A Date with the Devil – Old Kids Adventures

August started on a Sunday with a nice Sunny day in Custer, South Dakota. We had discovered a biking trail named the Mickelson Trail that runs through town, and decided to give it a try. The trail was paved the entire distance, so no crazy biking was required. But… it was uphill all the way to Crazy Horse, leaving us to wonder if our biking legs were failing us when we got started. We made our way up to the Crazy Horse monument without seeing too many people, and had just enough shade to keep from feeling too terribly hot. We looked at the monument from a distance, and then cruised back to Custer. The ride back went much quicker than the ride out – nearly all downhill! We passed a few people just to make sure they knew we were bad dogs…

We found a campground in Custer State Park near Center Lake. The campground had everything you’d want, but lots of campers had found it before us and between being almost completely full, and the coon hounds barking while their owners were hollering at ‘em between cigarette puffs, it wasn’t our favorite campground. Mona set up the hammocks to get some reading in, but I found myself wanting to get out and do a bit more biking. Thankfully I found a trail near a stream with plenty of great stream crossings to blast through some deep water, and had fun with that.

Monday found us making our way to Mount Rushmore to see the monument. As expected, it was extremely busy, with parking attendants there to make sure you parked in an exact spot and within all the prescribed boundaries. We made our way through the crowds and found a good spot to take a few pics of the presidents etched in rock. I promptly left my wallet on a bench, and was reminded that there are still plenty of good people around when someone told me I’d left it lay right where I set it down…

After our short visit to the monument, we made our way into Rapid City to do weekly chores. We checked in with our mailbox company, and realized that our “apartment” was in a non-descript part of town where the freeway was loud and the trucks were plentiful. We got our mail, including a new fan for the van, and headed to a local laundromat that the mailbox folks pointed us to.

Chore day, waiting for Dometic customer service to answer!

Ramona did laundry in what turned out to be a busy place, while I tried once again to replace a bad fan. After a frustrating hour trying to get the new fan to work, and nearly two hours waiting for support from the fan company, I gave up once again, and we packed the fan up as a second return. We decided to make it easy on ourselves and went to a local Indian restaurant in downtown Rapid (as the locals would say). We were a bit underwhelmed with the food, but still had a nice time seeing the downtown area of Rapid City.

On the following day, we became official South Dakota residents! A short trip to the DMV and a few forms later, we left with SD drivers licenses. I practiced my squinting skills so I could pass the eye test, though during the exam I seriously wondered if I was going to pass. We had plenty of time, so we decided to head east to the badlands. The scenery is pretty remarkable – it’s no wonder it has that name. It would have been nice to get out and hike a bit, but it was HOT. We decided to head back to Deadwood, SD to find a higher elevation camping area. We found what turned out to be one of our favorite dispersed camping spots high above Deadwood and in a spot with excellent views and good Internet. Sometimes the best camping spots truly are free!

For the next few days, we did some biking, and just hung out at our new camp site. We met a few interesting people – an older guy from Texas who had spent an entire month camping up in the area, and an 18-year-old that rolled in who was out exploring the country in his car. There has been no lack of interesting people to visit with. Ramona managed to take a rather bad mountain bike spill on a ride near Spearfish, leaving her with a nice football sized bruise on her upper leg. This retirement life business is not easy!

When Saturday rolled around, we went to Deadwood one final time to visit the museum and cemetery (the final resting place of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane), and then headed out to the Devil’s Tower. It was a short drive, and we were able to camp right in the small dirt parking area of the lodge that we would be staying for a couple nights.

The tower is impressive. The idea of climbing it was both a bit intimidating and a bit exhilarating. We had dinner in the lodge that night and met our guide – a nice guy with a large black cowboy hat and a zest for climbing and the outdoors.

Our practice climbing on Sunday went well – it was warm, but we were in the shade, and liked our guide and his approach to teaching us, and to getting prepared for the 6-pitch climb that we’d be doing the following day. As in other locations, we continued to meet some interesting people at dinner, which was served family style.

Sunday night was a tough night to sleep – even though we were in a nice suite with space to spread out, the anticipation of getting up at 3:30 AM to prep for the tower climb kept us on the anxious side.

Monday morning came fast, but the weather was great, and we were heading to the tower by 4 AM to get the climbing started! We hiked to the base in the dark with headlamps to help us along. Our guide knew exactly where to go, which is one of the huge up-sides of working with a guide… They know exactly where to go and what to plan for.

The first pitch of climbing helped us fully understand that this would not be a walk in the park. The rock is smooth, and the cracks are not easy when you’re not used to that style of climbing. We groveled up the first pitch, and started to get into the groove of things.

We continued to work our way up the tower. A typical pitch consisted of us belaying our guide while he worked his way up, placed gear (in the event of a fall), and made his way to the next belay point. Ramona would look straight up and question her ability to make it up what looked like impossible rock with high exposure in the event of any type of mistake. Smooth, vertical, and intimidating. A hand crack here, a small chimney there, and with no marked spots to place hands or feet. Gym climbing can only take you so far when faced with outdoor reality!

Once our guide was ready for us, we both climbed – Ramona on one rope about 20 feet above me, and me on a separate rope. As expected, Ramona was determined – making her way up some difficult sections involved hands, feet, knees, and anything else that would help her friction up and through the steep rock. With time, she came to realize that she could get up just about anything. But she left a trail of blood and a few tears of anxiety as she climbed, to later be told that she was the bloodiest of any climber that our guide had taken up the tower! After the first pitch, I found myself becoming increasingly comfortable with the style required to work up the rock, and was able to relax and enjoy the exposure. Of course, it’s much easier when you’re effectively roped in with minimal fall potential. My only real claim to fame is that I made it up without a fall, but was acutely aware that I would have struggled had I been leading the climb.

We summited to excellent views and very nice temps. We’d done it. We were standing in a spot where relatively few people get to stand. After some snacks, pictures, and taking in the views, it was time for a 3-pitch rappel off the tower. The rappelling was great – long rappels with two 60-meter ropes tied together. All went smooth with the exception of having a rope get hung up on our last rap. Our guide sorted that out, and we were back on the ground, breathing a sigh of relief to have accomplished our task at hand.

We passed dozens of people on the hike out, mostly bikers that were in the area for the Sturgis motorcycle rally. Ramona attracted a lot of attention with a rope over her shoulders and her blood-stained legs proving to people that she wasn’t messing around! I was proud of her, and just grinned when one woman saw here and quietly said to me “oh my God!” after looking at Ramona’s bruised and bloody knees… Climbing the tower was my dream, but she embraced the dream as well and was determined to see it through. Climbing this alone would be a real joy. Climbing it with your best friend made it priceless!