Monday, September 24, 2018

Day 10 - Last Day on the Mickelson

Carsten Cottages....

We had a simple breakfast at the Cottages and were very close to getting on the trail by 9:00.  We had a short but sweet ride, at first a gentle climb, and then a relatively rapid 13 miles downhill into Deadwood.  Along the way there was a little trail maintenance (< 50 feet), requiring us to dismount.

The 17-mile ride itself took about one and half hours, but we took time for a few photo opportunities. 
After Rob returned from taking Paul to his car, we had lunch and then toured the Adams Museum.  It has many wonderful exhibits and history about Deadwood and the Black Hills. We found particularly interesting:  Potato Creek Johnny’s 7.346 troy ounce gold nugget; American illustrator N.C. Wyeth’s pencil sketch drawing of Wild Bill Hickok; stories and photographs of Calamity Jane; the mysterious Thoen Stone record of the Ezra Kind party’s discovery of gold in the Hills in the 1830s; and a plesiosaur (marine reptile) fossil, discovered by Charles & Arthur Haas in 1934, and almost 30 years later determined to be of a species previously unknown to science.

And now we prepare for tomorrow’s Transit ride to Thermopolis, Wyoming, home to numerous natural hot springs.  We hope to take a warm soak.

Diane & Rob

One of the trestles along the trail. 
Diane maneuver through some trail work.


Fall comes to the Trail.


South Dakota skies on our last day on the trail.
Happy Trails to all from the end of the Mickelson Trail. 




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