Day 15 - Wind Cave, Hot Spriings, SD -> Wyoming

This morning I decided to sleep in until almost 8:30. For those that know me, that is a feat in itself as I am usually up by 6am. Maybe it has something to do with not having to get up to go to work anymore? I think it’s partly that and the fact that I’m just sleeping better out under the stars.

After a quick shower, I gathered my things and drove to Custer to have breakfast. Options are limited in a small town so I decided on Subway, where I could sit down, open up my laptop and plan what to do for the day. When I walked in, I noticed a couple dressed in motorcycle attire and carefully studying maps. After I ordered my breakfast sandwich and coffee, I sat down at a table adjacent to them and asked where they were headed. We got to talking and it turns out that they were from British Columbia, Canada. Bob and Brenda Timbers had been on the road for almost two months, driving east through the Canadian Provinces, down through Maine and some of the New England States and then back across the Midwest where I met up with them at a Subway in downtown Custer, SD. They had accumulated a little over 12,000 miles so far on a BMW motorcycle and hope to get back home in about a week. Barbara writes articles for motorcycle magazines and is also writing a blog for friends and family. I would give her blog a plug here if it was public, but she was kind enough to add me to her route list so I am looking forward to reading about their trip. I can’t imagine how they are able to carry everything they need, for two people, for two months, on a single motorcycle. It makes me feel like I am going a bit overboard and bringing everything but the kitchen sink. It was a pleasure meeting and talking with Bob and Brenda and I wish them safe travels back to Canada, eh!

I decided to head south out of Custer on US-385 and visit Wind Cave National Park. On my way there I saw a few more Bison, some Pronghorn Antelope and a bunch of little Prairie Dogs. I got there just in time to catch a free cave tour starting at 12:30. As of now, Wind Cave is the fourth longest cave in the world at 134 miles. I say, as of now, because it is constantly being explored and is almost documented at 135 miles, which would put it tied at #3. Wind Cave got its name from a small, 10 inch opening in the earth where air is blown out or is sucked in depending on the atmospheric pressure changes. Supposedly, wind has been clocked blowing out at over 100+mph. It is 630 ft deep and stays a constant 53F all year round. Based on air and volume calculations (I’m simplifying of course), several scientists estimate that only 5-10% of the cave has been discovered. The tour lasted about 1 ½ hours and was excellent!

From Custer I headed further south to Hot Springs where I visited the “Mammoth Site”. This is an active archeological dig site where excavators uncovered Mammoth bones in 1974 while trying to build a housing development. New bones are constantly being discovered thus increasing the total number of animals found. These animals were dated back approximately 26,000 years ago to the Ice Age. So far, 59 Mammoths (both Columbian and Wooly), along with camels, wolves, giant short-faced bears and some 50+ other species have been identified here in Hot Springs, SD. Admission was $8.00 and the tour was about 25 minutes, so if old bones is your thing, go check it out.

After spending several fantastic days in South Dakota, I figured it was time to move on. My two choices were to go south through Nebraska or west into Wyoming and then head south from there. I didn’t recognize any towns or cities in Nebraska that sounded familiar but I’ve heard of Cheyenne, WY so with a few touches of the GPS buttons to set my coordinates I was off in the direction of Cheyenne. The GPS estimated that it was about a 4.5 hour drive, getting me there around 9:30. Everywhere I have went, the scenery has been amazing. A few minutes out of Hot Springs, it seemed like the houses disappeared, obviously there were a few here and there, but for the most part there were none that were visible from the road. It was mainly grassland where herds of cattle would graze or just wide open, unattended fields. I came to the crest of a hill and it was like looking over WY from the sky and getting a preview of what was in store. I think after 30-40 minutes after leaving Hot Springs, SD I crossed over into Wyoming. I drove with my binoculars on my lap, video camera and digital camera on the passenger seat and my phone/camera charging on the center console. I found myself stopping every 10-15 minutes to try to take pictures of all of the Pronghorn Antelope. They were everywhere, several hundred of them easily along the way, but it was difficult to get them on film because they spook easily. Just as I pulled over and was ready to take a picture, off they went.

