Mickelson Trail, South Dakota
Day 1 - Edgemont to Lien Quarry
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007
I left Cheyenne, WY around 4:10am and arrived at the Mickelson Trail trailhead in Edgemont, SD around 7:40am.
I changed into my riding clothes, took a few pictures of the Edgemont City Park and hit the trail.
Man, oh, man! What scenic country! Foremost must be the hardwoods and their fall colors. Quite distinct in this somewhat sparse (for hardwoods - there are plenty of pine and fir trees) and open land with hills, box canyons and such. Golden and red-tinged hardwood leaves stand out strikingly in this country. I found a grove of multicolored hardwoods sitting below in a canyon near Sheep Canyon that was immensely pleasing to the eye. I hope my photographs can do the sight justice. By the way, the drive in to South Dakota was splendid along US 18 from Lusk, WY as the intense morning sunlight produced splendid contrasts of light and shadow on the land formations along the western side of the route.
Anyway, the scenery on the Mickelson Trail was fantastic. Indeed, and there was the wildlife as well. Barking prairie dogs a few miles outside of Edgemont before I started my ascent on the trail. Saw one deer, numerous meadowlarks (although I never heard them sing), possibly an eagle, wild turkey too numerous to count in several areas, and assorted smaller birds that I couldn't quite identify.
My ride went well until about 18 or so miles into the ride. The winds started picking up and were blowing somewhat sideways. I intended to ride a minimum of 25 miles one way before turning back, but the time was getting late and I was getting tired, so I turned around after stopping at the Lien Quarry rest stop (just shy of 23 miles). I pumped some water from the hand pump to splash over my face and head to rinse off the sweat and to cool off. Very pleasing and invigorating.
I turned around and started to make good speed back, sometimes hitting 18 - 19 miles per hour on the trail, but then the wind became a headwind and it slowed me down to 10 - 11 miles per hour a good deal of the way. By the time I got to the relatively flat spot heading back into Edgemont (about four miles out) I was only doing 7- 8 miles per hour due to the wind.
I cleaned up in the Edgemont Park restroom and headed up to Crooked Creek Resort where I was staying. I originally intended to ride another 25 or 30 miles but by the time I got to my sleeping cabin I felt more like cleaning up and eating. I headed into Hill City and had an excellent double cheeseburger at the Hill City Cafe. After that, I hit the local grocery store and stocked up on a few necessities (no food) like paper towels and plates, plastic cups, a lighter and some fly catching sticky tape for the cabin.
Since then, I've called Deb, cleaned the bicycle up for tomorrow's ride, set up the mini-speaker system to the laptop and have some Alan Hovhaness playing (Symphony No. 60; Guitar Concerto, Op. 325; and Khrimian Hairing, Op. 49 - all fine, fine tunes) and am currently indulging in some water, Wild Turkey 101 and, perhaps a beer. No fire made for tonight and no cigar smoked. Perhaps these luxuries will come about tomorrow.
So, all in all, a great day. If the internet gets connected (the lady at the campground front desk said the high winds sometimes play havoc with their satellite connectivity) I'll email out some photos to Deb and friends and family. But, I imagine I'll soon catch some shuteye as I want to get an early start tomorrow A.M. It's only 6:35pm now, but I wouldn't be surprised to see myself sacking out by 8pm. However this plays out, tomorrow should be as good as today.
