Monday, July 10, 2023
Day 38 – Deadwood to Hill City, South Dakota
Miles: 50.2 – Total accent: 2,956 – Hours: 5 hours, 47 minutes
Totals:. Miles- 1,916.53 – Accent- 69,839 feet climbed – 169 hrs 26 minutes in the saddle
Leaving our little cabin nestled in the woods was bittersweet. The trees smelled so good and were teeming with birds. The campground had a few baby goats and a donkey for the kids to pet. The goats thought everyone was there to feed them. They were adorable.
Should we return to the Michelson Trail for our return or take the highway? The trail guarantees no grade greater than 4% but the road is a smoother surface with less rolling resistance. We chose the highway.
Oh my! Within 1 hour 11 minutes, we had traveled 6 miles and climbed 1,304 feet! Now that’s a way to start the day!!
It was fun to ride through the towns we saw yesterday from the trail.
Just past the Presidents Head Park, we reconnected to the Michelson Trail. We hadn’t realized how much climbing we had done the day before. We coasted downhill well over an hour! Wow!
Riding the trail presented some of its own unique challenges. On a bicycle, one needs to carefully pick a ‘line’-a course that is least likely to have debris and hazards. Avoiding deep ruts, crossing cattle guards and railroad tracks at 90 degree angles and watching for stickers that can puncture a tire is paramount. But this morning, there was a new hazard-multiple piles of cow pies! It was like an obstacle course! lol! Not before long, we came across a herd of cattle traveling along the trail. One cow-the matriarch-was traveling in the opposite direction bellowing at the others. A few responded with comments but for the most part, they and the babies continued forward.
We were looking forward to traveling through the tunnels again and capturing more footage.
As we arrived at Hill City, it started to rain HUGE drops. We stayed at Larrson’s Crooked Creek Resort. The person at the office talked about a huge storm the day we were in Lusk resulting in $4,000 damage to a truck due to hail. “We were handing out duct tape and band aides!”
The rain was short lived. Settling in to ’Little Log Cabin #11’, we got the bikes settled and sat on the back porch and enjoyed a cool drink along the river.
It was a perfect ending to a perfect day!!
