Black Hills – Week 2

Rafter J Bar Ranch – Black Hills – Hill City, South Dakota – Week Two

On Sunday, July 11^th, we went back to Wind Cave National Park (www.nps.gov/wica/index.htm), arriving at 7:00 AM and we were about the 15^th party in line.  3^rd time was the charm, well 4^th time if you count Walt’s family’s visit back in 1968.  Wind Cave is one of the longest and most complex caves in the world. Named for barometric winds at its entrance, this maze of passages is home to boxwork, a unique formation rarely found elsewhere. The natural entrance is a small hole about a foot square from which winds blow either out or in depending on the difference in barometric pressure between the cave interior and the exterior. Lakota Sioux Indian oral tradition speaks of how the first bison and humans emerged from this deeply spiritual place. Wind Cave is a “dry cave” with much less moisture than many eastern caves.  It is the 3^rd longest cave in the world at 156 documented miles and growing.  We took the cave entrance tour and were reminded how tall we are à OUCH!  I think I only hit my head once, but the stooping got very repetitive.

On Monday, July 12^th, we took the dogs to the dog sitter in Rapid City (drive to Rapid City again) and then drove up to the north end of the Black Hills and the town of Deadwood, SD.  The Black Hills was ceded to the Sioux Indians in a treaty in 1868.  However, soon after, there were rumors of gold being discovered.  In the summer of 1874, the US Army sent Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer with a band of 1000 soldiers and camp support including a 16 piece band to investigate these claims.  Custer found gold in French Creek, now part of Custer State Park, and the rush was on.  The Army declined to enforce the ban on white settlement, thereby violating the treaty and mining camps, including Hill City, Keystone, Lead and Deadwood were in full operation by 1876.  Deadwood’s biggest fame came from the presence of James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok and Calamity Jane.  Hickok was an Army scout during the Civil War and continued this line or work in Kansas and farther west after the war.  He became a lawman and then a gunslinger.  Dime Novels written to satisfy a public’s appetite for wild west yarns greatly inflated his exploits.  He was in Deadwood in 1879 for about 3 weeks, supposedly to prospect, but in fact to play cards and gamble.  He would normally sit with his back to a wall so he could see the door, but at his last game, the only seat available was with his back to the door and no one would move to jeopardize their luck.  A ruffian named Jack McCall who believed that Hickok had cheated him at cards, snuck up on Hickok from behind and shot him twice in the back of the head.  Hickok’s card hand was black Eights over black Aces, now known as the “Dead Man’s Hand”.  Calamity Jane, did NOT look like Doris Day of the movie, but was in fact quite rough, dressing in men’s clothing and trying to pass as a man, in order to be employed as a teamster.  After Hickok’s passing she embellished their relationship and was able to be buried next to Hickok when she died in 1903.  We took a Boot Hill bus tour (https://boothilltours.com/) and had a great steak lunch at Mavericks. We next drove SD highway 14A through Spearfish Canyon (https://visitspearfish.com/things-to-do/spearfish-canyon), a spectacular drive up into the northern portion of the Black Hills.

We rented a side by side Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) on Tuesday, July 13^th, in Keystone, SD. We drove it over the Iron Mountain Highway and the Needles Highway (3^rd time – could drive this road everyday it is so beautiful), thru Hill City (stopped to FINALLY get some traction with Bank of America on supplying the original title to the Equinox so we could register it in South Dakota) and then north into the Black Hills National Forest.  We stopped for lunch (picnic that Martha put together) at the Gold Mountain Mine, a deep shaft mine that was last worked in the 1930’s, north along the Mickelson Trail to the hamlet of Mystic.  We were on paved roads in Custer State Park and gravel roads to Mystic. We then got off onto some real “goat paths” thru the hills, bouncing on ruts and splattering cow dung as we drove thru it.  We had a blast, on the move from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and traveling about 100 miles.  Only problem was that the vehicle kicked up a lot of dust.  We were filthy when we got back.

We picked up the dogs for the dog sitter on Wednesday, July 14^th(driving to Rapid City again!!). That evening we rode the 5:00 PM 1880’s Train (www.1880train.com/) from Hill City to Keystone and back.  The trip, about 10 miles each way, takes you over Tin Mill Hill, thru Palmer Gulch, along the back side of Mt. Rushmore (no they didn’t carve presidential derrieres) to the Keystone train depot.  It was a beautiful ride with a rain shower on the way back. We then ate dinner at the Alpine Inn.  The inn serves European (German) cuisine for lunch but dinner is so popular they only offer two entrees: Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon, Served with a baked potato, Texas toast and a quarter wedge of lettuce with our homemade ranch dressing, 6oz for $13.95 & 9oz for $15.95 and Kaes Spaetzle Primavera (German dumplings & Swiss cheese), topped with fresh steamed vegetables served with a wedge of lettuce & Texas toast, $13.95.  Not including the beer we drank at the bar waiting an hour for a table, the dinner including desert was only $42.00.  Incredibly delicious and a great value.

On Thursday, July 15^th, we officially became residents of South Dakota, changing our driver’s licenses from Georgia.  You had to make a appointment to do this.  We were told that appointments could be made 30 days out.  However, when we tried to make them on June 5^th, we couldn’t get one until the 15^th.  But it all turned out fine. We also drove into downtown Rapid City (again) and walked amongst the Presidents.  Rapid City has presidential statues on the street corners of the main business district, all 44 of them (a decision to erect the 45^th has not yet been made).  We saw Grant, John Adams, Calvin Coolidge, FDR, Jimmy Carter, JFK, Eisenhower, Franklin Pierce, Chester Arthur, George H.W. Bush and more. (www.visitrapidcity.com/things-to-do/all-things/attractions/city-presidents) We returned to the Pennington County Tax Office, but the UPS Overnight delivery of our original title did not occur, so we had to return the next day.

Our original title to the Equinox was finally delivered on Friday, July 16^th, so we drove yet again (the last time) to Rapid City to the Pennington County Tax Office and registered the Equinox.  It was good to have that all over.

On Saturday, July 17^th, we left the Black Hills, after two wonderful weeks, and headed out to Wyoming to follow the Oregon Trail west.