A Bunch of Places in SD - Day 5

Mt. Rushmore (duh)
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An early morning (6:30am) and oatmeal for breakfast got us going and on the road to Mt. Rushmore today. We found our (er, a random deer just jumped out in front of us) original plans falling quite nicely in line with the amended plans – after seeing all that Custer State Park had to offer, we wanted to spend more time there. Fortunately, half of our days events had centered around this anyway – we just didn’t realize it :o)

Black Hills National Forest

On the way to Mt. Rushmore, we had the opportunity to drive through the Black Hills National Forest. This was a nice coincidence; we were supposed to go to the Black Hills yesterday but ran out of time, so the road to Mt Rushmore helped us meet that goal.

Biking in the Black Hills
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Small detour for book review: Although Road Trip USA is pretty cool, it takes you on all those two lane highways. Had we stuck to the map laid out for us in the book, we would have never gotten this far so quickly. I recommend taking the small highways if you have time – the scenery is definitely much cooler, but given the amount of things we are trying to squeeze in before Burning Man, time is of the essence.

However, we have been cross referencing that book with The Most Scenic Drive In America, which has enabled us to take major highways to these routes, and then veer off for a while. I would definitely recommend any road tripper to pick that book up.

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Driving through the Black Hills there is a small tunnel you pass through. Just as you come out the other side, there is a clearing of all the trees and Mt. Rushmore is right in front of you – far away, but right in front of you. Another one of those WOAH moments for us. I love all the unexpectedness we’ve been experiencing so far. We’ll be back at Black Hills National Forest later, but now, Mt. Rushmore!

Mt. Rushmore

Originally neither of us were really that interested in seeing Mt. Rushmore, especially when we found out it was $8 to park. We even asked the lady at the toll booth what we got for $8, to which she replied “The most amazing experience of your trip.” We were very doubtful but we went in anyway. At first, the view was pretty much the same as that from road that we’d already gotten pictures of. However as we got closer, the view was really spectacular. No, not the most amazing experience of the trip, but it really was worth going into the park and seeing the monument from that angle. After we had breakfast inside the cafeteria (during which one of the old male employees asked what had happened to my hair and if I’d fallen in a paint bucket), we took off for Hill City.

And now for some vino...
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Hill City

Our first stop at Hill City was the Chamber of Commerce. Okay, for those of you who don’t normally check out the Chamber of Commerce in cities, BIG mistake! It was a super informative – we found a place to make copies of our Peace Corps medical forms and a post office to mail them out in. That took us a good hour and a half, but fortunately while in the post office I ran into a woman who runs a bike shuttle service. Basically you follow her up to the ending point of your bike ride, then hop in the truck with your bikes and they take you up to the starting point of the bike ride. When you are done with your ride, you get back in your car and take off! We signed up and headed north in the Black Hills.

A quick swim on Sylvan Lake
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Black Hills, South Dakota

Our 15 mile ride started north of Rochford, SD and would end at the Mystic River trial head. I don’t’ really know how to describe it – it was a gentle scenic ride through the majestic Black Hills. The trail (which is 114 miles from start to finish but you can pick it up at any number of places) ran a long side a beautiful flowing stream complete with waterfalls and beaver dams. There were lots of tunnels to go through along the trail as well. The butterflies and dragonflies were plentiful – one even flew up Dove’s shorts. Surprisingly we managed to keep our mouths empty of bugs.

The drive on the way back to camp
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In Rochford we stopped at a little biker type bar for a burger and some awesome fried squash. It was fun to get some of the local flavor. The beer wasn’t too bad either.

The Black Hills are unbelievably lush and green, the views are breathtaking. Biking was definitely the best way to get to experience it all, and we were both really happy that we did, despite the length of time that it took.

Prairie Berry Winery

After our ride we took off for a quick jaunt outside of Hill City to a local winery. The wine’s weren’t bad really, they just had lots of fruit wines and lots of sweeter wines, neither of which are really our “thing.” However we both enjoyed the tasting and the conversation with the pourer. Plus it was a nice way to relax after the ride.

Now we're camping!
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Custer State Park, Sylvan Lake

We had contemplated going for a 3 mile hike up to the summit of Mt. Harney. By the time we got to Sylvan Lake where the trail starts, it was after 5pm. We started on the trail and were stopped by another family just coming down – they said it had taken them 5 hours and that we shouldn’t head up there unless we planned on coming down in the dark. We’d left our headlamps back at camp, so we opted for a quick, cool swim in Sylvan Lake. It was cold but refreshing and fun to swim between the big rocks.

He's so adorable :o)
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Back at camp we had our first campfire! Yay Josh! And no rain either!