Fall Adventures

Cool weather arrived along with fall color, the most spectacular of which was to be found in Spearfish Canyon.  We took a hike along Iron Creek to enjoy the views.

In October we rode our 4-wheeler to Nemo for lunch.  It was 2 hours over on parts of the Centennial Trail and 20 minutes back on the gravel roads!

In early December we got out for another 4-wheeler ride.  This time we rode around the Hills off Runkel Road and found this nice view toward Sturgis and Bear Butte.  It was a chilly day but worth it to be out in the snow.

Visitors to 11555 High Valley Drive

We were fortunate to have many visitors in 2012.

Sarah's mom came several times in the summer and also for Thanksgiving.  We enjoyed a trip to Custer Park, shopping in Rapid City, planting flowers, happy hours on our deck, and decorating the house for Christmas.

In June, Sarah's cousin visited with his family.  We toured some of the local attractions - Bear Country and Reptile Gardens.  Because Scott, Heidi, and their girls had been here before, we felt like we were the tourists and they were the guides!  The girls had their second tour of the Hills by helicopter.

In July, Scott came back to see us for a week and experience fly fishing in the Black Hills.  He went to great lengths for trout.  This was Sarah's first fly fishing experience.  Scott was a great teacher!  During his visit we also had close encounters with bison in Custer Park and a tour of Wind Cave.

Sarah's sister Linda and brother-in-law Pepi also visited in July.  The highlight was the day we spent in Deadwood for the Days of 76 parade and a bus tour of the city, including Wild Bill's grave site.  We didn't let them leave without seeing Mt. Rushmore and trying our favorite burger joint, Lewie's.

In September, our friend Steve Johnson stopped by on his way back to Boise from Wisconsin.  We showed him a night out in Rapid City.  It was so nice to see him.

Summer in The Hills

We spent the middle of 2012 driving around, hiking, and camping in the Black Hills.  Here are a few of the highlights.

In May we explored a section of the Centennial Trail, a 111 mile trail marking the 100th anniversary of South Dakota statehood (1889-1989).  There is a trail head about 20 minutes from our house!

We found Custer Park to be one of our favorite spots.  In the springtime the baby bison are fun to see.  We also enjoyed the views from Lover's Leap trail.

We are not used to seeing so much green color on our hikes!  And the rock formations we encounter, such as this one along the Little Spearfish trail, are not like those we saw in Idaho.

In June they open the trail to the top of Crazyhorse monument for the annual Volksmarch .  This is by far the best way to enjoy Crazyhorse.

Just outside of Sturgis, the Fort Meade recreation area is a wonderful place for an early morning hike in June.

To escape the crowd at Roubaix Lake, we drove a few short miles to Sugar Shack, one of many special little roadside stops in the Hills.

Scouting for elk hunting areas near Rifle Pit road, we found the Wyoming border and weathered a thunderstorm in the back of the truck.  A few weekends later, we returned to the area for our first backpacking trip in South Dakota.  

This backpacking trip was unlike any we had done in Idaho.  As evening rolled around, with no lake to fish in and campfires not allowed...we got bored.  What did we do?  We hiked 20 minutes to the truck and drove to Lewie's for a burger, or course!  You can't do that in Idaho!

Exploring the Black Hills

Springtime in the Black Hills has been just gorgeous, and we have spent many weekends exploring.  Our first outing was to Devil's Tower.  Quite an amazing piece of the Earth.

We made our first of many trips to Custer State Park.  We are so fortunate to have such an amazing place within less than one hour's drive from our home.  This visit we saw some bison and hiked along the Centennial Trail and French Creek.

We climbed to the top of Bear Butte, near Sturgis.

On Mother's Day, we went back to Custer State Park for brunch at the Game Lodge and then hiked the Lover's Leap trail.

Retired Rick, when not occupied with projects around the house, has found the fishing in the Black Hills to be, well, phenomenal.