Coast2Coast Day 31: Spearfish to Keystone, SD; FANTASTISKT! Spearfish Canyon, Mickelson Trail, meeting Ken, Jim and Randy, and catching Bob and Chris (again)!!

Started from downtown Spearfish and our AirBNB ‘loft’ stay above Main Street in a historic building built in 1900, and rode leisurely up through Spearfish Canyon.  We stopped by Bridal Veil Falls to take a picture of Daniel to send to his girlfriend Veronika (who he is meeting in New York City at the end of his journey).  She responded that ‘He is mine!’

We continued our ride past the Lodge near the top of the Canyon, and onto the Mickelson Trail.  The early section for us along the Trail was a gentle, slight downhill through forest and meadows, along ponds and open range.  The Trail is South Dakota’s first Rail-to-Trail efforts, and is named after the former governor who championed the effort.  Eventually, the gentle downhill gave way to climbing a bit, and through four former train tunnels.  Twas quite a treat to be away from any motorized traffic! We met Ken, a local, that does the Mickelson at least once per year, and was riding a Trek, as is Daniel.  We also met Jim (former Littleton, CO resident) and Randy (current Englewood, CO resident), who are riding the Mickelson.  They let us know that Bob and Chris were close ahead.  Daniel put the pedal-to-the-metal, and we were able to catch up with B and C just before Hill City.

[We did have some light rain coming up from the Canyon, again on the Mickelson Trail twice, and again on the ride from Hill City to Keystone.  We donned our light rain jackets two-three times, but the light rain was cooling.]

[Daniel mistook a chipmunk for a baby dinosaur!  Not nearly as exciting as Melissa’s reaction to a dead snake in the road!]

We lunched at Pizzeria Mangiamo (Daniel had the Big Kahuna pizza (pineapple, mango, and tuna) that he inhaled. We are planning a rest day for tomorrow, and will visit Mount Rushmore.

Together with the excursion through the Canyon, the section of the Mickelson provided a great morning/day of riding!!  The Mickelson especially, as there was no motorized traffic for us to avoid!  We are now settled in for Happy Hour and a quiet evening at Kemp’s Kamp that has a heated pool, showers, and covered picnic tables—all luxuries.