June 2-3, 2014: The Black Hills

The term Black Hills is a direct translation from the Lakota words,  Paha Sapa. From a distance, the dark green trees, mostly  Ponderosa pine and Black Hills spruce,  make the hills appear black.

Traveling east toward the Black Hills from Wyoming, we made a  drive-by stop at Devil’s Tower a majestic natural formation that rises 867 ft. from its base. It’s 1,267 ft. above the river and 5,112 ft. above sea level.

The Tower was formed about 50 million years ago when molten magma was forced into the sedimentary rocks above it. Then it cooled underground and contracted and fractured into columns. Over time (millions of years, actually) erosion of the sedimentary rock exposed Devil’s tower. The American Indian name for the Tower is Bear Lodge. Col. Richard Dodge named it Devil’s Tower in 1875 when he led an expedition to to confirm reports of gold in the Black Hills.

From the Tower we looped south then north toward Spearfish, S.D. for our stay at the Chris Camp RV Park. Our host, Lanna Christensen was welcoming and very helpful. Going over maps of the area, she plotted three great motorcycle loops that we could take and offered to answer any questions we might have about the roads and the sights.

The next day we rode down the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway as it curlicued past the shale, sandstone and limestone canyon walls with the  sparkling Spearfish Creek burbling along side. Aspen, birch and oak trees as well as the typical firs line each side of the road. Most curves could be handled at 30 mph or faster but there was no need to rush. Though it was threatening rain and very overcast, we took our time to soak in the scenery.

 

After about 30 minutes we reached the end of the by-way at the Cheyenne Crossing  and began angling north towards Deadwood, the old gold rush town.

Just before Deadwood we stopped at a well-known biker bar, ‘Lewie’s Saloon and Eatery,” for a photo op but it was too early for lunch  or a chance to get a glimpse at the 38 televisions installed at Lewie’s so every NFL football game can be seen on any Sunday.

Lewie might want to invest in fixing his rutted, potholed parking lot that’s more dirt than hard top next time he has a little disposable income. It was  a butt-clenching moment just trying to get the picture.

Deadwood was the next stop and it was dead. Early morning in a tourist trap during the week equals empty streets but a chance to have the run of main street to snap a few memories.

The Number 10 Saloon in Deadwood is reputed to be the place where Wild Bill Hickock was shot. While the old gold rush town has preserved many of its old, historic buildings, it seemed to us to have that crass “tourist destination” feel.

We had lots of time to spare after our quick pic visit to Deadwood so off we rode to Sturgis to see what it would be like before the massive biker rally hits town in August. Well, we had to see it to say we were there, but like Deadwood, it was too early for the bars and honky-tonks to be open and it was just as dead. Sturgis, by the way, is named for Gen. Samuel D. Sturgis, who served in the Civil War and fought in the Indian Wars.

We got a few photo memories and had breakfast in a grocery store and decided to return to the RV park to plan our next move: Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial.