearing for a picnic. A beautiful shallow stream ran along the edge and after lunch the kids wanted to wade in the water. It was like ice....in fact in the shadowed bend in the creek it was still ice. The boys thought it was pretty fun to stand on the icy patch until Isaiah got close to the edge that wasn't so solid. One leg went down into the water while the other was hung up on the ice. I knew I would sink the little berg so I asked Rebecca to grab him, and even her weight started to bring the ice down. Aaron came to the rescue, but with one foot on the bank and one on the now drifting ice, he narrowly missed a dunking himself. The water was only 12-18 inches deep, but Isaiah was pretty soaked. We got everyone into the van, into dry clothes and cranked up the heat. That afternoon a good nap was had!