Hot Springs SD and Its Red Sandstone Architecture

We arrived at Hot Springs SD on a windy but otherwise pretty day.  We dropped by the Mammoth Site--the world’s largest mammoth research facility. You can tour an active paleontological dig site and view Ice Age fossils exhibited as they are found.  We joined a group for a 30-minute tour of the ongoing dig.  Very well done.  We highly recommend it.

The Mammoth Site

We were most impressed by the unique red sandstone architecture of many of the public buildings.  They were built in the late 19th century with the advent of many visitors arriving to access the perceived powers of the minerals in the hot springs in the area.  The red sandstone is building stone cut from the Fall River Formation.

A Public Building

River Avenue

We declined to pay the $11 each (for seniors) to access the hot spring water (87 deg F) available at the Evans Plunge, an indoor natural spring-fed mineral water pool, with a 164' indoor water slide, aqua jet speed slide, kiddy slide and traveling rings, health club, outdoor pool, hot tub, steam room, and weight room, among other amenities.

The KOA campground 6 miles east of Hot Springs was one of the nicest locations of all the places we have stayed on this trip.



Rapid Ride on Box Elder Creek near Rapid City, South Dakota

On Saturday, May 28, 2011, Lynne and I headed up into the Black Hills just west of Rapid City.  I was intent on a day of kayaking on one of 3 lakes I had identified on Google Maps.  As we drove into the hills I noticed a swiftly flowing creek that looked perfect for floating.  I changed my mind to float it instead of one of the placid lakes—a decision I was to regret.    

Lynne videotaped my departure on Box Elder Creek: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-xjJWtd_no (please excuse the video quality—Lynne thought she was taking still photos).

As it turned out I bit off WAAAAAYYYYY more than I could chew.  I thought it was going to be a fun hour ride since the water was MOVING so swiftly!   But I ended up dragging around so many dangerous rapids and it SEEMED like a trip of  ten miles.  (Measured on Google Earth after the fact indicated the total kayaking trip was only 3.7 miles).  I was never so happy that cows are creatures of habit.  I used their well-chosen, well-worn paths to pull my kayak along.

I lost my only water bottle at the second rapid.  I had no food with me.  I got caught sideways on a rock.  The water pouring into the opening of my kayak prevented me from moving it for a while.  Finally with a super-Sherman effort I finally got it off.  It seemed like I dragged the kayak at least a mile overland to avoid bad rapids. 

Here is one rapid I floated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTtAovH-xlY&feature=related

………..and here is one I pulled my kayak around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb4AS1XBg-w&feature=related

A hazard I didn’t anticipate before I started the float was also due to cattle, specifically, to their restraint—BARBED WIRE FENCES across the creek, which for a large part of the year is dry.  The first fence that I encountered had red flags attached to the bottom strand of wire.  That gave me plenty of time to pull over to the bank before ramming into the barbs.  The second fence did not have any flags on it and I saw it just in time to avoid it.  I pulled over to the bank within in feet of the fence.  The third fence I saw too late to avoid.  My only chance of not ripping into it was to hold out my paddle to catch the bottom strand and try to force it up over my head.  Would the strand be too taut to force over my head?  Thankfully, it was not.  But just past it I had another rapid to negotiate.  I had to get the paddle back down and into the water to avoid the next set of rocks.  Whew!  That had been close!

Lynne and I had parted with the thought that I would be done in an hour.  She said if I had not shown up in 2 hours, she would contact emergency services.  I checked my watch as I pulled my kayak past the latest big rapid.  It had been 4 hours.  I was really concerned.  Would Lynne have called 911 yet?  How worried was she?  How tired was she of waiting with our dog Lily?  I was really tired and cold.  Looking downstream I could see a really bad rapid just ahead. I saw no way to drag the kayak around it.  The canyon closed in to both sides of the creek.  I did not know how much further I had to go to get to the pickup point where Lynne was waiting.  I thought I needed to start preparing to be rescued.  I found a clearing on a high bank where I could leave the kayak, paddle, and all my wet gear.  I spread the wet clothes all over the grass to create as large a visible footprint as possible for a rescue helicopter.  The sun was still high in the sky.  I thought that as soon as it dropped below the canyon wall temperatures would drop and I would soon be in danger of hypothermia. 

