Wilderness Wandering

September 14 through September 16

Thursday

We departed Theodore Roosevelt NP.

We passed through Belle Fourche, the geographic center of the U.S. and toured the historic museum.

We drove The Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway as we traveled to South Dakota. The scenery was lush and densely forested, with the gorgeous Rubicon Gulch running along the roadside, punctuated by waterfalls from time to time. We pulled over and ate lunch looking at Bridal Veil Falls. 

It was an amazing change in scenery from the dry treeless landscape of the northern badlands. 

Spearfish Canyon is part of The Black Hills. The hills are so called because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they are covered in evergreen trees.

Friday

We boondocked in Custer, SD at the George S. Mickelson Trailhead. This is one of Tim’s favorite trails in the world. This was my first time on the trail. The full trail is 109 miles long and contains more than 100 bridges and 4 rock tunnels. It goes from Deadwood to Edgemont. It follows the historic Burlington Northern Railroad route. The trail is crushed limestone and is never flat. It’s either going uphill or downhill. We rode the trail from Custer to Rochford 38.6 miles. Custer to the next trailhead was 5 miles all uphill. But later on we had 9 miles all downhill!! It continued with long stretches up then down.

At the end of we ate lunch at the quirky, fun Moonshine Gulch in Rochford. No pie, but mouth watering onion rings!

Friday night we were star gazing and were treated to seeing the Star Link satellite train!

Saturday

We stayed in Custer with our friends Connie and Brad. Connie treated me to a morning at Moccasin Springs Spa in Hot Springs, SD. It was refreshing after our bike ride yesterday!

In the afternoon we visited our 2nd national park of this trip – Wind Cave. 

We were aware that we would not be able to actually go into the cave as the elevator was broken most of the summer and not expected to be repaired until late October. 

We visited the visitor center to watch the film and stamp our National Parks passport.

We also saw the original entrance to the cave. The Lakota Sioux considered the Wind Cave area to be sacred. 

Wind Cave is one of the longest caves in the world, and experts believe that only 5 percent of the network has been discovered. Each year, about 4 new  miles are discovered. 

We hiked the Prairie Vista Nature Center Trail in back of the visitor center. We also hiked The Rankin Ridge Trail which leads to the highest point in the park and extraordinary views. We could see The Badlands in the distance. 

We will have to return again someday to tour the 6th longest cave in the world!