Tag Archives: Rails to Trails

George Mickelson Trail and Exit Strategy for So. Dakota

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OK, so Murphy would not leave us alone. After waiting about 40 days total for our appointment at Dakota RV in Rapid City to get our Schwintek slide out system fixed on our bedroom slideout, we left  South Dakota unsatisfied. It seems that when we went in and made the appointment, after the service guy said he was ordering the parts needed AT THAT TIME, he failed to do so. 40 days of appointment time wasted! I held my mud and spared everyone within earshot an extensive lesson in 4-letter vocabulary and just apologized to them for wasting their time. Under my breath I was all, “You guys can kiss my big fat bicycle riding a$$!” Cue Willie Nelson… “On the Road Again”… Man oh man was I fuming…

So we had to relocate and we found space at Black Elk Resort in Hill City. It was a stroke of luck, seeing we are fast approaching the 4th of July weekend and most places are booked solid. The Black Elk Resort is a very nice albeit small RV Resort with cabins and a quaint little taproom on site for local beers/wines.

  • Welcome to Black Elk Resort & the Palmer Creek Taproom
  • A look past the group fire pit toward the BBQ patio area
  • Our home at Black Elk
  • They said they were full up but during our stay they were not…

Taking advantage of a couple of days of moderate weather we tackled portions of the George Mickelson Trail. In total we rode almost 30 miles covering the section which includes the (4) railroad tunnels only labeled on maps as Tunnels A-D. These are all in the area between Hill City/Burlington Trailhead and a little past the Rochford Trailhead. It’s only about a 25 mile stretch of the entire 108 mile trail, but I’m guessing it may be the most scenic section of the trail. 

  • Welcome to the Mystic Trailhead of the George S. Mickelson Trail
  • These were nice trailhead cabanas…
  • …complete with bicycle repair stations.
  • The trail passes, dealt with on the honor system, were $15 and good for a whole year, or $4 daily.
  • Part of the Mystic “ghost town”, this I believe was the old assayers office.
  • Looking toward the McCahan Memorial Chapel, part of Mystic, the “ghost town”.
  • Jeanne heading out, chasing them bluest of blue skies…
  • The trail has many bridges over roads and creeks/rivers.
  • Cool rock formations to ride by…
  • Don’t even THINK I’m gonna remember which of the 4 tunnels this was.
  • Bicyclists Union #520 rule #633.2 states we take a 5 minute break every 10 minutes!
  • Jeanne heading into the darkness.
  • There’s them dang blue skies again!
  • Ooooooooh, so eerie!
  • Scenic beauty all around.
  • Jeanne getting ready to battle one of the bridges.
  • Memorial benches are found all along the trail.
  • A view below one of the bridges.
  • Uh, oh, another of them union breaks…
  • This would be considered a trail traffic jam…
  • I think this was an old chemical storage shed in Mystic
  • Closer view of the McCahan Memorial Chapel
  • Inside the chapel
  • The last tunnel had a small cave nearby.
  • Inside the small cave
  • The saloon for the megalopolis of Rochford
  • Welcome to Rochford and the Rochford Mall
  • The Rochford Mall
  • Inside the “mall”
  • We encountered a few critters on our ride, it seemed all eyes were upon us…
  • …did I say it seemed all eyes were upon us?
  • Even Marty the Marmot kept his eyes on us…(At least I think it was a marmot…)
  • For about a mile in and around mile marker 53 we found several painted rocks, no hashtags or group names though…we left them
  • This was a teaser, but, no, it is not one of the 4 tunnels.
  • This is what I call a Bessie traffic jam.

Moving day took us a little farther than we usually prefer to travel in a day and we landed in a little county park called Sioux County Conservation Board Park in Hawarden, Iowa. It was July 2, and as you can imagine, all couple three dozen RV parks we tried to find space at were jammed to capacity for the holiday. But we were pleasantly surprised with the county park. They run on first-come-first-served basis and the site we chose was concrete pad with 30/50A surrounded by well kept lawn. They have a centrally located water spigot for fresh water and a dump station next to the sites. There were restrooms with showers also next to the sites. The park is right on the Big Sioux River and there is a boat launch right there in the park. We settled in for about 3 days to get us past the holiday weekend. We took the time to take care of some chores like a Costco run into Sioux Falls (1-hour drive away from the park) and a hand washing of Rosie. We toured the Nature Center they have on site and I got to relive my younger working years when I happened upon a patch of ragweed along the park road to the boat launch. At least I assumed it was rag, no hint of being cultivated. For those of you uneducated in the ways of the 420 lifestyle, ragweed is Cannabis of the low-to-none THC variety that tends to pop up in the wild, same type of Cannabis grown in the hemp “industry”. You gotta smoke a truckload to get even a headache. Without “firing up a fatty” I could not confirm the presence or absence of THC. But it is a pretty good likelihood the patch was good ol’, run-of-the-mill ragweed, especially since it was populated by a good number of males (unwanted gender in the cannabinoid world since they contain very little THC and tend to fertilize the women and change the energy of the female plant into seed production.)