I thought that I needed to try to build a fire, both for warmth and to send up smoke to reveal my location to any air rescue team.  I had no matches or lighter with me.  I started collecting dry wood for a fire.  As I collected firewood it dawned on me that the only wood available was pine—softwood.  I needed a stick of hardwood in order to use the survival technique of rubbing two sticks together.  Building a fire seemed to be out of the question.

I decided I was going to have to try to walk out of the 300-foot-deep canyon and seek help.  Leaving behind all my gear except for my dry bag containing my camera and my cell phone, I began looking for a path out of the canyon.  Soon I identified some recent 4-wheeler tracks leading out of the canyon.  I began following them.  In places the track was very rocky and steep.  How long was I going to have to hike?  How long would my energy last?  Eventually I began hearing road noise and a barking dog.  I knew I was approaching civilization again.  Then I noticed a house through the trees.  Next I saw a lady working in her yard with two large German shepherds with her.  As I approached she noticed me.  I waved and said:  “I’m lost.  I’m lost.”  She took me for a neighbor.  I told her of my predicament and she took me in and gave me a glass of cold water.  I called Lynne.  Thankfully she was at a filling station back in town and received my call.  My rescuer gave her directions.  Twenty minutes later the 5-hour ordeal was over.  (The hike out of the canyon had only been 8/10ths of a mile, but I was nearing the end of my energy).

Lynne was EXTREMELY PATIENT with me and I apologized profusely, knowing how I would have felt if the tables had been turned.

A few days of wet, cold, foggy weather followed.  The following Tuesday we were supposed to leave Rapid City for Hot Springs SD.  The day dawned clear and bright.  I called my rescuer and set up to go back down into the canyon to retrieve my gear.  Her husband volunteered to hike down with me into the canyon and haul everything out.  My rescuer mounted her horse, released her 2 German shepherds and their daschund, and she, her husband, and I took off. 

An hour and a half later I bid my rescuers goodbye.  My attempts to pay for their help were rebuffed.  Her husband said, “Just pass it on.  The next time you see someone that needs your help, pass it on.” 

There are good people everywhere!

A WILDFLOWER IN BOX ELDER CANYON

The Big Circuit -- May 26, 2011

Our plan this day was to see four things on a big circuit of the southern Black Hills: Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Mt. Rushmore National Monument.  More than anything this turned out to be a nice drive on curvy roads on a nice day.  The lesson we RELEARNED today was that YOU MUST NOT RELY SOLELY ON YOUR GPS!!  GET AND USE A GOOD MAP OF THE AREA.  Using our GPS we at first missed Custer State Park AND the Wind Cave National Park.  But we DID find Crazy Horse.  However all was not lost since I found some decent samples of mica.

And I really liked this stand of aspen trees that still had not leafed out.

The story of how the Crazy Horse Memorial came to be is quite interesting.  It is a story of one man's dedication as sculptor, dynamite expert, and social commentator.  His wife and family bought into his vision and have expanded upon it.  It is a legacy that will continue for generations and immortalizes the words of Crazy Horse:  "My lands are where my dead lie buried."  Many controversies have arisen over the building of the memorial.  I feel it memorializes the best of human nature:  The desire to live in peace and security.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial

CRAZY HORSE -- BRONZE MODEL & STONE MEMORIAL

CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL

CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL -- CLOSE-UP

In the Custer State Park we learned why it was named for Custer.  Apparently Custer camped nearby before the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  He also discovered gold in the Black Hills.  It was here that we encountered the wild asses...........

..............and the largest herd of bison..............

.........................as well as the largest pronghorn herd that we had seen heretofore.

We also really liked the State Ranger Station built in the 1930s by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps).  Notice the strong log and rock fence with cattle guard at the entrance to keep out the bison.

 A drive that is really special is the Iron Mountain Road which has several tunnels on it.  Coming out of one this is the view...........

Can you see the four presidents of Rushmore in the gray rock in the lower center of the photo?

