Well, it had to happen sooner or later..... The raindrops held off long enough to put the tent away, although it was still wet from a bit of overnight rain. In my haste to get my breakfast on my plate and get a seat under shelter, I completely forgot to make my lunch. Oh well - I’ve eaten way too much on this tour anyway...... At least it was just a light rain and in fact it completely stopped for much of the ride. Our route today was northeast, back toward Rapid City. It was by far our shortest and least arduous ride of the entire week. Actually, it was quite a fun and scenic ride on (mostly downhill) undulating and twisting roads. Even with a snack stop thrown in we were at the finish line before 10am. The Adventure Cycling crew had planned a nice treat for us - root beer floats. They weren’t counting on the temperature only being about 11C - brrrr. Anyway - warm farewells all around and Ursula and I were off to Badlands National Park.
The rain continued off and on, so upon arrival at the park we quickly traded in our camping reservation for a room at the Inn. The rock formations here are absolutely stunning! We toured the Visitor Centre and drove the Badlands Loop Road.
A quick stop in the booming metropolis of Wall SD and back to our luxury (relatively speaking) accommodations at the Badlands Inn.
The bike trip was great - I would highly recommend it. Now we’re on our own to plan our days, forage for food, etc. - oh woe is us.......
Stats for the day:
Hill City to Rapid City
26 miles. 43 km.
1250 feet up. 2541 feet down.
Temps: 6C to 13C. Intermittent rain.
Strange... We had a horrific thunderstorm in the Badlands. It sure rocked our van; and the people next to us were in a tent and the wind totally demolished it!! Maybe the sceneery is not the only reason they call them the 'badlands'...
ReplyDeleteWe also stopped in Wall. Had to, we'd been seeing signs for the Wall Drugs store for over 50 miles. Had dinner there - actually not bad.
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