Day 77 (July 30). Black Hills

From: Hill City, SD

To: Alliance, NE

Miles today: 160

Total miles: 15622

I took some of the “back roads” through the southern part of the Black Hills region this morning (SD 87 & 89), along with several hundred Harley riders.  One thing I really like about Harley riders is they take the curves slow – even the speed limit.  These were very twisty roads, and this not only induced less stress for me, but it gave me more time to look around at the scenery.  I stopped often to look at the rocks up close as well.  The view from these back roads is a bit different from other places I’ve been – there are pine trees, but they are not dense, and there is little undergrowth. You can’t see through them very well, but it does give you a feeling of openness. The rock formations in the center of the park are pretty wild, almost unworldly.  These are ancient rocks, mostly granite but with lots of other things mixed in.  The entering and then freezing of water into the minute cracks create these odd shapes.

View from SD 8 in the Black Hills, South Dakota

The ancient rocks often tower over the road.

There are many smaller outcroppings as well.

Further south, one gets out of the igneous region and into the younger sedimentary rocks that surround it. There are lots of limestone caves around here. The forces at work have made this place a rock hound’s dream; fist-size chunks of quartz next to agates and other stones of many colors just lying by the road.  Here is a picture of “rainbow limestone” (I’m sure that is not its real name, but it seems reasonable to call it that).  This is just a road cut.

"Rainbow limestone."  I have no idea what causes this effect. 

At the town of Custer, I picked up US 385 south and took it out of the park and out of South Dakota and into Nebraska. At a  break in the town of Chadron, I noticed a Honda shop and took the opportunity to see if they could change my oil, something that has been overdue. They were great and did it in about half an hour.  I continued south and called it a day in Alliance, NE.  Tomorrow I will ride through the Sand Hills of Nebraska, a unique ecosystem that covers about a quarter of the state.