  • Our home at Sioux County Conservation Board Park
  • Looking past our house to the massive corn fields in the background
  • And it was corn for as far as the eye could see…
  • The Big Sioux River at our park
  • They had a massive picnic area next to the river
  • A look down the other way of Big Sioux River
  • Oh boy! We better go see if Walmart has “Up In Smoke” on DVD…
  • Just standing loud and proud at the side of the road
  • “Do you hear that? Thats my SKULL!!!” Where’s Spicoli when we need him?!?!!
  • This male plant was standing tall.
  • From 1000-3000′ high in the sky, we’d be screaming, “I got color!”
  • Inside the Nature Center.
  • Numerous displays of various critters…
  • The Nature Center also had a night sky display…
  • Certain rocks of the area react to ultraviolet light…

“Downtown” Hawarden contained a small area called Calliope Village we had passed on our initial arrival in town, so we ventured back to take a gander. It consists of several old-style buildings billed as “A recreation of Sioux County’s first seat of government.” I did my tourist’s duty and snapped a few pix.

So that catches us up for now. Since we got hosed by Dakota RV Repair, we had to project out to an alternative repair facility. We settled on a return (yuck) to good ol’ Red Bay, AL to give some business to some of the local boys on the Tiffin off-site worker list. We were able to get things started with some HDMI cable wiring work by “Nick” on the 26th, so will be killing time for the next 4 weeks. Tune in later to find out how we filled the time. Until next post…

6/30/2019 Lolo Hot Springs and Rollins, MT

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Lolo Hot Springs is a tiny little nowhere about 20 minutes outside of Lolo, MT. They have created a small resort area along the Lolo Creek with a restaurant/bar, the hot springs and pool area, a lodge for those allergic to camping, horse riding trails, and the RV/tent area across the road. The RV sites leave a lot to be desired, rutted grass/mud and not delineated at all, with W/E only (30A) and a dilapidated dump station on site. Prairie dogs are everywhere! But it is a very scenic canyon area with a great possibility for critter sightings. We passed a herd of Elk on our way out from Lolo.

Our home at Lolo Hot Springs.
The Lolo Creek runs right alongside the RV Park.
The hot springs and pool area.
Lolo Hot Springs Lodge, Bar, and Restaurant. 
They do horsey rides here at Lolo Hot Springs.
The prairie dogs, always on alert… 
…and ALWAYS, one of my favorite critters!

We took the opportunity to soak in the hot springs. They built a concrete pool around the natural springs and enclosed it in a wood frame structure. The water was definitely hot and relaxing on those tense neck muscles…

Jeanne, soaking in the springs…
The water did not have the really heavy mineral smell usually found in hot springs.

The only place to ride bicycles here was along Hwy. 93. We quickly ruled that out based on the way the locals drive out here – you would think they are racing at the Daytona 500!  So we settled on a road trip into Lolo & Missoula for some urban exploring. In Lolo we found the Lolo Peak Brewing Co. for a little brew tasting. We were underwhelmed there, but made up for it at our next find. The Lolo Creek Distillery is a new venture and right now they are producing gin and vodka in various flavors. Their honey-huckleberry vodka was very tasty, I could use it as a “sippin’ vodka”. While there, I just had to try the “Rip ’N’ Lips”, a Lolo Creek Distillery relative to a Moscow Mule. Tasty, not too much jalapeno…

Some of the offerings at Lolo Peak Brewing.
Welcome to the Lolo Creek Distillery.
The magic machine that creates the gin and vodka.
Established in 2017. I guess that makes it fairly new..
Have a Rip ’N’ Lips on me!
We temporarily rescued one of these kids from the big bad distiller man, only to become a victim later, poured over rocks!

Another road trip day for us took us farther west along the Lolo Creek and the Lochsa River to the Lolo Pass Visitor Center. As usual, scenery was not lacking, and we got fleeting glimpses of a moose and a black bear…so fleeting we had no time to snap a photo. They did a nice job on this visitor center, there are some displays, a short nature trail, souvenir shop, and overall rest stop. The ground squirrels were colorful and plentiful. On our way back we stopped at the DeVoto Memorial Cedar Grove and took the short walk through the cedars and along the river.

