Black HIlls Day 7: Needles HIghway and Iron Mountain Road

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A huge storm passed over us at about 9:30 last night, heavy rain, with thunder and lightning.  It was so threatening that we hauled out our flashlights just in case....

Lay in bed trying to decide whether to get up or not when I saw a deer walk by our bedroom window!

The storm had the lovely effect of changing the weather, down from the mid-90s to the upper 70s.

Left the house sometime after eight am and took the Needles Highway south, a Scenic Bypass.  Started out as a lovely but typical mountain road, but eventually we did some impressive climbing.  First stop at Legion Lake, where we started seeing the first rock outcroppings – the Needles.

 Lovely forest and views, incredibly large boulders and cliffs, sharp switchbacks and steep climbs.  Just as glad Norbert was driving!

At the very top of the road (climb) is a longish one-lane tunnel, plus of course an impressive outlook.  Also the Eye of the Needle, a small slit in a rock.  Well, maybe not so small.

Stopped at the entrance of the tunnel and took photos all around.  Watch a large pick-up truck go through, they had to fold their rear-view mirrors in, it was so tight!






Finally, Norbert walked through the tunnel to photograph me driving through it.  Driving there was really cool – a wonderful experience!

Stopped again on the other side for more photos.

From there it was down the mountain with more stops at incredible views.  And incredible switchbacks!

We were back in the Custer State Park at this point, and stopped at the general store near the Lodge we had stayed at for a pit stop and coffee break.  Drove around the next bend and saw buffalo!  Literally hundreds of them, on both sides of the road, by the cabins, on the lawn of the visitor center, practically up to the Lodge parking lot and of course on the road too!

Stopped as soon as we could and took some photos, then I drove so Norbert could take pictures.  There were really hundreds of them, of all sizes.  So incredibly impressive and such an incredible experience to see them up close.

Then we exited the park and turned north on the Iron Mountain Road, me still driving.  At first it seemed like nothing more than another pretty mountain road.  But then we started climbing – lots of very slow driving today!

At one point we pulled over and there was Mt. Rushmore! So we got some photos.

This road too has tunnels, one or two of which nicely frame Mt. Rushmore. 

It also has the famous “pigtail bridges”, which are circular or semicircular structures for when the incline is too steep for a ramp or switchback. Think of the spiral ramp in a parking garage......

We drove home through Keystone, and decided to skip Mt. Rushmore.  We had seen it well from the road several times, and frankly, it had never interested us all that much anyway.

Keystone is a horror:  total tourist trap. Water slides, zipline, chainsaw art, you name it! We scooted on through but stopped at a totally rundown gift shop/cafe for lunch, where we had the best hotdogs of our whole trip. Go figure!

I picked up a city map and discovered a glass blower.  So we went in search of it, and of course by the time I figured we had taken the wrong road, we found it.  Such beautiful things!  Very delicate and lovely colors. Norbert bought me a beautiful pink bowl, which will go in my hand baggage.

Home and a rest.

Later we drove back towards Rapid City, to Reptile Gardens.

 Overall it was a disappointment. The grounds and gardens were beautiful, but I thought they just didn't have that many animals, and that the cages/enclosures were on the small side. There was a prairie dog village which was nice (I have quite lost my heart to the little darlings).

 There were two Galapagos Tortoises whose necks you could pet. (And yes, they are huge!)

There is also a large dome with free-roaming critters, including one lizard who obligingly posed on the walkway for us.

We finished it off by watching the alligator/crocodile show, which was good.

Stopped at the grocery store for some ham steaks to throw on the grill.

Badlands and Black HIlls: Days 5 & 6: Lead and Spearfish Canyon

Sunday, 14 August, we took as more or less a day off. Met some friends, goofed off. The most notable event of the day was some fresh corn we bought, which is probably the best corn on the cob I have ever eaten in my life.

Monday, 15 August

Left home shortly after eight and headed north. We drove up to Lead, passing by Roubaix (are we in France?).

