Tatum ‘27 & Avery ‘27 share the last day’s activities and learning and reflect on the entire 10 day trip. “One thing I think I’ll remember in 20 years is the people on the trip, since we’re kind of an eclectic group but we came together during these ten days.”
On Tuesday, we woke up at 4:30 am and got in the van for our hike up Bear Butte. I was very tired. The mountain was pretty steep and very dry and rocky, with some wooden stairs and barriers to help hikers. There were about 1000 ft of elevation and 3.5 miles round-trip, and the views were amazing as we climbed and the sun rose. It was cool and not too windy, and I loved seeing the bright pink and orange clouds and sky above our heads and on the horizon. Nobody else was around (because it was so early) and Bear Butte was the only mountain or hill for as far as we could see into the distance, so the view was spectacular and the hike was very quiet and calm.
We noticed that there were prayer flags tied to the trees at the bottom of the trail and at the peak, which we’ve also seen at other sites that are important in Lakota belief systems. Prayer flags are cloth strips or pouches that are usually white, black, yellow, or red. At the Wounded Knee memorial site I learned that that these colors correspond to the four colors represented on the medicine wheel. After the descent, Maura and I ran back to the campsite with Mr. Jan, which was also a really peaceful and scenic experience. We ate breakfast and drank many pitchers of coffee at around 7:30, and then got back in the van for our 1-hr drive to Mount Rushmore. We listened to playlist #4 on the way, and the group continued to impress with our impeccable music taste.
Upon arrival at Mt. Rushmore, we walked to the main viewing area of the faces. I liked seeing them in person although I’ve seen so many photos of them, and it was interesting how they were very unevenly sized and placed and there was a huge pile of rock chunks underneath the statues. We climbed some stairs to look at the faces from below, and then went on an information-hunt to find facts about Mt. Rushmore on the signs around the walkways. At 11:20, the adults quizzed the students on our knowledge, and vice versa. I learned that the name of the mountain in Lakota culture is ‘Six Grandfathers,’ which refers to the 6 directions — 4 cardinal directions plus up and down. Because we answered enough questions right, we went to Culver’s in Rapid City for lunch instead of making more wraps, which was kind of like a South Dakota McDonald’s/Chik-Fil-A combination chain restaurant. Delicious.
Once we left Culver’s, it was about 2:00 and time to check in to our hotel rooms, where we showered for the first time in two days. This was wonderful! We had time to relax until 6:00, when we ate pizza at the hotel, and afterwards we circled up to reflect on the trip. Ian mentioned how reflecting on all the things we had done would cement them in our memories more, and we went through the trip day-by-day together remembering the things we did. I had forgotten several things, and in retrospect the ten days seemed both a lot shorter and a lot longer than I had expected. We also reflected on things that we learned about ourselves, things we learned about the Lakota people, things we’ll remember in 20 years and things that surprised us, and we had a really thoughtful conversation. One thing I think I’ll remember in 20 years is the people on the trip, since we’re kind of an eclectic group but we came together during these ten days. We also thanked the Black Mountain Meadows staff and the DA staff for the amazing experience they shared with us during the trip.