Determined to see as much of this country as I can, I decided to pick a spot to sleep here in Lusk, WY, and continue on tomorrow when there is daylight again. It is a full moon tonight with perfectly clear, starry bright skies. Low for this evening is 37 degrees so it should be good sleeping weather again. My fingers are already frozen.

Buenos noches.

Day 14 - Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore. Black Hills, SD

Today marks my 14^th day on the road. I have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this trip so far, minus sleeping in the car, and am looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Last night was a chilly night. When I woke up at 7am it was 35 degrees. I was pretty comfortable in my sleeping bag but tonight I think I’ll wear another layer of clothing.

Before I started the day, I wanted to finish yesterday’s blog so I headed a few miles south to Custer so I could get a better signal on my phone to connect to the internet. It would be a lot easier if there were a Starbucks or a Barnes and Noble around for free wifi but I haven’t seen one of those since I left Minneapolis. I entered the Cattleman’s Steak and Fish restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and sat down to the table with my laptop, two cameras, phone and various cables and got to work. Considering that I’ve been in cattle country for the past few days, I decided that it was only right to order the steak and eggs breakfast, medium rare. I’ve now come to learn that medium rare in South Dakota means just enough time on the fire to set some grill marks. It was about as red in the middle as lightly seared tuna, and it was oh so delicious! As my brother is often heard saying “this animal already died once for its sins, why do we need to kill it a second time?” I couldn’t agree more. For those of you who like your meat “cooked”, keep this in mind if you ever come to SD.

I decided that today was going to be an easy day. You would think that while I’m traveling I would have all the time in the world to myself. On the contrary, I’m usually on the go from about 7am until 8 or 9pm and needed some time to relax.

First on the agenda for today was to see the Crazy Horse monument which was only about 6 miles north from Custer. This is another mountain carving, just like Mt. Rushmore, only this one is of an Oglala Lakota Indian warrior and his horse. Construction is far from complete, although carving began in 1948 by a Polish American sculptor (there’s a joke in there somewhere). The monument was visible from miles away and a really good view could be had at the front entrance. Since roughly 25% of the carving was complete I figured I didn’t need to pay just to get a closer look at the head. Maybe in another 50 years when they finish his arm I’ll reconsider?

Mt. Rushmore was another 17 miles up the road from the Crazy Horse monument. The sun was out, it was about 75 degrees and there were plenty of people out taking in the sights. Admission was $10 to help offset the expenses for the new parking facility and re-admission to the park is good for a calendar year. Mt. Rushmore features the heads of four US presidents carved into the granite walls. From left to right, the faces are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln, each approximately 60 feet high. This monument was sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and finished by his son Lincoln. Initial construction began in 1927 and the faces were completed by 1939. The original plan for Mt. Rushmore was to carve out each president from head to waist until funding ran out in 1941. I took part in the free walking tour led by one of the park rangers which was a good way to learn a little about the history and great contributions each of these presidents made that have shaped our country and why they were chosen to be a part of Mt. Rushmore. This was well worth the visit.

That’s was about it for today. Nice and easy. Tomorrow I might head out of South Dakota but to where I’m not sure? I’ll look at some maps over breakfast and take it from there. I’m also taking suggestions.

Mileage update: 2,287.5

Day 13 - SD, Black Hills, Custer, Needles, Mt. Harney

There were no campgrounds open near the town of Keystone last night. I drove around for almost an hour trying to find one, but I kept coming up short. My shelter for the night was the front seat of my Subaru, a very, very uncomfortable option. There are not many ways to contort one’s own body while being confined to the cockpit of a car. I slept in spurts of maybe 10 minutes, with each interval being interrupted by a cramped leg or a sore neck. I’d be lucky if I slept more than an hour in total. It started raining heavily around 10pm and continued on through the night, so maybe it was an acceptable trade off, sleeping in a car vs. packing up wet camping gear in a downpour?

At about 5am, I couldn’t take sitting in my car any longer and I set out to search for a place that served coffee. Of course, nothing was open so I sat in front of a little shop advertising “all you can eat pancakes, $1.99". It didn't open until 7am so I waited in the parking lot. At around 6:30 the owner came out and asked me if I was waiting for his shop to open and he invited me to come inside while the griddles warmed up and the coffee brewed. Mt. Rushmore opened at 8am so I sat and talked with the owner for about 1 ½ hours, helping myself to refills of coffee behind the counter. Initially, I thought I was going to be sending the owner back and forth repeatedly to make more pancakes but I could only handle the first plate of two because each one was about the size of an 18oz porterhouse.

