Day 51: 7/10/19: Belle Fourche to Hill City, SD

After leaving Belle Fourche, I went through the towns of Spearfish and Deadwood. They are both pretty good size towns. Deadwood is very touristy, and reminds me a little of Gatlinburg.

Below are some pics of Spearfish.

Below are some pics of Deadwood.

In Deadwood, I got on the George S. Mickelson Trail, which is a rails to trails path that goes 109 miles from Deadwood to Edgemont through the Black Hills National Forest.  Below are some pics of views from the trail today.

While I was sitting at the trailhead in Deadwood eating lunch, Bill (pic below) stopped and asked me about my trip.  Bill is almost 80 years old, and likes to do bicycle tours in Wyoming.  He is originally from Birmingham, AL, and taught at Eastern Kentucky University for 30 years before he retired.  We chatted for about 30 minutes about our touring experiences.  It was enjoyable getting to spend some time with Bill.

I came across a couple from Sioux City, Iowa, on the trail.  They are going to ride the entire trail over 3 days.  Today was their first day.  They parked their car in Edgemont and got a shuttle to carry them and their bikes to Deadwood.

I then met Moon on the trail.  She is hiking the entire trail, and is hoping to be done in 6 days.  This is a training trip for an 800 mile hiking trip in August from France to Spain.  She didn't want her picture taken because she doesn't do any social media stuff.  She said she won't even talk to her kids on phone video because she doesn't want to have to wash her face.  She is a 68 year old native American from North Dakota.  She is short, probably around 5 feet tall.  Her backpack is almost as big as she is, and it weighs 60 pounds. She is carrying 10 days of food.

She thought about hiking the Appalachian Trail, but said all the trees would make her feel closed in.  When I worked in Albuquerque, some of my co-workers went on detail to Louisiana, and they all came back talking about how claustrophobic they felt while there.  I guess if you live in an area for years where you have unrestricted visibility, going into a more confined environment would take some getting use to.

I told her I am from Chattanooga, and she said it is a beautiful city.  She said she worked in Huntsville, AL years ago.  I told her I was born and raised in Athens, AL.  She commented that Athens was once a very rich community due to its cotton.  I wouldn't know about that. : )

I camped behind the Oreville Shelter on the Mickelson Trail a few miles south of Hill City.

Total miles today: 85.9