South Dakota, Who Knew?

That should be the slogan for the South Dakota Tourism Board. I just returned from the 12th sorta biennial hiking trip with my high schools buddies Howie, Rob and Ted, or as my better half refers to these trips by guys who grew up in Flushing, Forest Hills, Canarsie and East 46th Street in Manhattan — “City Slickers, Part 12”. This time we visited Badlands National Park and the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Lakota Indians named this area “Paha Saha”, which translates to “Black Hills” due to the dark color of the Ponderosa trees that predominate the forest. The word “mountain” apparently does not exist in the Lakota language as the Black Hills are actually a mountain range with stunning rock formations such as:

A bit busy at work, I did not do any research for this trip and had no real expectations. To a boy from Queens, I analogized Black Hills to Forest Hills. When I took the E or F trains to Continental Avenue, I did not recall the terrain as being very challenging.

Of course, since Rob planned this trip, I did check the proposed itinerary. Whenever I have a really bad day at work, I am still thankful that the day was not half as bad as the bike ride Rob organized to visit Howie in Roselle Park, New Jersey that included biking the narrow pedestrian walkway on the old Goethals Bridge over the Arthur Kill with a two foot safety guard. And Rob’s hotel preference tends to be more “condemned” than “posh”. Literally. On our recent trip to Big Bend, I noticed that the hotel in El Paso that Rob booked during our trip a few years ago to Guadalupe Mountain National Park, scenically located next to a busy highway, was abandoned, taped off and plastered with “Demolition” signs.

But surprise, surprise, the Black Hills are truly spectacular and all of you should put this area on your bucket list. And who knew that the Black Hills is a cycling mecca for both gravel and road riders? We spent a day cycling on the Mickelson Trail, rated as one of the top U.S. rail trails. It is a 109 mile trail down the length of the Black Hills. Here is a good example of the scenery we saw all day:

As to terrain, rather than being “peaches and cream”, “up and down” better describes our ride as shown by Rob’s gps. I enjoyed the long downhill, but there aren’t many 8 mile uphills in Connecticut::

We also had three days of spectacular hiking, including Black Elk Peak which at 7,200 feet is the highest mountain between the Rockies and the Pyrenees:

On our last day, we had a spectacular hike through native prairie at Wind Cave National Park. All started well as we saw lots of prairie dogs:

But then we came upon this right next to the trail:

Howie and I were ahead and spent the next half hour walking while looking directly at the ground for other rattlesnakes. And then we looked up:

Channeling our vast knowledge of wildlife growing up in Flushing and Canarsie, which mainly consisted of watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, Howie and I decided that all was safe since the bison was on the other side of this creek and that we should keep on walking (and that it was okay for me to suavely take a picture with my iPhone while walking). Upon reflection, what were we thinking??? Would this stream have really inhibited a pissed off bison? Stupid, self absorbed or just a plain old yutz move? You may have more apt descriptions. Anyways, as soon as we passed, the bison promptly crossed this mighty stream, raised its tail (which is an aggressive sign) and set up right in the middle of the trail as Rob and Ted approached:

I was hoping that Rob and Ted also watched Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and had at least purchased some Mutual of Omaha insurance. Thankfully, the bison eventually ambled away. We later learned the likely reason. Black Hills bison were hunted to extinction in the late 19th century. Bison that now inhabit the area actually descend from a group that was moved there from the Bronx Zoo. Really. Descended from New Yorkers, the first impression of this big guy, like that of many New Yorkers, is gruff on the outside while he is probably a nice guy on the inside.

Surviving that hike, we ended a really fun trip with visit to the cave.

Even though our trip only included a bit of cycling, I wanted to share this beautiful area with all of you. And now I need to get back on the bike….