As I was getting ready to leave, a minivan pulled up and six senior citizens got out and came in for breakfast. As they talked I picked up on a very unique accent and asked if they were from Maine. Turns out they were from Rockland. I said “So, what do you put on your Waas’ hot dog?” They sprung to attention faster than they have probably moved in 50 years. They couldn’t believe that I knew of a tiny little shack selling hot dogs in the small town of Rockland. I mentioned that I worked for FMC and would occasionally travel there to visit our manufacturing facility. We connected further as we discussed other area establishments like “The Brown Bag” and “Red’s” famous lobster rolls. One of the gentlemen used to work for Marine Colloids, a company that FMC acquired some 20-30 years ago. He said I reminded him of his favorite grandson. I didn’t think Grandparents were allowed favorites; at least not mention this in public? I kindly took the compliment and I headed up the road to Mt. Rushmore. That was my small world story for the day.

It was still raining hard and there was low cloud cover, so much that Mt. Rushmore was not visible. I figured I would come back to see Rushmore later and instead take 16A towards Custer State Park to witness the roundup of the buffalo. Apparently, the Black Hills is home to some 1,450 buffalo. The purpose of the roundup is to thin the herd to manageable and sustainable levels, somewhere around 950. Calves are branded and females are vaccinated. Approximately 500 animals are sorted for sale stock. The drive to Custer was probably not much more than 25 miles but it took a little over an hour to get there because of the narrow, twisting roads that traversed over hills, through one-lane tunnels and several thousand feet of elevation changes, up and down. It was a beautiful drive and some parts reminded me of driving through Switzerland, with hair pin turns on the edge of steep cliffs. This was definitely a different South Dakota than I was used to.

The Black Hills forest opened up in Custer and revealed rolling hills of prairie land. I saw tons of white-tail deer (8-10+ pts, Kevin), wild turkeys and pronghorn. I eventually came to a crest of a hill which made visible several hundred grazing buffalo. I continued along the road and was able to get within petting distance of some rather large creatures. I sat in my car and watched them graze for almost 2 hours. What a fantastic experience!

From here I drove the Needles Highway (SD 87) which leads up to Sylvan Lake. This was another gorgeous drive covering 14 miles of twisting, narrow roads. Along the drive are amazing views of high granite rock faces. Needles Highway got its name from the slender granite peaks, cathedral-like spires and the “Needles Eye” which resembles the eye of a needle. I took a break from the car and hiked up the Cathedral Spires Trailhead to get up close to these giant rocks.

I arrived at Sylvan Lake and found the campground to be closed. I was hoping this was not going to be another sleepless night in the car. Right at the base of Sylvan Lake was the entrance to the Mt. Harney Trailhead. The peak of Mt. Harney is the highest elevation (7,242 ft) in the US, east of the Rocky Mountains. It was now 2:30pm and a sign at the base of the trail suggested allowing 4-5 hours to complete the 6.5 mile round trip hike. Knowing I was at risk of losing daylight, I hurriedly assembled my backpack and made my way to the top. The hike brought me close to the rock faces and it was neat to see the granite walls from higher elevations, a different perspective from the road. Along the trail, I kept my eyes peeled to hopefully catch a glimpse of some elk, bighorn sheep and mountain goats which are known to be in the area; unfortunately I didn’t see anything except more big bucks. I eventually made it to the top of Mt. Harney. Absolutely incredible views, looking down at the tips of the spires in the distance, when just a few hours before I was looking straight up at them. Hopefully the pictures do it justice!

I made it back down by 6pm with plenty of light left. I kept a good pace going up to ensure I would get back in time. Round trip was 3 hours 25 minutes.

I set out to look for a place to sleep so I headed south towards Custer City where I came across Fort Welikit. $12 and a secluded place to pitch a tent was a welcome relief.

I have been having a hard time with cell coverage the past few days so I cooked some dinner and enjoyed a fire, leaving the blog until this morning where I could get a signal from a downtown restaurant.