Black Hills Highlights

The view from Cement Ridge 

Let's play a little game of Word Association. I say, "Black Hills." Did you say, "Rushmore"? We discovered so much more! We spent four days in the region and never visited Mount Rushmore. (Been there... Done that... insert sigh and eye roll here, haha!) This is what we DID do:

We rode a vintage steam train.
I have been pestering Dan about taking a train ride for a long time now, so when he came across the website for the 1880 Train (Hill City), it became the first activity on the itinerary. We enjoyed the ride immensely, and when it was over, we played leapfrog with the train at several crossings to get pictures of it. 

When you are a steam engine, "taking on water"
is a good thing!

We explored two caves. (Neither of them was Rushmore Cave.) Since Ashley is "collecting" national parks, we visited Wind Cave National Park, near Hot Spring. This was definitely a different sort of cave. No bats, no stalactites, and no stalagmites. There were some very interesting formations, though. I was not familiar with a formation called boxwork. It is formed when harder substances fill cracks in the limestone. Over time, the soft limestone washes away, leaving just the filled cracks. 

Boxwork

This one reminded me of
the Leaning Tower of  Pisa.

The second cave that we toured was Wonderland Cave,near Nemo. This one was a much more "traditional" cave, with drippy stalactites reaching down for the stalagmites growing beneath them. But this cave also held something I don't remember ever seeing before - cave bacon. Yep.. a calcite formation that looks just like bacon. 

We visited two museums. One was the typical chronology of the growth of a new gold settlement (Deadwood) in the wild west, but the other was more intimate. The Adams House, definitely my favorite of the two museums, gave a glimpse into the lives of the rich and famous of the day. The house itself was beautiful, but even more interesting was the work of restoration and preservation. We were barely in time to catch the last tour of the day, but I am so glad that the gracious hostess let us join the group. 

Roughlock Falls

We found three waterfalls in Spearfish Canyon. Two of them were falls that Ashley located on a previous trip. The first one was beautiful Roughlock Falls, comprised of a lower and an upper cascade. We spent quite a while photographing the falls, as well as fish, butterflies, and flowers. The second falls, Bridal Veil Falls, was a bit anti-climatic, and even the mountain goat that I spotted on one of the high precipices lost its photographic appeal when I realized that it was tagged and collared. 

The third falls, Spearfish Falls, on the other hand, did not disappoint! We had to hike a short distance, but it was well worth the effort. We even had the place mostly to ourselves. 

Spearfish Falls

After saying goodbye to Ashley on Sunday afternoon, Dan and I came home the back (way back) way, hardly touching pavement until we came to Devil's Tower. Next time you visit the Black Hills, skip the "usual" spots and pick out something else. You won't be sorry!