Badlands to Black Hills

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Slow and relaxed mornings are what I have loved most about retirement. No alarm clock, spending up to an hour drinking my cup (or two) of coffee and generally just not getting in a hurry for anything. Bob knows my routine, so he knew his best option would be to go out hiking while I took my time showering and getting ready for the day. He headed out walking towards some of the peaks near the cabin.

Bob's morning hike took him to the peak in the distance.

A summit selfie. 😀

When Bob came back to the cabin after his hike I wasn't surprised to hear him proclaim, "Guess what I found"!  He has a reputation for finding all kinds of "stuff" in road ditches while he is out on his long bike rides at home. Our kids make fun of him, but he is proud of his great finds! This time his prize was a red inflatable camping pad...the kind that costs upwards of $100. It was partly hidden in a dry creek bed but Eagle-Eye Bob spotted it and dragged it home.

The reward for his early morning hike!

I was pretty much ready by the time Bob returned to the cabin so I heated up the breakfast sandwiches I had made at home and we had a nice breakfast on the porch. The sun was just coming up over the peaks behind the cabin as we ate. (The change in time zones had us awake pretty early AND it takes a long time for the sun to finally get above the tallest hills.)

Before leaving Cedar Pass, we stopped by the office to pick up a bag of ice for our cooler (complimentary for those staying in a cabin.) Our only specific goal for the day was to get to Spearfish, SD around dinner time. Google says that we could be there in 2 hours but today it was about the journey, not the destination. 

The rest of the morning and into the afternoon was spent driving the Badlands Loop (route 240), stopping frequently at the many overlooks. 

This is such a typical "old person" selfie. 😄

One of the first places we pulled over was at the Saddle Pass trailhead. It only took me half a second to know that this hike was out of my league so Bob took off alone while I enjoyed the scenery from below. I found it quite interesting to read the signs and listen to the Gypsy Guide stories and imagine what it must have been like for early settlers trying to get across this area in their wagons.

Part way up...zoomed in view.

Half way there (zoomed in view)

Same view as previous photo, but this gives a little more perspective.

Whenever we noticed a car or two parked on the side of the road, we would slow down. Often this was an indication that wildlife had been spotted. 

It is amazing to see how little fear these animals have as they graze right on the side of the road with cars whizzing past. 

In our drive, we noticed so many bike riders...all coming towards us on the road. Our curiosity got the best of us and when we stopped at one of the scenic pullouts we visited with one of the riders. The bikers were all part of an event called "Wheelin to Wall" which began in the town of Wall just outside the park boundary. Riders could choose routes that varied in length from 28 miles to 68 miles. Bob was quite interested so who know if he will return to take part someday!

It was past our usual lunchtime when we turned down the Conata Basin Road to get to a picnic area...and a bathroom! Bob is familiar with this area because the picnic area is also the trailhead to get to Deer Haven, one of his favorite destinations when backpacking/camping in the Badlands.

Conata Picnic Area where we had lunch.

Bob loves nothing more than to just head out into the Badlands for several days. 

Just past the Pinnacles Overlook, route 240 heads north into the town of Wall or you can turn left onto a gravel road (Sagecreek Rim Road) that leads to Roberts Prairie Dog Town. This sounds like some sort of tourist attraction, but in reality, a large colony of prairie dogs is classified as a "town". 

Sagecreek Rim Road

Robert at Roberts Prairie Dog Town

The Sagecreek Rim Road had some beautiful views and gave us our first sighting of bison.

Hints of fall color were peaking out of the canyons.

First bison sighting in the distance.

Back on route 240 we drove out of the park and into Wall...home of the famous Wall Drug Store. Just like last year, we drove down main street and saw the massive amount of cars parked in front of the drug store and decided it would be more crowded than what we wanted to experience. I was sorry we weren't able to get a maple donut and a 5 cent cup of coffee, but we will just look forward to the next time.

It was a little after 3:30 pm when we pulled into our home for the next two nights...an AirBnB located down a gravel road just outside of Spearfish, SD. The place where we were staying (The Turtle House) was quite unique. The apartment was located in the lower level of a geodesic dome and right next door to the Termesphere Gallery The home of Dick Termes (the world famous artist) was literally a few feet away.

Our apartment was on the lower level of this dome. The upstairs was Dick Termes' studio. One of his works of art (a Termesphere) is on display in front of the dome.

A tree was growing up through the kitchen!

After settling in and eating a light supper, we finished up the day by driving to the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery We didn't have too much time to explore since the hatchery closes after sunset but what we did see was so beautiful and interesting. This place would definitely be worth returning to in the future.

Bridge crossing over to the fish hatchery.

This pond was stocked with many large trout.

A viewing area below lets you watch the trout in the pond.
People were feeding the fish from above so we had lots of action to see!

A historic train car that was used to transport fish!

Several deer were roaming about the hatchery grounds.

And what better way to end a fun day than with ice cream! It was a bit of a challenge to find Leones Creamery even with the address and using directions from Google Maps. The tiny ice cream shop was on the main street, but set back enough that we didn't notice it at first. It was a warm evening and the ice cream shop and many of the restaurants had quite a few people eating outdoors and enjoying the weather.

Driving back to The Turtle House in the dark was done carefully. The country road was very dark and multiple deer darted across in front of us. Our bodies still hadn't switched totally over to the new time zone but that was OK. We wanted to get an early start the next day and staying an hour ahead (biologically at least) made it a little easier.