The day started with another great Peggy breakfast including a fruta plata along with some fortified coffee. Then we took off going east (I hate backtracking but we had no option) to Spearfish, SD. After carefully scrutinizing our South Dakota maps we determined that we should get off I-90 at exit 10 which is the wrong exit. From this point we attempted to use dead reckoning to get us pointed in the right direction for our target, Highway 14A through Spearfish Canyon. After a while, we determined we were going the wrong way and pulled a U which got us all the way back to the original, wrong exit. After some more meaningful discussion, we tried going another direction and accidentally found the turn to go on 14A and embarked on our Spearfish Canyon adventure.
Leaving the town of Spearfish the scenery along the road rapidly transitions from commercial to residential to driving between the walls of a skinny gorge with a crystal-clear stream running next to the highway. We drove through gorgeous canyons with giant ravines on both sides of the road. After a few miles, we made it to Bridal Veil Falls. It is pretty okay as a small waterfall but after seeing the Smokies, the Carolinas and Niagara, it is merely a nice cascade with easy fat tourist access. Numerous overweight Americans had crossed the stream and obscured the view of the lower falls section with their bodies and we waited a bit for them to exit stage left before shooting a few pictures.
Continuing on, we soon came to another waterfall called something that was up a dirt road behind a place called the Spearfish Lodge. The road was a gravel with enough room to pass oncoming traffic if you were careful and we crept along for about a mile before we arrived at the full parking lot so we missed this attraction. The surrounding countryside is gorgeous so our return trip back to the pavement wasn’t too bad. We got back on 14A and passed through the town of Cheyenne Crossing and continued to Lead. In Lead there is a really humongous hole in the ground where they mined things and it is so big they don’t let you get too close to the edge and you can’t even see the bottom. Other than this huge hole and some quaint old houses, there is nothing too spectacular about Lead other than where it is. The surroundings are gorgeous but the town is …..uhh…nominal.
At this point Peg asked me whether we should detour Deadwood and take 14A or take WY-85 and pass through this fabled municipality. Of course I acted like I knew and directed her to take 85 through Deadwood. I was stupid. I am embarrassed. Notice to travelers: Avoid Deadwood. There apparently were many historic things that may have happened in Deadwood but now it is a grisly conglomeration of a casino, dreadful tourist stuff, poorly designed road construction work with puzzling detours, unsynchronized traffic signals, narrow one-way streets and the resulting traffic nightmare that keeps auto speeds between dead stop and barely moving. It’s awful.
We finally cleared Deadwood and headed north for Belle Fourche, SD. Although the scenery along the road is beautiful, Belle Fourche is unremarkable and the only reason I wanted to go there was because I remember it from a John Wayne movie called The Cowboys. From downtown Belle Fourche, we turned west on WY-34 and passed through Aladdin again on our way home. The town is still for sale.
In conclusion – the towns around here do not blow up my dress but the terrain is absolutely gorgeous.