As we departed Rapid City, South Dakota, we traveled through Spearfish Canyon toward Deadwood and Lead, old historic gold mining towns. The canyon provided a spectacular drive and we hiked around the Rochford Falls about midway through the canyon drive. Deadwood was a touristy area, focused on the days of the gold rush and when Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane lived there. Lead was interesting, as it dates back to the same time as Deadwood, but has evolved over time. It has the world's largest open mine pit (it seemed enormous and we could only see a small part of it) and, taking advantage of the deep mines, is now where neutrino and dark matter research occur. From there we traveled to another historic town -- Sturgis -- home of the largest annual motorcycle rally, which will celebrate its 81st anniversary later this year. It was an appropriate time to stop into Knuckles Saloon and the Knuckles Brewing Company for some very good beers (the best we had tasted in South Dakota!). From there, we went to Devils Tower National Monument, which is an astounding rock formation; it seems to rise out of nowhere on the plains. We highly recommend hiking the trail loop around the base of Devils Tower. It is a great way to see the tower from all angles as well as the surrounding valley. We were amazed to see how the rock climbers were making their way up the steep cliffs of the monument (see that little dot in about the middle of the photo below??)
. From Devils Tower, we headed to Casper, Wyoming. The vistas along the way were spectacular. The early part of the drive was wide open grasslands with cattle, horses, sheep and an abundance of antelope, with wide horizons and views that went forever. More toward Casper, the landscape changed with more buttes, oilfields, and eventually the Casper Mountains. One important note before traversing Wyoming: make sure you have plenty of fuel, as there are not many gas stations along the way. For dinner, we had excellent food and brews at Gruner Brothers Brewing overlooking the city of Casper.
