Black Hills & Badlands

Drove into the Black Hills after our quick run across Wyoming. Did you know it was Sturgis Rally Week? Neither did we, though the legions of motorcycles made us suspicious. Never seen so many bikes in our lives. Good thing we weren't looking for a motel in the Black Hills, apparently they were going for $300/night.

We hit some thunderstorms; more storms is probably appropriate. It had been raining on us since the hail storm in Calgary. Stopped in Jewel Cave for a short tour underground, where it was not raining. Next we went to Wind Cave NP, where we checked out the campsite and decided it was the best one we'd ever seen. Signed up for two nights and pitched a tent in the weird grassland/pine forest combo. Deer ranged through the campground periodically, and voice-cracking coyotes sang to us at night (we assume they were teenagers?).

The next day we drove to the Badlands. We took a fun dirt road across the Lakota territory and visited the south unit of the park. We drove along the "primitive road" which took us to the end of Sheep Mountain Table. The road was two deep ruts, not often along the same level and sometimes full of water. It was a fun ride, though a little scary when the car was tilted at a 10º angle. Logically that's not enough to tip the car, but boy does it feel like you're going to roll. The road ended at a cliff. We had lunch looking out over the cool water-eroded landscape.

We drove across the bottom of the north unit and then onto the road along the Wall. Stopped often for views. 3,000 motorcycles accompanied us. After we left the park we went to Wall Drug to see their new dinosaur. On the way back to Wind Cave we took the Needles Highway through Custer State Park. At first we were miffed by the $15 fee to drive along a road. But then we saw the awesomeness and weren't sad anymore. In fact, we decided to drive it again the next day since we liked it so much. The Black Hills are cool.

Packed up a slightly wet tent the next morning, drove along Needles again on the way to the highway, then headed for Kadoka. In 2004 we ate at the truck stop there and it was awesome. This time, not so much. They had gotten rid of the restaurant and turned it into a t-shirt store. They did have a biker bar out front, but Coors at 10:30 am wasn't really a good substitute for biscuits & gravy. So we went to a diner down the road instead.