Mt Rushmore

Tuesday,  July 25, 2023

Hill City to Custer State Park South Dakota 

It stormed last night.  At one point, the wind picked up and pushed the side of my tent inwards.  I decided to get up and stake my hurricane straps. It was sprinkling already so I got a bit wet. Then,  I got back inside and slept through the storm.  We got up at 530 to pack up wet tents. We met Lynn on the trail at 730am and headed to Mt Rushmore. We took the trail to highway 244. The road was nice and had a good shoulder. There were some steep uphill and some fun downhills! 

We met some nice guys from Sweden who are biking across the US east to west.  They are going to look at our routes to see what to do or not to do. From Mt Rushmore,  we loaded the bikes on the car and drove back to the trail.  This saved us some time riding in the heat.

Once we got back to the trail,  we road to Custer. We went past the Crazy Horse Monument. 

Then we got on US16A to ride to Custer State Park where we have a cabin rented for 2 nights.  We saw this bearded buffalo on the way.  Lynn is standing at the base to show how big it is. 

Sandra gave us a parting gift of matching Mickelson Trail tee-shirts as she heads home for a couple of weeks before returning to continue with Lynn.

We wore the shirts to dinner at the Dockside Restaurant at Legion Lake. 

Rather than climbing up the ladder to the loft to sleep and because I needed to dry my tent anyway,  I chose to camp tonight. It's nice and quiet and should be cool sleeping! 

Ride to Mt Rushmore: 

12.1 miles

1,063 feet climbing 

40.6 mph max speed... weeeee!

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/RvHzaKctJBb

Relive video: 

https://www.relive.cc/view/v36AxXYByGO

Ride to Custer State Park:

21.3 miles

1,109 feet climbing 

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/j2r1E94sJBb

Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vQvyomPXg46

Tomorrow is a rest day for exploring Custer State Park (by car).