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.