23.jul.19 - Mount Rushmore 2 - Presidential Trail

Mount Rushmore Revisited

The RV is now registered and plated and with the enormous crowds expected for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, I thought to return to this monument to what the United States really is all about. 

In the ideal. The right of the individual to be self-governed and to be free of forced servitude to others. Never guaranteed, never perfect, ever under attack, always requiring the individual to enforce that right.

The Presidential Trail around the right side of the Grand View Terrace brings you to the Sculptor's Studio shown here where models by Gutzon Borglum are displayed and a Park Ranger gives a talk on the conception and construction of the monument

The many, many steps of the Presidential Trail takes you much closer to the monument and a greater appreciation to the dedication of all who worked to bring the conception to life here. 

I climbed the trail twice today, once early in the morning with no one else in sight, later in the day with great crowds of Americans and visitors from all over willing (and able, some are not) to make the extra effort it takes to fully appreciate the monument.

Other pictures did not turn out well enough to post here, but in all honesty, come here yourself, see what you can, and be a part of this ideal. 

The option really is some sort of forced servitude to those of less integrity and value than yourself.