Here's a better view of Mt. Rushmore -- and I prefer this angle than that provided at the Mt Rushmore Visitors Center:

Several of our days in Rapid City were complete rainouts, so we really enjoyed the perfect weather we had this day.

Good Times in the Badlands

Heading east on May 25, 2011 from Rapid City on I-90 to see the Badlands, we saw a single pronghorn in a field off to the right.

Two things you don't see in this photo, which we didn't see either until we pulled out the trusty binoculars, are her little fawn hunkered down nearby and a coyote further away.  The mom was obviously agitated.  She crossed the barbed wire fence in the background.  Her baby crawled under it.  Then we noticed that the mom started running away from the fawn's location at a pretty good clip.  In a couple of minutes she was much farther away and had crossed back to this side of the fence again.  This is where we finally realized what she was doing.  A coyote was trying to grab her fawn and she was luring it away.  Next thing we knew she darted straight at the coyote.  He took off, zigzaging to avoid mom's charge.  This happened several times.  The coyote always just managing to escape the mom pronghorn's charges.  Finally she chased him back across the fence and over a hill, where they disappeared from view.  Noboby else whizzing by us on the interstate had any idea of the little nature drama that had just taken place.

At Wall SD we turned south and headed into the Badlands.  I wanted to show Lynne the amazing thing about the Badlands, which is how they just drop away from the land surface on which you approach them.  To understand that, check out this video, if you haven't already: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8mKWmog6ak

Lily:  "Where did Sherman go?

Lynne:  "Don't go there?  BTW, where is the insurance policy?"

Actually, I survived!!

A panoramic shot of the Badlands:

We added several more FIRSTs to our travels on this day:

Our FIRST Yellowbelly Racer  --  An Open Range, Grasslands Snake

Our FIRST Close-up View of a Prairie Dog Colony

 I don't know what has attacted these four pups' attention.  Obviously it is not us.  Perhaps it's.........

Our FIRST Bison

This bison (with ox-pecker bird aboard) is considering whether or not to charge.  Thankfully he decided not to.

 A few more shots...............

How are the Badlands formed?  Simply, by erosion.  Specifically, this hoodoo is formed by raindrop erosion, which detaches the rock particles, and flowing water, which carries off the detached rock particles.

Evidence of the erosion is provided by this benchmark which was placed here by the U. S. Bureau of Public Roads in 1959.  It was placed ON THE GROUND SURFACE at the time.  Today, the ground surface is almost 1 foot lower.  That is how much erosion has taken place at this site in 52 years.



Reptiles and Rocks

Reptile Gardens is located across the road from Happy Holiday Campground where we are staying in Rapid City.  They have an assortment of some of the world's most interesting snakes.  They also have some other interesting reptiles as well as some beautiful birds.

PUFF ADDER

BLACK MAMBA

KING COBRA

PRAIRIE RATTLER

KOMODO DRAGON

GIANT TORTOISE

MACAWS

GEODES

Reptile Gardens has a fantastic rock and mineral shop together with their typical wares which appeal to children.  Among them are these fantastic amethyst and citrine geodes.  One of the specimens (the one behind my cap--for scale) has a price tag on it of $8,000.



Arrival in Rapid City SD -- Monday, May 23, 2011

This is how we are traveling............

So far we have spent extended time in St Joseph MO and Onawa IA. We also plan to stay several days here in Rapid City. 

We saw some great old buildings in St Joe like the C. C. Hax Home in the Museum Hill Historic District.

This is the city located at the western end of the railroad in 1860 and the eastern end of the Pony Express which only lasted for 19 months starting in April 1860.  Riders left St Joe carrying the mail to Sacramento CA riding the 2,000 miles in 10 days.  Although overtaken by the arrival of the telegraph it has been indelibly imprinted in American Western Lore.  Below is a closeup of the Pony Express Monument.

(continuing)

While we were at Onawa IA (70 miles north of Omaha NE on I-29) we planned for me to put the kayak on the Platte River for a float, but it ended up being too windy, so we just had a picnic lunch on a sandbar.  Lily loves exploring.  I thought this was the Platte, but it was actually the Elkhorn River, a tributary of the Platte. 

