Today was rest day! Everyone is still pretty tired from the 7-mile hike to Black Elk Peak, so we decided to skip the hike to Bear Butte. We did, however, visite the visitor center, where we saw many artifacts and learned a bit about the history behind Bear Butte, which is also regarded as a sacred place to the Lakota and Cheyenne peoples. Apparently the peak of that mountain is where the creator would instruct its people how to live.
I found interesting and kind of annoying that mountain was purchased (!) by South Dakota from the Bovee family. It brings me back to my thoughts from yesterday about who gets to own a mountain like this. I guess being owned by a state may be potentially less harmful to the land than being owned by an individual family, but I’m not completely convinced of that, as I can see many potential opportunities for a state to overreach its power over any resources Bear Butte may offer. Regardless of that, however, I did appreciate knowing that the Summit Trail closes during the summer whenever the Cheyenne spiritual leaders come to fast on the upper slopes of Bear Butte. Considering the treatment that indigenous people have received since colonizers came to the U.S., I do consider this to be a good gesture, even though minor, as the mountain has been used by these leaders for thousands of years.
Anyway, after that short stop, we drove to Ten Sleep, WY, where we’ll camp for the night. We didn’t do any hikes though, so we weren’t in contact with too many plants, except the ones around the Leigh Creek Campground, which is a great place to be at, especially with the creek running so close by!
In any case, I’m choosing to write about Poison Ivy today - or Toxicodendron rydbergii from the Cashew family - since we did find some on the little pathway that leads to the creek behind our campsite.
I’m starting to recognize this plant a little bit more, although I still find it terribly plain when it’s not in bloom or hasn’t turn red. I think that drawing it though may make me more aware of its characteristics, so that’s what I’ll do!
Journal entry by Deborah
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