The road takes you right through downtown Lead, which is pronounced “Leed” and not “Led”, which I had not known. It was the home of the Homestake Gold Mine, the largest gold mine in the US, which closed in 2001 after 120 years of operation.

It reminded Norbert very much of his hometown, which was based around the Sophia-Jacoba coal mine.  The mine basically was the town.  It provided housing, schools, social life and amenities, hospital, stores and everything.  Even much of the mining procedure was familiar to him.

We stopped at the visitors center and signed up for the tour. We first saw the Open Cut, where they mined like a quarry.  It was huge!

Then we boarded a trolley which took us around the city.

 It is exactly one mile high, like Denver, which they say “stole” that title, so they are “the Mile-High city with a heart of gold”. It is a mountain city, that is for sure! Lots of up and downs.

We ended up at the gold mine, which closed 10 years ago. It is now being transformed into a science center, with a neutrino lab way down underground. Don't ask me to explain the details!

From there we headed to the Spearfish Canyon and the scenic drive. It is a narrow canyon with a stream running along the bottom. It is quite lovely surrounded by beautiful cliffs and stone mountains.

We stopped at Roughlock Falls and drove up a gravel road to the end. We then followed the stream down to the falls, stopping along the way for lots of photos! Lovely! The water was cold, but not icy, and we saw fish in it.

 
From there we continued north to Savoy where we stopped for lunch. Norbert had a cup of chili and pulled pork BBQ sandwich, and I had a cheeseburger sandwich.

The canyon finally came to an end in Spearfish and the interstate, but we continued north to Belle Fourche, where with a bit of difficulty we found the marker for the geographical center of the US. (The actual geographic center is really off in some corn field, so they picked a nice place by the visitor center for the marker.)

 From there we drove home – it was a long day, since we got home about 3:30. A hot day too, up in the mid-90s.

I darted out a bit later and visited a quilt store and Christmas store.  The latter had so much --- well let's just say things that weren't my taste! But I did find a nice leather buffalo ornament allegedly handmade by Sioux Indians.

Leftovers for dinner tonight, bratwurst for N and chicken for me.

Badlands/Black HIlls Day 4: Buffalos and Mammoths

Saturday, August 13

Wanted a small breakfast but when we got to the Lodge restaurant, we decided for the buffet.  It was not cheap but well worth it.  Probably the best breakfast buffet I have ever had in the US.  So we had a big breakfast to tide us over.

We wanted to head south for the day and went via the Wildlife Loop.  We were close to the intersection to turn on to the Loop when we stopped by a large herd of Buffalo on both sides of the road and crossing the road. Sat there for a long time watching and snapping pictures.

 I loved watching them go down to the creek to drink.

We saw a small herd of deer along the way, so we stopped there too.  They smelled us so they dashed across the road so that they were upwind from us. 

As we continued along we saw prairie dogs, lots of deer, another buffalo herd (from a distance) and the mules again.

We exited the park and turned south.  Apparently the Wind Cave National Park is directly next to the Custer State Park.  Lots more beautiful prairies and mountains.  Again, saw deer, and buffalo up in the woods.  As we turned into the visitors center driveway, we saw a prairie dog colony and of course had to stop for photos.

Took a short tour almost immediately.  Was surprised to hear it took a whole hour, as the time went so fast.  This is the seventh national park to be established and the fifth largest cave system in the US, possibly the world.

They are as proud of their stewardship of the plains (22,000 acres) and the animals as they are of the cave.  Lovely, lovely area.

From there we decided to head on south to Hot Springs where we stopped at a gas station mini-mart to buy a cola and a sandwich. 

We continued on to The Mammoth Site.  We ate our sandwich with fritos from last night at a nicely shaded picnic table n the grounds.

In 1974 a developer was grading land to build houses when he ran across some bones.  It turned out to be the “grave” of so far 67 mammoths.  They are still being excavated. 