This is the Platte River several miles upstream from Omaha NE, where it joins the Missouri River.  This river originates in the Colorado Rockies, flows north through a fantastic canyon into Wyoming, before turning east and flowing by Scotts Bluff NE (a landmark of the Oregon Trail pioneers), through the Sand Hills of western Nebraska where it picks up massive loads of sand and becomes a shallow, braided (many channel) stream before emptying into the Missouri River.

On the way to/from the Platte we drove through the little town of Fremont NE (named after another famed western explorer).  I loved the Chamber of Commerce building (originally the U. S. Post Office) ....................

 ...................with its bench out front which was covered in a city map with old and new photos of town landmarks.

 Leaving Onawa IA, we headed north on I-29, passing through (but not stopping at) Sioux City IA and Sioux Falls SD before heading west on I-90.  We had to stop by Mitchell SD to see the unique Corn Palace which is decorated in murals of local grains with a different theme EVERY year.  See this link: http://www.cornpalace.org/

CLOSEUP -- shows the different varieties of corn used in the murals.

(NOTE:  The story below will be repetitious for some of you because we are trying to bring everyone up-to-date and some of you received this story already by email.

I have corrected errors in the original email.)

Three days ago we arrived at Chamberlain, South Dakota (we were actually staying at an RV park in the small town of Oacoma).  It is on a lake created by a dam on the Missouri River.  Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery arrived here about September 16, 1804.  Clark saw his first of several animals:  the extremely swift pronghorn, the long-leaping jack rabbit (he measured its jumps at 21 feet), a few days before they had encountered their first "barking squirrels" (prairie dogs one of which they went to great lengths to try to catch), they saw their first magpie here, and their first mule deer (I saw a small group of these this evening just after sunset), their first "prairie wolfs" (coyotes), and a large herd of bison, which Clark estimated at 3,000. 

This evening while I was waiting for the sun to set, about 8:38 pm, I heard a coyote yipping and then ending with a howl.  Then it was answered by another in a different direction.  Just a few seconds later another across the Missouri River, at at least 3 miles distant answered loud and clear.  I could not believe how far their yips and howling could carry.  The wind was blowing in my direction and I was up on a high hill overlooking the river, both of which no doubt played a part.  Also today on our drive to this location I saw a beautiful male pheasant taking flight.  The bison have of course been replaced with large herds of beef cattle.  We are definitely now on the Great Plains with their sweeping vistas and "big sky".

This is where I was standing when I heard the coyote chorus...........

Yesterday we got up at Wall SD, home of the world famous Wall Drug.  If you haven't heard of it (like Lynne) just drive I-90 from the east or the west and you will know ALL about it before you get there from the dozens of signboards advertising it along the way.  Check out this link:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Drug.  Lynne wasn't impressed as I was hoping!  (I think she has more fun at Walmart!!)

Driving over from Wall SD yesterday we stopped at a rest area on the banks of the Cheyenne River which is normally dry but was close to flood stage with muddy water.  Lily's investigations indicated (by the mud up to her knees) that it had been above flood stage just the day before.  After her scientific hunger was sated she settled down for a nap and I pulled out my bike to take a ride back east on the interstate (don't do this when YOU take your next trip, although I highly recommend it) 5 miles to see what the beautiful purple flowers were on the hills adjacent to the road.  I saw some very nice surprises along the way.  Such as wild turkeys putting on a show..........

Here is what I went back to see.  I thought it was a wild prairie flower.

Instead, I found out it was alfalfa in bloom...........

But there were two other wild prairie surprises........possibly a lily............

............and this yellow beauty...........

At about mile-marker 85 on I-90, on the north side of the road, I saw a prairie dog colony with 3 little sentinels standing erect on top of their dirt mounds.  I was sorry Lynne missed them.  She has not seen them in the wild.  This was our first sighting of these cute little prairie creatures.  Sorry, no picture yet.

About 35 miles east of Rapid City we caught our first glimpse of the Black Hills.  Rapid City lies just east of them.

Today they we are confined to camp because of a heavy fog and mist that has settled in.