Our first month in Spearfish and the Black Hills

We've now been here for a month, and have been able to take advantage of lots of activities which we had to bypass last year when we worked at Custer State Park.  However, then we were working 40 hours/week, while here at D. C. Booth Hatchery we only do about 20 hours a week which gives us lots more time to get in our cycling, hiking, and sightseeing.

So . . . . here's a portfolio of the things we've been able to do in our first month here --  (double click on any of the pictures for a larger version . . . .)

*  We climbed Harney Peak, which we tried to get to last year but ran out of time.  Harney is in the Black Elk wilderness just north of Custer State Park, and is the highest point between the Rockies and the Pyrenees at 7244 feet.  Our friends, Al and Claire slogged up with us -- we wanted to get this out of the way early in the summer, as this hike becomes mobbed by tourists (mostly ill-prepared) in July and August.  As you can see there is a great lookout on the top which was constructed by the CCC in the 30's, and the whole granite summit is very interesting.
 

*  We biked the first (and steepest) portion of the Mickelson Trail from Deadwood to Edgewood.  We plan on trying to get the rest of this 109 mile rails-to-trails route done before we leave, but who knows.  The challenge is we'll end up doing it twice, as we'll always have to backtrack to the car.  In any event its a great ride, and allows us to get in some mountain biking.
 
*  We visited Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, and hiked to the top of Mt. Roosevelt, just north of Deadwood.  We were interested in both of these sites after watching the DVDs of the first and second season of the HBO series "Deadwood", and becoming intrigued by the story of Seth Bullock, Deadwood's sheriff. 
They are doing some historical preservation work on the tower at the summit of Mt. Roosevelt, and it was interesting to see the labeling of the rocks so that they could be put back in the original sequence.



Bullock's gravestone at Mt. Moriah cemetery in Deadwood










*  Journeyed just north of Spearfish to Belle Fourche, which has a great little museum as well as advertising that just north of town is the "geographical center of the United States" -- moved here from Kansas after the addition of Alaska and Hawaii.
                    
*  Visited the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum
 
*  Fished in Spearfish Creek (just behind our campsite) as well as Cow Creek, just adjacent to the McNenny Fish Hatchery just outside of Spearfish.
                                          
*  Cycled Spearfish Canyon, taking advantage of a wonderful shoulder, magnificent scenery, and a good gradual 1200 ft. elevation gain in 13 miles.
 
*  Took in the Journey Museum in Rapid City
 

*  We're working on getting our door awning fixed for the third time.  Its currently at a local dealer getting the motor replaced with a "new and improved" unit.  Our advice to anyone getting a motorhome would be to avoid the Carefree Marquis Automatic door awning, and opt for the manual crank-out version.  The electric one has been a real POS.

We're also looking forward to having some guests later this month -- my brother Tom and his SO Trish will be dropping by for a day -- and our Yuma cycling friends Ken and Muriel will be here just a few days later.  Muriel will be staying here for a week while Ken travels to Oregon to crew for our cycling buddy Paul, who will be doing a bike race across the state.

We'll be leaving the Black Hills on July 26th, heading for Montana and a month of wandering around that great state.  We plan on seeing lots of places and visiting friends and relatives that we've been promising to see for ages.  From there we'll be traveling to Texas for our next volunteer assignment at the Balcones Canyonlands NWR near Austin (also near the kids!)