I finally woke up early. Finally.
Before descending into the city, I coasted down the skyline road in the cool morning air - not panting in the lowest gear, just trying to keep moving, like last night.
I spy a... dinosaur...
While heading out of town, I treated myself to a coffee from Starbucks.
But just outside, I met Bud Johnson. He lives in the area, with a winter house in Arizona, and struck up conversation because his son has toured on a bicycle before.
Bud rides his bike all over the place - including the George Mickleson trail, traversing a hundred miles through the Black Hills. We ended up talking for at least an hour outside the Starbucks - only accosted for cigarettes once.
His son works at the Grand Canyon now - I wonder if I saw him there... Bud, it was a pleasure chatting - people like you make my day.
The next couple dozen miles out of Rapid City were really boring. More fields. A sprinkle of rain here and there.
My goal was Scenic, South Dakota. Since I was taking the back route into the Badlands, avoiding the interstate at the same time, there is a single place to replenish my water until the visitor's center on the far side. I plan to be there tomorrow afternoon.
Once in Scenic, I purchased a gallon of water. The bottle refilled all of my containers, with some left over. Using a bungee cord, I positioned the jug on the front of my rack, supported by the tent and handlebars. I don't really know how much water I'll need, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Scenic is an interesting town consisting of a couple buildings. While the gas station is the only one open for business, the rest are quite picturesque.
From Scenic, the road turned into dirt. Poorly maintained and covered in washboards, the ride was slow going.
And the big trucks didn't slow down, much less acknowledge my existence. Every time one passed, I had to stop and wait for a minute or two for the plume of dust to subside. Most of the other drivers slowed down when they saw me, minimizing the debris their cars hurled into the air.
More fields.
The National Park Service maintains a primitive (and free) campsite on the west side of the Badlands National Park. Only about half full, I setup my tent next to one of the covered picnic areas.
Camping next to my spot was Mary Jean & Brian; from New York, driving to San Diego. And taking their time.
They travel like me, no plans, thinking of destinations on the day they roll out. We both agree it is the least stressful way to travel. They became tired of New York and decided on San Diego - their favorite city - as a destination to find new jobs, but more importantly, explore the country in between.
Around seven o'Clock, Kathleen the park ranger introduced herself and told all the campers she would be holding an atlatl demonstration.
An atlatl is a device used to throw spears the predates the bow & arrow. Used by the Native Americans to hunt bison, it served as an extremely effective tool along with being safer than approaching the animals closely to spear them.
Kathleen, her atlatls and spears.
Not only did she demonstrate the device, but she let us try it out. So there we were, in the Badlands, throwing spears with an ancient hunting tool.
Another camper, by far the best atlatl-er, hurling a spear off into the distance. It lands somewhere... By the way, I'm taking a lot of video, hopefully will be able to put a little montage together.
For dinner, I ate some mediocre, freeze-dried food that I do not intend to buy again.
But, the sky made up for it.
Joe