South Dakota trip report

“Beware... LONG!! but,c'mon... you know I write great trip reports!!! (right, Nige??)

Alrighty, back from the wild and crazy trip to South Dakota with lankyframe. We dubbed the trip “Besmirched with Buffalo” in honor of those who just don’t have the eyes (or sense??!?!?) to see them while there. Hehehee… and you know who you ARE!!!

DAY 1

Left last Wednesday a.m. for the 9-hour drive to the Badlands. We geocached at very select spots on the way out. Yes, there is a photo of me with the Pillsbury Doughboy, not to be confused with Poppinfresh from TT. Also, I grabbed a fabulous, not-to-be-duplicated Plant of the Apes travel bug at the Chamberlain I-90 rest stop (I think it was the kind, generous one. Where is Tilt to tell me the name??!)

That place is cool! There’s a great Lewis & Clark display in anticipation of the big 200th anniversary doin’s in 2004 (which includes period gear made by the parents of our former reporter, from their repro. Company in Indiana).

After a stop for a few groceries in Kadoka, we moved along to the next “must see” geocache, which we did two-thirds of. (The third part included a visit to Ellsworth Air Force Base at Rapid City, no thank you.) We saw two other sites that will be included in a future National Park Service historical monument on the Cold War and the Minuteman Missile.

The first site was a launch control facility (LCF), which just looked like some little ugly gray house with a few antennas, satellite dishes and a high wire fence.

Then we went to the next stop, an actual Minuteman missile ground silo, still used for training, as I understand. It just sits on the national grasslands north of Badlands Park, again surrounded by a high wire fence. Pretty neat to see. (And what was that beeping I heard as we circled the fence??!!?!)

Then we headed in darkness on the dirt/gravel road to the Sage Creek primitive campground in Badlands Park, immediately adjacent to the Sage Creek Wilderness.

We used the propane stove (you remember my question on the canisters…. LOL) It’s great!! We ate and got the new, fabulous, CHEAP Wal-Mart Ozark Trails car camping tent set up. (8x9!!), and next up was the queen size Coleman inflatable (no, NOT blow-up doll, but..) mattress! Ahhhhhh, the comforts of car camping! Was kind of brisk out. Buffalo wandered through the campground in the dark, snorting.

DAY 2

After another wonderful meal with the propane stove, we packed stuff up. It was windy and we had to chase the unstaked tent down.

Then we were off into the wilderness area for a day hike of a couple hours. We climbed some wicked, flaky dirt hills (one dubbed “Moon Hill” by lankyframe for its shape), had to go between two buffalo (how can anyone go to SD and NOT SEE BUFFALO??!), and miss the prairie dog holes.

We headed south on the gravel road to the wide spot on the road called “Scenic,” then onto pavement and the Pine Ridge Rez portion of the Badlands, taking the 7-mile, 4 WD road to Sheep Mountain Table. It’s almost a mystical place, with dirt hoodoos below resembling those of Bryce. On our way out, we ran into two guys in a NICE car on top. Sheesh!

We again went south and then onto a gravel road when eventually headed up onto the Cuny Table. (But we stopped to take a pic of the signs on the Badlands fence, saying to watch out for unexploded ordnance. This area was used for bombing practice in WWII.)

We stopped at the Cuny Table Café, which I’ve heard about for 3 years. Just a little dive building on the home farm. Met founder Nellie, as well as two women I think both were named Frida (old and younger). Now the food was good (although who knows about superior cleanliness, they don’t answer to U.S.D.A. inspections in their sovereign nation)… and the stories better, including those about people currently hunting prairie dogs… and the burro “Jackass Cuny.”

Then we must have gone on 30 to 40 miles of gravel roads to get to Buffalo Gap and on to Hot Springs, where we stayed at the Bison (can you say BUFFALO!??!) Motel for the night.

DAY 3

Rising late (a bad trait of mine), we went to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, where hundreds of mammoth fell into a steep-sided sinkhole (full of water at that time), only to die and be preserved. My second time there. The whole site is inside a building, where work continues each month of June. It takes them the rest of the year to complete lab and logging work.

Next, we took a 4 WD trip up Battle Mountain, east of Hot Springs, to find a geocache. Fun! And great view of area to the south and west, including Angoustora (sp?) Reservoir.

OK, now the fun really began. We parked the Jeep at the Norbeck Trailhead in Wind Cave National Park, actually the beginning of the over-100-mile Centennial Trail.

We did a short loop of maybe 4 or 5 miles, combining the Highland Creek and Lookout Point Trails. Highland Creek was gorgeous. We passed two BUFFALO(!!!) drinking water and then walked down the narrow canyon in fall colors.

One place up the wall (maybe 100-150 ft. tall?) we could see what looked like a cave. Crazy ole lankyframe says, let’s go check that out. He especially wanted to when we could see it was a bridge or hole in the rock, where we could see daylight on the other side. We climbed up the steep slope and, luckily, didn’t kill ourselves. Neat place to see!!

Then we donned our packs again as a cold front moved in. Skies darkened and the temps dropped. We got the Sierra Designs tent set up and ourselves in it just as sprinkles started. The sprinkles continued as rain till the middle of the night.

