South Dakota & Wyoming

 060726 Cold Brook Lake Campground, Hot Springs SD.  I arrived early and had to wait for the camper in my space to check out, but there was no sign of them. They were camping in a small trailer and must be out on the lake. So I pulled into another space to wait. But I did do some geocaching on the way. 

I pulled out of Crawford pretty early, it was only about 30 minutes to the border of South Dakota. I made it in 31 minutes and pulled over at the state line because on these back roads there is usually a cache welcoming you to their state. Sure enough, I was parked less than 50' from a cache. The description said I will need a TOTT (Tools of The Trade) to retrieve this micro. I took a look and saw the container way up high on the Welcome to South Dakota sign. I hesitated not and got my ladder out of the van to make the grab.  

Continuing on into South Dakota, a state I need for another sticker on my water bottle, I proceeded to visit The Mammoth Site  in Hot Springs to claim a virtual cache. I did not pay for a tour, it was pretty crowded, but I was able to meet the requirements for the find. 

Driving through Hot Springs, a small mountain town surrounded by evergreen with modern condos and an old downtown. Before I knew it I was on a dirt road heading north out of town for about 3 miles before pulling into the campground where I am still waiting for my campsite to open up.  The ranger stopped by and said it was fine if I waited where I was and that he would check down by the lake. 

I didn't need to wait too long and I was all set up by 1630 and had a nice peaceful evening in the small campground.  Although the Camp Host had to run their gas generator, but that ok with me. In the morning I took a nice walk down a jeep trail before packing up. This is definitely a place that I wish I could stay longer, but I have a place to be at in Southern Colorado in 2 days.  

The next days route will be determined by the wind. There are high wind warnings for south Nebraska and Wyoming but it looks like if I make it to Cheyenne then go west I should miss all the heavy wind. So I left at the regular time and entered east Wyoming and stayed on the eastern border. I stopped in Lingle Wyoming to claim a virtual cache and have some lunch. It was overcast but the wind was mild. 

The wind picked up as I got closer to Cheyenne and when I made the junction to I80 west the wind was even stronger, but I pressed on west until I saw the Highway warning sign, you know the ones that tell you click it of ticket, that said road closed for high profile vehicles less than 20,000 lbs, that's me! I took the next exit and stopped at the Northbound "Welcome to Wyoming" rest area. It had a RV area with a dump station and best of all 2 adventure labs with a bonus cache! 

So I went ahead and dumped my gray tank, parked and got to work on the Adventure labs. To get the answers to all the questions required walking the whole rest area and the perimeter, where the final micros were, so I got in a good walk in strong wind. 

No reason to try and find a campground, obviously overnight parking was allowed. I talked to an old fella that said someone had run him off his land and all he had left was his old beat up chevy van. He gave me a tour of the inside and I listened to all the improvements he'll make once he get his settlement money for his property cause "I'm gona sue them for all their worth" he said many times.  I asked him if he was okay on food and that I would make him a sandwich , but he declined, says he can take care of himself. I didn't press the issue, though he looked like he missed a few meals, we just shared our good wishes for each other and settled in for a fine rest stop camp. Tomorrow I'll stay at a state campground outside of  Walsenburg CO, only 30 miles from the Rocky Mountain Star Stare. I can fill my water tank, get a shower. and stock up for a week of boondocking.  I sure took a roundabout route to get from Alabama to Colorado, but I got four more stickers on my water bottle and saw some pretty neat sites.  Thanks for visiting, bye!

📷Camera Roll 🧻

Toadstool Geologic Park

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060626 Toadstool Geologic Park is noted for its unusual geological formations, some in the shape of toadstools, and scientifically valuable fossil deposits. Located northwest corner of Nebraska.  I heard about it as a place to visit on the Built to go podcast, so I put it on my list for on my way west. The campground consists of 12 sites with picnic tables, fire rings, upright grills and two accessible vault toilets. There is no water. There were three tent campers already there when I arrived. I parked and took the campground loop trail that featured information from a very informative Earthcache GC2CHP2. The weather was cooler in the afternoon, I was ready for a nice peaceful evening sitting at the picnic table with my salad and grilled ham & cheese with tasty Hungarian peppers. 

That's when a gust of wind blew my cap off. I looked up from my meal to see a dark sky beyond the foot hills, thunderstorm to the southwest.  I looked at the weather app which showed the rain starting a 2100.

After the sun went down, I sat outside to watch the lightning and take some pictures.  It was quite the show as the storm looked like it would pass to the west. At about 2015, I went inside and cleanup my dinner mess and put on an audiobook. 

The rain started right at 2100 and the wind was rocking the van. I was just thinking about hitting the sack when I received a weather alert on my phone. There was a link to a Nebraska Special Weather Statement that warned wind gusts up to 50 mph and penny sized hail. I stepped outside to determine the wind direction in case I need to move the van, thinking I would be ok with 50 mph head on but not broadside. The wind was coming right at my port side and the other campers were gone! I packed up and got out of the area. I ended up in Crawford NE, about 20 miles southeast. I found a place to camp at the city park. Crawford City Park Campground. 

I probably would have been fine if I stayed at Toadstool. I guess I will never know. Crawford was peaceful and there was no wind to speak of. I may have over reacted but I live to camp another day. 

👀👀👀👀Here a link to the rest of the photos.  👀👀👀👀👀

Thanks for visiting. 

Carhedge and Agate Fossle Beds

 

6-6-26 Created by Jim Reinders Carhedge, located in  Alliance NE, is a replica of the famous Stonehenge in England. I arrived at 0930 and found the geocache in the parking lot then walked around the exhibit. There was another geocache in the exhibit. The log is an old station wagon near the far end of the grounds which is covered with signatures as it was placed in 2003. Very unique roadside attraction I stopped at on my was north from Scott’s Bluff. There is a nice trail and a gift shop. 

Next, I stopped at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Visitor Center and Museum in Sioux County NE. I spent some time inside looking at all the artifacts on display and watching a film about the fossil beds and the people that discovered them. Afterwards I hiked the Daemonelix trail. Half way up the cliff face they discovered a series of vertical spiral shapes. The locals called them Devil Corkscrews but they are actually burrows of ancient beavers leading down to nesting areas underground. They are approximately 20 to 23 million years old, dating back to the Miocene epoch of the Neogene period. I completed 3 Earthcaches before continuing on north to the Toadstool Geological Park, which I will tell you about in my next post. 

Thanks for visiting 

Photos

Chimney Rock and Scott’s Bluff NE

​60326 After getting an oil change it Wichita, I proceeded north towards the state border with Nebraska. I stayed at another Army Corps of Engineers campground called Methodist Cove Campground in the city of Alma NE. This puts a new state sticker on my water bottle. They have showers, coin laundry and dump station. I spent the next day bike riding a nice trail into town, I found the only cache along the trail and went to the bank to get quarters for the laundry. Had to ride through a flock of sheep! 

I left the next day driving west past Chimney Rock and into Scott’s Bluff. This was a pleasant surprise. I never heard of this place before and I was surprised how such a significant landmark would be so unpopular. This was(is) the real gateway to the west. Maybe because it’s named after an unfortunate fur trapper, Hiram Scot, who died there at the base of the pass in 1828 and not for some famous politician. There is a visitor center and a driving self tour of the north side of the landmark. Layers of sandstone, volcanic rock and limestone concentrations are exposed after years of erosion, telling the geological story in the area. I found it well worth the visit and took my time enjoying the scenery. 

It was late in the afternoon when I pulled into a non hookup space at the Riverside Campground in the town of Scottsbluff NE. 

Photos