The Lolo Pass Visitor’s Center.
The main display room at the visitor’s center.
Inside the display room.
Hinmatoowyalahtqit, if you really HAVE to know his name. Common spelling. I just call him Chief Joseph.
A little history lesson…
…and more history lessons… 
Ground squirrels were EVERYWHERE! 
A section of the Lochsa River Fishery. 
Jeanne on the walkabout at the DeVoto Memorial Cedar Grove. 
A shot along the Lochsa River from the Cedar Grove trail.
I’m just funnin’ with this huge, uprooted rootball from a massive cedar tree… 
Sign found between Lolo and Lolo Hot Springs. My profanity laced brain could not resist this photo op. I’m surprised the county can keep these signs in stock… 

Moving day we headed back north on Hwy. 93 to the megalopolis of Rollins, MT, which is right on Flathead Lake. Rollins Restaurant & RV Park was home for a week. It was a very nice facility, not real big (43 RV sites, 7 tent sites), with the restaurant and a meat shop on site. The meat shop offered, among other things, various meats (beef, buffalo, elk mostly), varieties of jerky, and varieties of cheese curds. 

Our terrible view out the front yard at our new home in Rollins.
Looking out over the top of the restaurant at Flathead Lake. What an eyesore…
The “bicycle” fence running along the front of the RV park. I had flashbacks to the Christo fence back in Sonoma County, CA way back when… 
The meat shop at Rollins Restaurant & RV Park. 
Cheese curds for sale.
The jerky wall at the meat shop.
Butchered meats from all kinda critters…
More of that ugly scenery inside the RV park. Somebody’s got to pull these weeds… 
Imagine having to look at this all day…
A loaded baked potato from the restaurant. Like Rodney Allen Rippey said, “It’s too big uh eat!”
The game room inside the clubhouse.
Typical RV sites on the grass.
Me and my two friends at the meat shop.
Jeanne clowning on the “bicycle” fence.
Just a regular sunrise on Flathead Lake, MT!

Not a lot of bicycle paths around here, but Jeanne did manage to find a section of The Great Northern Historical Trail, part of Rails To Trails of Northern Montana, that runs from Somers to Kila (22 miles one way). We got a clear day and got ready to load up for a bike ride, but I got tangled up with a bicycle pump and my low air front tire & wouldn’t you know it, brute strength and awkwardness led me to rip the stem from the tube. Minor change in plans, time for a road trip to the nearest bicycle shop which happened to be all the way into downtown Kalispell, Wheaton’s Cycle. If you ever happen to be in the area and in need of anything bicycle related, the folks at Wheaton’s are outstanding as far as customer service. They got us right in for an inner tube change and “bada-bing, bada-boom”, problem resolved. We hooked up with one of the Kalispell trailheads for the Great Northern Historical Trail and proceeded out along Hwy. 2 to the big city of Kila, about 11 miles one way. The trail was OK, paved at least, but I was kinda hoping for a little more wilderness and a lot less civilization. They do a nice job on their bicycle trails here, there were plenty of benches for rest stops, a picnic area, a port-o-potty and a pit toilet along the way. If we were expecting some wildlife sightings, we got disappointed in a big way. But hey, the blood got pumping and the air was fresh.

Jeanne gets ready to do battle with the Historical Trail… 
On the trail. 
Don’t see this much on bicycle trails… 
They had a nice bicycle repair station on the trail too! 

On our last day at Rollins, it just happened to be the best weather day for our whole stay, temps in the 70’s and low wind. KAYAK TIME!!! I say “low wind” before we ever set oar on the water at Flathead Lake. But once we got our Sea Eagle inflatable kayak under way, we quickly found out the “swirly” nature of the winds over the lake. After spinning a few donuts (not by choice), we figured out the rhythm and spent the next couple of hours cruising the shoreline between Rollins and Lakeside. It was a nice counter to the leg workout we got on the bikes the day before.

“Full speed astern!”
Not too choppy, but beautiful, ahem, I mean hideously ugly views across the water to the snow topped mountains.
I really hate to see our waterways seriously polluted like this. What a shame, somebody dumped all these rocks into the lake…(chrystal clear, ain’t it?!)
I also hate to see people have to live like this!
The camp host told us this is a privately owned island, the owner has the main residence/castle on the right and the “guest” cottage/mansion on the left.
A closer view… 

So tomorrow we suck up the jacks and we’re off to Kalispell. Until next post…

(Tech notes, part dieux…I have no idea how I did it but it looks like I replaced my missing photos from some of those earlier blog posts 2014-2015-ish. I still need to continue through to ensure no further pix are missing. Granted, my sharp-as-a-marble memory may have replaced some of the original pix with different ones, I just hope I did not post photos from Nevada that were actually from Wyoming!)