South Dakota

From Medora, we headed south through many miles of grassland in search of the Black Hills National Forest.  We stopped for groceries in Spearfish, SD, where cyclists on the tour divide route stop for food and showers.  Then moved on south where we found these guys.

Pretty impressive and not very crowded.  We walked around and read the history. 

The tools and man power used were pretty impressive.

Then we went in search of trail and found the horsethief trail which would lead us to the centennial trail.

The trail started smooth with some minor rocky patches.

 Shey went that way.

 This area looks great for climbing!

Found him.

We got in a great hike before the sun set and camped at the edge of this lake.  We met a guy who was traveling with his two dogs to see several national parks and he gave us some of his Insta-fire to start our campfire.  He told us a friend of his patented it and it could be found at Home Depot.  It worked pretty well and our fire was roaring in no time.

We like renting the Doge Caravan because it has enough room for our gear, sleeping pads and bike boxes.  The seats fold down into the floor and we are super comfy with plenty of storage space.

Loaded up and ready to go the next morning.

 As we were leaving our camp site a bikepacker turned down the road we were on and we were so caught off guard that we didn't notice if he had a kLite or not.  We decided to turn around and head back to the trail head and see who else would come through.  Within a few minutes, this guy showed up and said he was in second place.  He was lively and full of positive energy.  He had been passed while having breakfast and was in great spirits and happy to be riding the route.  I told him we didn't want to hold him up, but he said "nah, this is what it's all about" and we discussed equipment and terrain, then he asked for a "high five" and he was on his way.

We drove on and found a place to park in a campground, then hopped on the George S. Mickelson Trail.

It's an amazing 109 mile path through the Black Hills of South Dakota.

 It was smooth and fast and the scenery was amazing!!

There were remnants of the railroad that previously laid on this route.

Beautiful blue skies and the smell of warm pine in the air.

Lots of these little guys sunning themselves.

 The profile of Crazy Horse.  They were actively building that day with large equipment.

This sign is on the path and gives some information on the memorial.

We rode longer than we had planned, but it felt good and it was a wonderful day.  We drove on west into Wyoming and it started raining and the temperature dropped.  We were sad to leave the blue skies, but this did happen: 

We found a KOA in Casper, WY and grabbed hot showers, did some laundry and slurped up our hot ramen noodles.