Black Hills (Part 1)

     The final leg of our June 2018 journey began in Custer, SD, in the heart of the Black Hills. This is an area I have always wanted to visit. We rented a small, one-room cabin at a campground as campsites are hard to come by in this area during the summer months. We rolled in just before dark so no time for exploring, just dinner and showers before bed. The next morning, we were up early and off the explore the western side of the area. We drove up Hwy 385, passing by the Crazy Horse Memorial just north of Custer. You can see it from the road. We did not go into the park. I think it's  great they are building this thing and I understand they need help getting the funds to finish it, but I couldn't justify paying $24 just to drive in and see the visitor's center beneath an unfinished sculpture. That entry fee doesn't even get you to the mountain, just a closer view of it. 

Crazy Horse Memorial from Hwy 385.

     The first real stop of the day was at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. We were there just after it opened and so the crowd was small and we really had the chance to enjoy it. If you are even remotely patriotic, you should go see this. Not only is it four pretty great people carved into a mountain with incredible detail and massive size, it's great to read the quotes from each of those men and see what they stood for. Their beliefs and their dedication to the people is what shaped this great country. I was in awe most of the time we were walking around the grounds and on the Presidential Trail. Even more so when I found out Thomas Jefferson had one of the earliest known recipes for ice cream. They sell it at the cafe at the monument, but it wasn't open yet since it was early in the morning. We would have to come back if we wanted some of TJ's ice cream. Good thing the entrance fee is good for the rest of the year!

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Amphitheater for special events

The man, George.

Abe and that beard looking good.

     Some interesting things we learned about Mount Rushmore included that it was originally thought out to bring tourism to the area. I guess it worked. People now flock to the area. It took just over four years to finish, being completed October 31, 1941. About 400 people worked on the project and had to climb 506 steps to the top of the mountain each day. The location was chosen because of the type of granite in the mountain and the fact that it faced southeast, which would maximize sun exposure time, giving them more time to work each day and shining sun onto the monumental figures for longer. The original plan was to carve each president down to the waist, but a lack of funding caused them to only carve heads. About 450,000 tons were blasted off with dynamite during the sculpting. Originally, Thomas Jefferson was to be on the opposite side of George Washington, but once started, the granite wasn't cooperating, so his face was blasted off and started again on the opposite side. Theodore Roosevelt was also not supposed to be set in so far, but the granite was too soft in that part of the mountain and they had to go deeper to find rock to work with. Each face is about 60 feet tall and each eye is about 11 feet across.

Side profile of George Washington from Hwy 244 just west of the memorial.

     We followed Hwy 244 West, passing by Horse Thief Lake and through the Black Hills National Forest, which encompasses 1.2 million acres. Our plan the rest of the day was to explore Spearfish Canyon and the surrounding roads, hopefully scoping out some good road riding routes for the following days. The initial roads were not as exciting as I expected. They were fairly flat and through scattered pine forests. I was expecting curvy roads through thick forests and canyons with lots of climbing. The northwest part of the Hills are not quite like that. We did stumble upon some gravel roads which are always good things to find.

Horse Thief Lake

     We eventually made it to Spearfish Canyon and found some hiking to do in Spearfish Canyon State Natural Area. There are three waterfalls in the area. Two are accessible by short hikes, one is next to the road. We came to the parking area for Roughlock Falls and decided to hit that one first. The trail is fairly easy at just over one mile round trip with a gentle climb and not too many technical features. With it being so short and easy, it can be quite busy, but fortunately there are multiple viewpoints of the falls and none of the groups were hogging up the viewing platforms like at Yellowstone. It was a good leg stretcher, but not really the kind of hike we were hoping for. We wanted some adventure!

Little Spearfish Creek near the Roughlock Falls trailhead.

Roughlock Falls. Bigger fall in the back, cascades in the front.I really liked the contrast of the green plants with the white tumbling water. 

Upper part of Roughlock Falls

Breakneck Gulch with Little Spearfish Creek flowing through it. Would love to know the story behind the gulch name.

     The Little Spearfish Falls trailhead is just a few hundred yards away from the Roughlock Falls trailhead. It was a steeper hike down into a gully before there was a wide, smooth path through the shaded forest over to the falls. I don't usually care for such smooth trails, but this one was cool the way it twisted through the trees. The falls were pretty spectacular. Little Spearfish Creek drops 47 feet down into this gully where it joins Spearfish Creek.

Little Spearfish Falls Trail

Spearfish Falls and the meeting point of Spearfish Creek with Little Spearfish Creek.

