Colorado 2020

Spearfish 2

We took a road trip, bypassing Deadwood, heading for the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, something we had done before by accident. There are several tunnels on the road which are very narrow, at 9′ wide and short, at 10’4″ high. It is always fun to go through these tunnels, unless you have a motorhome. We stopped at a typical intersection in the greater Sturgis area and the scene was about the same. Motorcycles everywhere, merchandise tents and many motorcyclists.
We saw this tent when we were leaving and don’t know what they were selling but it must have been wicked!
We stopped in Hill City because we spotted a steam engine operating on a side track. We could not get near enough to take a photo so we opted for this engine. They are both located at the South Dakota State Railroad Museum and the steam train travels between Hill City and Keystone. We did pick up a couple of tidbits about steam engines: 1) Steam engines were invented in 1705 by Thomas Newcomen and were improved by James Watt (Watt light bulb) in 1769 and 2) The standard gauge rails, at 4′ 8 1/2″ was determined by carts and chariots in Pompeii. The Space Shuttle engine boosters were built to be held by rail cars with the standard gauge width. The major design feature of what is arguably one of the most advanced transportation systems in existence was determined by the width of chariot tracks in Pompeii. Kinda makes you think.
This is a photo taken at random along the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. The rock formations were almost unreal.
Here is another roadside formation along the scenic byway. We left the byway to head due south to Custer. We had already done the very low, very narrow tunnels.
These cattle captured our eyes. They were down a short dirt road to a ranch. I stopped at the gate and this young one came up to me and rattled his horns on the gate. Cathy thought he was playing but I had other thoughts and stayed about a horn’s length back.
The older fellas did not pay me much attention but they were neat to watch.
We stopped in downtown Custer. On our last trip, we thought this town was a ghost town but the Sturgis rally really brings these small towns to life, at least for a week.
This is a rather odd bison sculpture.
Cathy doing her Carmen Miranda routine.
The entire center of the street was reserved for motorcycles, like every town in the proximity of Sturgis.
This shirt is probably not safe for children, but it shows the feelings of the some of the bikers.
I would hate to be known as “Fly Speck” anyone. How would you hang a fly speck?
Next morning, after breakfast at a local Spearfish sandwich shop we headed up the Spearfish Canyon to take a short hike. We started down the Savoy Trail, which follows the creek from Spearfish Canyon Lodge to Savoy Pond, a distance of about three miles. There apparently was a severe wind storm that hit this area recently. These are pretty big trees that were snapped at the bases.
Looking across the creek, this rock was gorgeous.
Once we reached Savoy Pond, I crossed the road to get this photo of the fish ladder that was constructed when this pond was created to provide power to both Deadwood and Lead. We found it interesting that fish ladders were important at the turn of the last century.
We watched hundreds of trout swimming and jumping in this pond.
Cathy spotted this family and as I tried to get close for a photo, they went for a swim.
Looking across the creek, there was further evidence of the severe windstorm. The trees were snapped like twigs..
As we continued on the trail, it kind of disintegrated as the fallen trees had not been cleared yet. We decided to turn around.
Cathy is walking back to Savoy pond.
After returning to the trailhead, I decided to ride my bicycle the twelve miles through the canyon to a rest area where Cathy could meet me.
The next morning I decided to hike the 6+ mile Crow Peak Trail, which leads to the tallest local mountain. I reached the trailhead at 6AM as it was supposed to reach the mid 80s in temperature today.
Climbing up the mountain I passed large areas where the trees had apparently blown over, creating future meadows. The foliage was just starting to turn fall colors.
It is always good to follow a trail that splits and the sign indicating which way is which is missing. Luckily I reviewed the map at the trailhead and chose the correct direction. I had not seen another person at this point.
Just like every mountain that I have encountered so far, I had to cross a scree field, this particular one was crossed repeatedly as the trails switch-backed as I climbed.
The further up the mountain I got the more the trail looked more “natural”. I would think a lot of hikers start to turn back as the trail worsens.
If you look closely, you can see the marathon runner heading up the scree field, just entering the trees on the left. This runner passed me here and at the top. He had turned around an met me again on the descent. It must be nice to be young.
This is one of the passes over scree, more to come.
Sometimes the trail just has to go over a rock. This one was easily to climb, unlike some others I have encountered.
This is the view from the top, looking into the valley below, directly into the sun, an unfortunate byproduct of arriving early.
This is one of canyons leading up to the summit.
This is the view looking northwest. You can see the farms and the town of Spearfish off to the right.
I had to try the selfie as there was no one at the top with me. I made the 1,600 foot climb to the top in a little more than an hour and the trip down took a little less than an hour and counted eleven deer on the trail.

I will end this post with a couple of signs we saw while walking in Deadwood this evening.

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travellingwiththeschinglers

2 thoughts on “Spearfish 2”

  1. Well, all this hiking is really telling on you two!! Nice to be slim and trim!!! Hope that you are enjoying all that beautiful scenery! Caster looks interesting!

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