How did they end up there?  It was a sinkhole, filled with hot water, so that grass grew year round.  They went to eat it, fell in and couldn't get out due to the slick shale sides, so that they either drowned or died of exhaustion.

 
All were male and almost all were the mammoth equivalent of teen agers.  I'm sure there is a moral in there, but far be it for me – as the mother of a male teen ager – to draw it.  (cough cough).

We headed west and then north, through Pringle (not the home of the same-named potato chip).    South of Custer you can see the Crazy Horse sculpture from the road, that was enough for us. then on to Custer and drove on through to Hill City.

 It was FULL of motorcyclists.  We found a parking place and walked up and back down the main street.  We got an ice cream and sat outside and watched the people – fascinating!

From there we went east a bit to find our cabin. We ran into the owner walking out as we walked in.  It is lovely, and bigger than I had expected.  Not huge but certainly big enough for two! (Photos are terrible, but give the idea of the cabin.)

After goofing off for a while we went to the very close grocery store.  Bought two steaks, some yellow rice and a veg for dinner.  Norbert fired up the gas grill for the steaks and I did the inside things.

A nice dinner and then a lazy evening.

Badlands/Black Hills: Day 3, Custer State Park

Friday, August 12

There was quite a thunderstorm overnight, which woke us both up. Went right back to sleep though.  We later heard that it was a very bad storm about 50 miles east, with hail and extremely heavy winds.

Norbert got up at 5:30 and went out to take pictures. It was already too late for the sunrise (!), but of course he got some lovely photos, including a doe and fawn, and some wild turkeys.

I was wearing pink capris and a pastel striped top.  When I checked out, the woman told me I looked “so pretty in pink!”  Isn't that a nice way to start the day!

Had breakfast and were on our way by 8:15.  Drove back through the park for one last longing look at the beauties.  Stopped at a gas station in Wall to tank up.

Headed west on the interstate. In Rapid City we stopped at the visitors center and I took over driving. Headed south to Custer State Park. We paid our entry charge and took the Wildlife Loop Drive. 

Almost immediately we came across a herd of bison! They were in the woods on the other side of the road. Must have been 50 or so. They were smaller than the ones we saw in Badlands.  Everyone stopped and pulled over. Got some photos of course.

There was a darling buffalo calf....

Drove along the whole loop. The only other critters we saw were the wild donkeys. We had to stop longer than we wanted since one mare and foal thought we were lovely folks who would love to feed them (they were wrong), but stood so close to the car I was afraid to drive.

The park is lovely – mountains, forests, clearings, big sky – but a bit of a letdown after the Badlands. (note:  we changed our minds about this later, as we fell in love with it.)

Stopped for lunch at the lodge at Legion Lake.  Looked like a regular grill-type of place (nothing spectacular) but we both had excellent and much-too-large salads.

Continued on to the State Game Lodge.

 Too early to check in, so we just sat in the lobby until it was time. We got an “historical room” in the old part of the lodge. Probably just as small as the cabin yesterday! But with antiques, so has lots of personality. Nice to stay somewhere a bit different.




Rested for a while, then went for a walk. Across the road to the cabins, then along to the general store. Didn't buy anything, though.

The lodge was built in the 1920s and was the summer White House for Calvin Coolidge. The stream running here (and the campground) is named for his wife Grace.

 
Then we got back in the car and drove west to the town of Custer.  Talk about motorcycles! 

Actually it was fun to watch them and see all the special booths and things for them. Enjoyed it very much. Walked several blocks up and down main street, went in few stores.  Stopped at a grocery store on our way out of town and bought chips and cheese and crackers (plus wine and beer) for dinner tonight.

We had decided it was time to eat a bit less, so we had dinner in our room.  Small room, so we laid the buffet out on our bed between us. It is a double bed which tends to run uphill to the foot of the bed, so we did rather have to grab the cheese slices every time one of us moved.....