Mountain View RV, Sundance WY
We arrived at Mountain View RV park after one night stay in Buffalo, WY, just to breakup the drive. The campground is up on a hill overlooking the east end of town, and we were in the upper portion, next to a class C owned by the nicest couple from Denville NJ! Small world indeed! There was a pool, which I used couple of times and a small game room, where Tom and Anthony played pool and ping-pong.
On our first night there was a huge storm with rain and hail and wind. You could see the clouds rolling in and then all hell broke lose. It did not last long, but it was scary. I’m learning that the weather in these parts is very unpredictable and can get intense.
We wanted to explore few points of interest in the area. First was the Geographic Center of USA, in Belle Fourche SD . The monument has all 50 state flags around it, including the distance from the moment. There’s also very interesting museum of the area.
We continued to Sturgis SD, the site of annual motorcycle rally. We were there few days after the rally’s end. I was not impressed with the town, just bars and signs for Jack Daniels and Miller Lite. Not the western town I expected. So we went to Deadwood, and really enjoyed the atmosphere there. The old town is not large, but it has historic buildings, primarily from late 1800s. There are stores and restaurants, plus they did reenactment of a gunfight in the afternoon. Much more family friendly.
On the way back we stopped at Vore Buffalo Jump . It’s a small place, excavating old buffalo kill site, dating back to 1500s and used into 1800s by Plains Indians (Shoshone, Crow, Cheyenne, Sioux and others).
Next day was focused on visiting Devils Tower National Monument and it was well worth it. As you drive closer, it stands out from the other hills, though it is similar to Missouri Buttes, just short distance north. It was sacred to the Native Americans and they called it Bear Lodge. Their story is that a bear was climbing the tower to get at some children and its claws left the gouges in the rock.
We decided to hike the Tower Trails, Tom was not up to anything longer. One of the first things we noticed were the climbers. There are 200+ sanctioned climbing routes and we saw at least 3 groups right in the front of the Tower. The best climber was on the west side, we saw her go pretty fast almost to the top. There was a lot of discussion as to how they manage the approach and ropes etc. When we were finishing the hike, couple of climbers just came down so Tom asked them how they manage ropes, cams etc. and we learnt a lot! Of course we were thinking of Pat and Dave as well, they would have so much fun here.
Of course, there was a stop at Prairie Dog Town as well. These guys are so cute! and As keystone species, very important to the wellbeing of local ecology. Plus they are cute!
Getting ready to travel tomorrow to the heart of Black Hills, Custer SD!