     At only 0.75 miles in length, the hike to Spearfish Falls was still not what we wanted. But we soon found adventure. The Devil's Bath Tub is not a labeled trail, but is very well known in the area, especially by locals. We happened to read about it online and had to do a little more research to find parking for the unofficial trailhead. It took us a few minutes to hunt the trail down, but we did find it just off Hwy 14A. The trail was actually multiple trails, criss-crossing Squaw Creek many times as people searched for the easiest route back to a narrow canyon where the creek alternated between fast, flowing rapids and calm, deep pools. Those deep pools are called Devil's Bath Tub. If that sounds familiar it's because we also visited the Devil's Bathtub in Fort Blackmore, VA in 2017. He has multiple bathtubs apparently. And two kitchens in Michigan and Utah.

     The water was deep in many of the creek crossings and moving quite swiftly. You had to really feel your way along the bottom as most of the rocks tried to roll beneath your feet. The current pushed hard against you and made little loss-of-balance moments turn into real problems. I don't have any kind of water shoe, so I decided to go for it in flip flops. I have only owned one pair of flip-flops in my life and I only use them for showering at public showers like in campgrounds. On the way into South Dakota, we stopped at a Shopko for groceries and they had a nice looking pair of flip-flops at a cheap price so I bought them to relax in at the end of the day on this trip and after races. One day later, I hiked 1.5 miles of nasty trail in them. After I got my feet wet and muddy, I could barely keep the things on my feet. I had to curl my toes around the ends just to keep them from coming off as I walked, or getting washed down stream at the crossings. Some of the trail options would end abruptly and we had to turn back and take a different option to keep moving up the creek. Usually the easiest creek crossing options were the trails that didn't go anywhere. The rocks get bigger as you come into the canyon with some climbing to be done to reach the Bath Tub. We climbed up boulders, jumped gaps between rocks and even walked up fallen trees to get to the tub.

Entering the Devil's Bath Tub

Using this fallen tree to get over this deep pool and up to the next boulder.

Shannon's turn.

Devil's Bath Tub

     We made better trail choices on the way out, not once getting caught on a dead end trail. We counted the creek crossings and there were ten on the path combo we chose to get back to the car. We We ran into a local from Spearfish and she said she had hiked this many times and had never seen the water be so deep and so swift. I guess we caught it on a good day. Finally adventure! It was tough, but one of the most fun hikes I have ever done. And I even made it back with both flip-flops, though they have some major wear on them for only having been purchased less than 24 hours ago. I was ready to get them off when we reached the van. It was so sore between my toes from sliding forward onto the strap! I would not recommend this hike in flip-flops, or really any hike for that matter, but it did beat soaking my nice boots that many times. I will have water shoes the next time we go on vacation!

     Just down the road was the last waterfall in the canyon, Bridal Veil Falls. No hiking needed for this one as the observation platform is right next to the road. A picture of Bridal Veil falls is posted below, followed by a video of the first three features we saw in Spearfish Canyon.

Bridal Veil Falls

Video: Spearfish Canyon waterfalls

    We drove into the city of Spearfish in the afternoon, then on to the legendary town of Sturgis. There's not much there except motorcycle shops and tattoo parlors. We then made our way to Deadwood, the town known for outlaws and frontiersmen in the 1870s like Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp and Calamity Jane. The town started as a gold camp and became a wild west town full of outlaws, gunslingers and gamblers. Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed here during a poker game while holding a poker hand of aces and eights, now known as the Dead Man's Hand. The city has survived three major fires and off-and-on economic hardships, but thrives today thanks to casinos and tourism.

    We toured a few more backroads, but again, nothing really caught my eye as a must-ride road. It was just not what I expected so far. We ended up missing our turn somewhere along the way and found ourselves in Rapid City. We got reoriented and headed back toward Custer in the early evening, passing through Keystone, where we saw a few things we wanted to do later in the week if we had time. We came by Mount Rushmore again and decided to stop to see if we could get some of TJ's ice cream. The shop was open and we were able to grab a bowl of TJ's vanilla, supposedly made based off his original recipe and using vanilla beans from an area where he would have likely gotten his. We got ours with wojapi topping, which is a Native American sauce made from a mix of berries. We even saw a mountain goat on the way out of the park, the first one I have ever seen!

Thomas Jefferon's Ice Cream Recipe, written by him. Now held at the Library of Congress.

Mount Rushmore in the evening shadows.

Mountain goat along the side of Hwy 244

     That wrapped up our first day in the Black Hills. We took in a nice hike the following day and found more of the terrain and roads I was looking for. More on that in the next post!