We checked out of Ellsworth AFB lodging that morning, set to drive to our third state high point in as many days. On the 28th we had hiked Harney Peak, the highest point in South Dakota, followed the next day by White Butte, ND. On the 27th we had run the Wyoming Marathon, where I placed 2nd, and Laila was first female.
Now we were on the homestretch driving back to Colorado Springs intent on nabbing yet another high point: 5,424 foot Panorama Point in the south west corner of the state.
The route to the south west corner of Nebraska was varied and scenic. We first made a side trip to Mount Rushmore--a site we had missed when we had bagged the high point of SD two days before. Next we drove by the spectacular Bad Lands National Park, then through Pine Ridge on the Sioux reservation. I had recently read "On the Rez" by Ian Frazier where he recounts contemporary life with the Sioux there at Pine Ridge. I had lived there in the late fifties as my father served his military time as a doctor to the Sioux, in between his internship at Harborview Hospital of New York City, and his subsequent residency in psychiatry at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. Though I was a mere three years old when we left the "rez" I have vivid memories of my time there.
Next stop was "Carhenge" near Alliance Nebraska--a strange form of "car art" consisting of old wrecks assembled in a mockery of Stonehenge.
We continued on down the road making a diversion to view the landmark of pioneers, "Chimney Rock" a vertical spire arising from the plains that marked the end of the plains and the start of more mountainous terrain, culminating in the Rockies.
We found Courthouse and Jail Rocks to be more suited to our style-- no visitor center, and available for scrambling to the summit. After a couple scramble points, notably a narrow chimney I stood on the summit of Courthouse. Sam balked at the chimney, while Laila though she made it up that obstacle, opted not to try the next small cliff band as her sandals were not up to the job.
I had last been to Panorama Point, the high point of Nebraska near the culmination of a nine-day cross country trip from Quebec to our new station of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. My wife (now ex) was livid that I was making this unnecessary diversion from our itinerary to traipse along dirt roads to this frivolous bump in the landscape. Happily, my new life companion, Laila welcomes the chance to see all our great country has to offer.
This was her 16th high point.
Again we followed Paul Zumwalt's clear directions from his "Fifty State Summits". From Kimball, NE we drove 12 miles west on I-80, exiting south of Bushnell, and drove south for ten miles on CR-17 to CR-8. From there we drove west for 4.2 miles to CR-9 where we went left for one mile to CR-6. We then drove west on CR-6 two miles to CR-5, then south on CR-5 for two miles to Panorama Road. There is a box requesting a $2/person donation from which the high point is a short drive to the west. To your left you will see a herd of bison. The high point is nothing but a rise in the plains. Courthouse Rock was the more satisfying of our summits on this day.
