Devils Tower

Got up early today and headed for Devils Tower. 

How did the tower come to be?  About 50 million years ago molten magma was forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground.  As it cooled it contracted and fractured into columns.  Over millions of years, erosion of the sedimentary rock exposed Devils Tower.  The tower rises 867 feet from its base and stands 1,267 feet above the river and 5,112 feet above sea level.

I hiked a total of 6.16 miles in the park for a total so far today of 17,784 steps per my Fitbit.  I hiked the Joyner Ridge loop and the Red Beds trail skipping the way too busy and noisy paved Tower Trail.  It was mostly sunny and warm with some cloudy periods.  Overall a great day for a hike.

Here are some pictures of the hike:

 From a distance.

Can you see the face?

The red beds.

 Lots of forest fire debris.

 Looking away from the tower.

Steep hillside.  Good thing I had my hiking poles.

 

The balancing rock.

Sent an email from here while on my lunch break.

 Beautiful.  The tower looks so different from various places along the trail.

 Needle and thread grass.

Reminds me a little of the trail at Devils Lake in Wisconsin.  Gets the old heart pumping.










Another beautiful day.  I am grateful every day that I am able to travel and hike trails like this.  I will remember always the beautiful views as well as the areas that had ticks and mosquitoes!  Fortunately the bad stuff was in a very small area.

Moving and road trip

I left Sturgis today and moved a little further down the road. After I settled in to my new place, I took off for a road trip in my Honda.  I went on some gravel roads in the Black Hills National Forest through some very beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, I did not stop to take any pictures since it was usually a one lane road with no way to get off.  Everything is green here now and the contrast with the red soil and the pine trees makes for a picturesque scene everywhere I look.  Went through a herd of cattle (very carefully) as they were walking all over the road. 

I ended up on highway 85 going north and turned on highway 14A through the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway.  Gorgeous area!  The road followed along a river with steep canyon walls on both sides.

A picture of the river.  Not very big but traveling at a good rate. 

Ended up being a 3 hour drive so I didn't get home until about 5:30. Sat outside and read for a little bit until the storms came in.

A picture of the clouds before the rains came. These clouds didn't actually rain on us but the ones that came after did.

Overall, a wonderful day. Tomorrow I hope to hike around Devil's Tower.

Stormy days and Sturgis

The last couple of days in Box Elder, SD saw several storms come through.  On the last full day I woke up to cloudy skies and thought I could get some waxing done on my Born Free.  I had just started in on the front when the sun came out with a vengeance.  I was able to get some sections done but it was just too hot so I quit and sat in my chair to read for a while.  I also spent time visiting with the Escapees Solo group.  They were here early for their mini rally which starts on Sunday.  It was a nice group of people and I am considering joining them at some point.  

I headed for Sturgis, SD to stay the night since my site in Box Elder was needed for the last of the Escapees Solos coming in today.  Lots of motorcycle riders here even though it is nowhere near the time for their rally in August.  I only drove a short distance today and spent the afternoon doing my laundry and walking around Sturgis a bit.  Not much to see in this part of town so no pictures.

I will be moving on down the road tomorrow getting ever closer to the Escapees Rally in Wyoming.

Wedding, Family, Born Free and South Dakota

To bring you up to date, my Niece's wedding came off without a hitch.  The rain quit and the sun came out just in time for the outdoor wedding.  I spent some time after that with my brothers and sisters before heading to Iowa for the Born Free homecoming at the factory in Humboldt, IA.  Everyone has a wonderful time there seeing the new Born Free innovations and meeting up with old friends. 

This is my favorite new Born Free on the Ford 550 chassis.  

Next I went to Box Elder, SD to see my home for the first time. I had a tour of the mail facility and was impressed at how efficiently they handle all the mail and packages.   While there I went to the Badlands  National Park, picked up my Senior Pass and took a 4 mile hike.  Here are some pictures I took along the way.

It was hot and dry there but there was incredible scenery everywhere I looked.  It was a very slow walk because I was constantly stopping to admire the flowers on the cactus and the rock formations every few minutes.   Here are some of the flowers.

The next day I went to what seemed like a very different world just by going to the other side of Rapid City. I went to the Black Hills National Forest visitor center and asked for a recommendation on a nice hike. I was told about several and choose to go on an out and back hike on the Deerfield trail.  This was a delightful hike along a small river with lots of trees.  Totally different than the day before!  I ended up going 7.33 miles according to my GPS. Here are some pictures from that hike.

How can that tree grow there?  I guess it takes seriously the saying "Grow where you are planted."

SO different from the Badlands.

After leaving the main river, the trail followed a small creek with bridges like this. After the third one and the trail requiring pushing through tall weeds I figured I had gone far enough. Got pretty good at crossing on those narrow bridges though!  A thoroughly enjoyable hike!

The next day it was stormy so I stayed home and decided to update this blog.