8/27-28-29, 2010, Custer St Park area, SD

Oh my gosh, there's plenty to do here! We packed as much in as we could, starting with a treasure buried beneath the Black Hills. Jewell Cave is a dazzling labyrinth that twists and turns for miles and is listed as the second longest caving system in the world w/ more than 150 miles of mapped passageways, with a constant 52° temp. The scenic tour is a ½ mile, 1-½ hour loop, on a lighted path that involves climbing up and down more than 700 stairs (way too many!). Remind me to take my own flashlight next time we're in a cave!

  

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The next day we drove (Nat’l Scenic Byway) Iron Mountain Road with its pigtails (which Smartie liked!) to Mount Rushmore Nat’l Memorial, which we viewed like any tourist. We visited the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum’s, studio and walked the Presidential Trail, with its eye-catching views of George, Tom, Ted and Abe. Did you know their heads are about 60’ tall? Approx 400 people worked at Mount Rushmore during the carving process from Oct 1927 to Oct 1941 and, tho the work was extremely dangerous, no lives were lost. Impressive any way you look at it …. 

 

That afternoon we donned bike shorts for a 22-mile R/T ride on the George S. Mickelson Trail, a 109-mile Rails-to-Trails South Dakota gem. We caught the trail from our campsite and rode south thru Black Hills natural beauty. Wow! That day runners were also on the trail competing in the Lean Horse Hundred and Half-Hundred Mile run. We saw some (crazy?) men and women doing their best, many still looking good, others looking like they wished they'd never begun!  Talk about grueling. Regardless, we enjoyed a great ride on a Hall of Fame trail.

 

Jimmy letting runners jog past at their Mile 65.

 

Beautiful sky - which gave way to black clouds that cut our ride short.

Sign we saw along the trail. 

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The following day was more sedentary – a ride on the 1880 Train from Hill City to Keystone. On the BHCR #104, a 2-6-2T steam train built in 1926, we puffed up Tin Mill Hill (I think I can, I think I can …), past old mining operations, Echo Valley, and Mile Post 8 where the great 1972 flood swept away the tracks and many historic places killing over 200 people throughout the area, and on into Keystone.  We ate lunch in Keystone. I think the train blew its whistle (two longs, a short, another long) 19 times – coming and going! What a fun ride, with more fine Black Hills scenery.

 

 

In Keystone, we decided to take the Big Thunder Gold Mine tour, which was kinda depressing. The mine was discovered in 1892 by two German immigrant miners, W.B. Krupp and J.A. Engle. They migrated across America separately, but met in Keystone. Their common language connected them and they became partners.  Imagine this -- after 32 years of blasting and digging their way laterally over 600’ into the earth, all the two immigrants managed to glean was $200 worth of gold, which they had to split 50/50 with their grubstake: The Bismarck Mine, and then split 50/50 with each other.  Hmmm, not good odds … or, as I said, kinda depressing.

 

 

Big Thunder makes everyone wear an attractive hard hat.

 On the other hand, Holy Terror Mine was $ucce$$ful.

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The next day we wanted to ride more Mickelson Trail, but the day was a washout with rain, so we continued on our way west.  We had a good time exploring this Black Hills area.  Maybe we'll return someday.