DAY 4

We awoke to a toasty tent, but frozen rain on the fly outside. I had forgotten the Pepsi can stove (Ohhhhh no!!), but we had other eats for b’fast. We got packed up and headed up through the pine woods toward Lookout Point.

We wandered through a huge field full of prairie dogs and about got blown away with 30 MPH winds. Out came the jackets, windproof gear, gloves and hats. We looked like we were ready for winter, but it was cold. We ate lunch in a sheltered area and later got back to the Jeep.

On the road again, we did the famous (infamous??) “wildlife loop” in Custer State Park. Saw prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, antelope, the begging burros (my fav! There’s nothing funnier than seeing the babies buck, or the adult burros head butting kids trying to feed them! LOL!). Oh yeah… and we saw BUFFALO(!!!).

On the east side we saw a road to the French Creek Natural Area, so drove in and parked there. It’s a hike I want to do sometime. We ran into 3 guys from Minnesota coming out, so got some firsthand details on the camp, etc.

Then we drove the Needles Road. Beautiful scenery – granite spires! By the Needles Eye, some people from Nebraska lost their coolant (play foreboding music here…)

We also saw Sylvan Lake, but determined a hike to the top was not in our “things to do” for this or our final day. We headed to Commanche forest service campground west of the town of Custer, which had a few sites open for the “winter.” Supper was a return trip into Custer for Pizza Hut……. Heheeh!

DAY 5

We traveled a little bit farther west to Jewel Cave National Monument. I’d never been there and really wanted to see it (and log that stamp in my national parks passport book! Lol, thanks stikmon!) Got there around 11 and the next tour was at 1.

So we headed out for a dayhike on the 3.5-mile Canyons Trail, which heads to the historic entrance to the cave, as well as down into Hell Canyon. The area was interesting, as there was a forest fire there in 2000. For the photographer (ME), there was yellow undergrowth of some type, with stark, blackened poles of the trees and a blue sky. Very striking.

We had to really hoof it to get back in time for our tour, after getting left at 11:30, snacking along the way and having me goof around taking photos. The cave was superb! A one-half mile tour got really vertical, up and down over 700 steps.

Then we packed it up for our last stop: a geocache northwest of Hill City that was an old, forgotten-yet-still-standing gold mine site. I was really looking forward to it.

We stopped in Custer at Subway. I spilled pop on the floor. Lankyframe threw away the paper towels and then saw (cue music) WE HAD LOST COOLANT! We then talked to all kinds of people, trying to see if we could line up a re-placement coolant reservoir.

In a story too long to tell, we ended up with a crazy tow truck guy, who knew “Dave” and Dave worked on Jeeps. We went to his place a mile out of town, but he didn’t have a used part. And the only place to get the part is a Jeep dealer. So we stayed at the Chief Motel in Custer and planned to get the part Monday.

DAY 6

Dave is a crazy, wild looking retired guy, tattoo, long white beard who probably rode a Harley in his day, but has now found Jesus. To save us renting a car to go to Rapid City to get the part (so as to get it earlier than a delivery service would bring it), he let us take his ’81 yellow Wagoneer, which has an axle that rubs in a certain spot and might not stay in “park” very well. We headed out, lankyframe at the wheel. And who would believe it >> IT WAS SNOWING, big, fluffy flakes coating everything!!!

We made the 45-minute drive to R. City and came back. Dave replaced the part and we were on the road by 11:20 a.m…. home by 9:30 p.m.

SYNOPSIS

What a trip!! It was great, with just a little disappointment about not being able to do the gold mine geocache… well and the 3 million other things you can do in the Black Hills and Badlands.

One crazy thing: the temps. When we arrived, we hiked in 90-degree temps on our Badlands dayhike. Geez, it was like the worst of summer. Then it got freezing cold… and snowed the last day. Bizarre, but fun!

All in all, a great trip. AND WHAT FUN WITH THE **BUFFALO!!!** (sorry, twoscoops! LOL)”

“One crazy thing: the temps. When we arrived, we hiked in 90-degree temps on our Badlands dayhike. Geez, it was like the worst of summer. Then it got freezing cold… and snowed the last day.


I remember coming home to SD on leave one September while I was in the Navy. I got off the plane at nearly midnight, in dress (wool) blues, in 90 degrees. 30 days later when I left there was a hard frost on the ground as we drove back to the Sioux Falls.

I dont' miss SD at all.”

“That's it, I'm ready to go back!
Next time I go out there it'll be to Thru-hike the Centinnial Trail.
Thanks for the report Lizs!”

“Oh yeah, when I said we decided not to hike "it" I meant Harney Peak. (I'm sure walkindude knew that! lol)

WD, we were only on the Centennial Trail a short ways before it separated off from the other two. It goes through some wide open prairies, then into the woods and prairie through Custer State Park and on and on.

