My Pilgrimage to Sturgis Part V

“My Pilgrimage to Sturgis” is a multi-part story chronicling my trip to the 75^th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Week.

Part V – Wildlife Loop and Wind Cave National Park:

For our third and final day in The Black Hills, we took the Wildlife Loop of Custer State Park, and visited Wind Cave National Park.  Our previous two days had shown us the wisdom of starting the day early.  This, coupled with the fact that camping means getting up at sunrise, meant that we once again started our journey around 7:00 AM.  The journey began with the Wildlife Loop.

The wildlife loop was a treat unto itself.  Shortly after entering the loop, we found our vehicle surrounded by a large herd of wild buffalo.  For a full fifteen minutes, we were effectively part of the herd, with a huge bull standing on the road less than 20 feet from the van, a calf feeding from mom’s teat a stone’s throw away, and countless bison grazing, meandering and playing on and around the road.  I knew from previous visits that buffalo were large, but 30-odd years of time allowed me to forget just how big they can get.  The largest of them were fully two-thirds the size of the van, and probably weighed half as much as our transport.  The wife had never seen bison in real life, and instantly became a buffalo fan.  (This may present some gift opportunities in the future, but that’s another story.)  After working our way through the herd, we meandered through the rest of the park, seeing a few deer, a wild burro, and a few prairie dogs.  From there, we headed to Wind Cave National Park.

Buffalo on Wildlife Loop

The drive to the park took 45 minutes or so… another leisurely, winding drive, rife with prairies, pine-covered hills, prairie dogs, antelope and other wildlife.  After arriving at the cave, we signed up for a tour, which is guided by Park Rangers.  The guide was incredibly personable and knowledgeable about the cave.  We took the longer tour, which lasted roughly 90 minutes.  Our guide informed us about the boxwork formations, which are apparently very rare, and showed us popcorn formations… small mineral deposits that resemble popcorn.  Beyond this, there’s not much I can really say to relay the experience… either you like the idea of caves, and find them cool, or you don’t.  I’m in the former camp.  If you like caves, then Wind Cave National Park is worth the visit.  If you don’t then I don’t recommend it.

 Wind Cave

After the cave, we stopped in the town of Custer and had lunch.  One thing I really wanted to do while I was in South Dakota was eat buffalo.  (I had buffalo burgers as a kid, and remember liking them, which made me want to revisit the experience as an adult.)  I actually did this twice… on the first day, I had a bison burger.  But the stop in Custer allowed me to eat a buffalo steak, which in my opinion gives a far better idea of what bison tastes like.  The best way to explain bison’s flavor is to compare it to beef.  The texture and flavor are very similar, except that bison is far leaner, and has a very mild gamey taste, similar to young venison.

Once we finished our lunch, we headed back to camp for a day of relaxation and watching the throngs of bikes pass by.  Sometime around mid-afternoon, we were treated with an unexpected visit of several female bighorn sheep.  This visit also brought throngs of tourists, who stopped along the side of the road to take some pictures.  In fact, a pair of bikers from Mexico stopped to view the picture.  They spoke little English, and I speak little Spanish, but we bonded over the wildlife spectacle and our mutual journey to Sturgis.  We communicated for a few precious minutes, gave man hugs as we parted ways, and bid one another “Vaya Con Dios.”  That brief international encounter gave me warm fuzzies, and reinforced the notion that we really are all one race.