Mickelson Trail, South Dakota
Day 2 - Crooked Creek Resort to Mile Post 90
Thursday, October 4th, 2007
The morning started early and cold. Cold, cold, cold. Kind of wished I had brought some gloves but toughed it out throughout the morning. In any case, I headed north on the trail from the campsite.
The morning sun played spectacularly with the scenery.
Shortly after getting north of Hill City, I spotted a small group of deer and snapped a few photos. Next was a friendly brown horse with black mane. He seemed interested in my handlebar bag, perhaps trying to snack on a Clif bar. The trail rose gradually and I saw numerous wild turkey again. There was also the little brown squirrel who sat on a split rail fence for me to take some more photos.
I topped out at the Redfern shelter. More birds, this time a raptor of some kind and a gray jay (I'll have to look him up in my bird books). Then it was a chilly ride downhill towards Tunnels A and B and the town of Mystic. The Mystic shelter produced a scampering little chipmunk. I gave him a bit of Clif Bar and snapped another photo or two. The air was still very chilly as I road through the hills.
What can I say? The entire ride was just another riot of color and immensely satisfying scenery - rocks, mountains, valleys, fall colors, swift running streams and rivers, waterfalls, and animals. Among other animals I came across were cattle and a dog, but there was also rabbit, robins, chickadees, finches, western blue birds, more hawks and falcons, a hairy woodpecker and a small snake (possibly a baby rattlesnake?) near Mystic.
I was tempted to ride all the way to Deadwood and back (it would have been a century ride - 100 miles) but turned around at the 90 mile post marker. Perhaps if my left knee wasn't aching I would have gone further. On the way back to Hill City, I met an older couple at the Rochford Trailhead. They hailed from south Omaha, NE. Nice people and riding the entire trail. They only had to finish up to Deadwood. They offered to make a cheese sandwich for me but I had just wolfed down some trail mix and a Clif Bar and was wanting to get back to the campground. Still, this was a most exciting and wonderful day of riding - 64.6 miles of soaking up the Fall beauty and majesty of the Black Hills.