As the guy said in my guidebook, if you start at Norbeck Dam, that's the "low point" of the trip, cuz it's all uphill from there. :-)”

“Oh yeah, and we saw the Corn Palace at Mitchell on the way out. All dolled up in its corn and other crops with scenes from Lewis & Clark's journey. Kinda cool, IF "CORN"Y. lol”

“Wow! You guys really DID South Dakota! Sounds like an epic road trip. Running across those missile silos is spooky when you think of what they were meant for and what was down there.”

“A trip to South Dakota isn't complete without car problems. I got stranded in Mitchell once and took in the Corn Palace. I don't know what it is with South Dakotans and their corn mosaics and large, plastic animals scattered along the highways.”

“epic...car trouble...hahahaha...buy a NEW car and leave the car trouble at home. LOL...listen to me...I now have 130K on my rav...she ain't new no more.

pics???? comon...do the pics, post the report, provide the link...all in one fell swoope.

Glad ya had a good time...

Forgot the stove???? Jebus Cripes woman, did you learn NOTHING from me?”

“(I can't wait to read it later - lol!)

...always in a hurry at these time-sensitive public libraries.”

“Great trip report Lizs!!!!



8)”

“Enjoyable reading. Thanks.

What is a "national parks passport book?" And do the stamps gain you anything? I'd look it up, but I'm still using library computers with time limitations.”

“I awreddy red it tho.

I liked the part about the stinky parry rat butts! You are verry welcome for sayin a thing about stinky parry rat butts.”

“Sounds like a great adventure lizs! Birch and I spent a few days of our honeymoon travelling through SD. We stop[ped at the corn palace too, the National woodcarvers museum and some really crazy places near Mt Rushmore. I'd like to go back for some hiking, it's a gorgeous place.
Thanks for the report, was a good one!”

“Did you make it to the Flintstones Village at Custer?”

“great trip and report!”

“LOL! Drove past the Flintstone village. Man, those "cabins" are right outta the cartoon!!

LMAO!! I am not up to date on the Halloween names and just finally figured out who "waerowolf" is.

Nowslimmer, you get a National parks passport book. It's divided into sections by region. It lists all the national parks, monuments, historical sites, recreation areas, etc. in each area.

Then, you visit a park, you ask them where the passport stamp is. You ink it up and stamp the appropriate page in the book. (they usually give you a sheet to practice on, so you don't screw up in your nice book)

It's a remembrance of the date you were at the park... and you have them all in one place.

Since I got this book (from stikmon) after I'd been to tons of parks, I have just gone through the book and highlighted those I previously visited, not worrying about dates. BUT... now I do. lol”

“SD is a great place. I've spent a few days camping there and it's since been high on my list of places to backpack. Can't wait to get back. Papabull's gonna go to Sturgis next Aug... maybe I'll plan to go during the same time (I wouldn't mind checking out the Motorcycle Rally) and get him out hiking for a couple days, too!

Nice report. Can't wait to see pics.”

“ever buddy gets to see buffalo but me”

“so whos papabull? your dad, or "yo daddy"?”

“me jealous. me want see Dakotas!

no idea why i put on the Cro-Magnon dialect. but i would very much love to see both the Dakotas someday. get them pictures up!”

“This took all night to do. Please enjoy!! The shots are in three albums. This should get you there:

South Dakota trip photos”

“thanks for the birds eye view.”

“I was reading other weekend trip reports and thought I would add a few things for mine.

As far as wildlife in camp, lankyframe and myself were certainly startled (this word underplays it) when a coyote VERY CLOSE BY let out a howl as we were setting up camp in the dark at Sage Creek primitive campground in the Badlands. It was just eerie and it was soooooo close! Then, coyotes in a circle around the campground answered back by yapping and howling. Too cool!

We found buffalo bones on our hikes. Very impressive to see a huge ole buffalo bone. And, although bones are not supposed to be removed from national park land, there were no skulls to be found. (Truth be told, had we found a skull, it might have disappeared too! lol)

When camping on our backpacking trip at Wind Cave National Park, lankyframe told me we had deer sniffing and snorting around our tent in the middle of the night. I must have been zonked out at that point, cuz I never heard it! We were in a prime location for deer, buffalo or elk. However, we heard enough buffalo snorting when setting up at Sage Creek to know that major sound.”

“lizs

your trip sounds and looks great.
thanks for sharing it all.
great pix.
someday i'd like to see all that”

“JO, where are you at? You mentioned liking the Midwest area around the Mississippi on the "gathering" thread... so just wondering”

“lizs...I'm in Baltimore.
I've travelled through the midwest many times (Iowa, Nebraska,Colorado this summer, Iowa and Wisconsin last year) and have family from Minesota. I was up at that overlook at Effigy Mounds last year. Great place.”

“I love the badlands. It's a shame some are off limits from old bombs, but that's one obstacle I'll go around.

Once when my family was there my sister ran up a hill to take a picture. She was quite a bit older than my brother and I and kinda bossy. Dad assumed all three of us were in the truck and drove off. Had it not been for my noisy brother we'd have got clean away without her. It took a long time for him to appreciate the magnitude of his mistake.

Great TR Liz, I gotta get back up there sometime.”

“btw, that is indeed Cathedral Spires, a well known place for multi-pitch rock climbing.

I really need to get back up that way.

:-)”