#Goals

Shortly after we arrived in Sturgis, SD we noticed a beautiful mountain easily seen from our home. We eventually found out it is called Bear Butte and this mountain is located less than ten miles from our house. One afternoon after work David announced he wanted us to go over and explore the state park. We quickly changed into some hiking clothes and headed to the park.

As we were driving to see Bear Butte my husband decided to tell that me one of his goals was for *us* to make the 2+ mile hike up to the summit from the visitor center. Ummm, what?! 😳 Needless to say I was not quite as enthusiastic about this new goal as my beloved was. However, I put on a brave face and we proceeded to leisurely walk around the park at the base of the mountain.

After learning about the history of this land I felt more inspired to make this goal happen. This area of the country is sacred to the Lakota, and considered this mountain a holy site. Even Sitting Bill and Crazy Horse would visit this mountain from time to time. It was held in very high regard to the Native Americans. To this day they still come to this site to pray and you will see prayer clothes tied on trees all around the park. They ask you not to touch these cloths or take pictures making a big publication of them. Out of respect for their culture we will do our best to crop any pictures of the many prayer clothes that are in the shots we may be taking.

Full of this newfound inspiration, I pushed David to have us walk just a little of the trail up the mountain. We made it about half a mile and then decided to turn around. That was enough for the first day. We will go further the next time we visit and eventually we will take pictures from the summit. Bear Butte is a delightful park, and we are excited to have such a meaningful area just a few miles from our house. Stayed tuned as we accomplish this goal!

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