Saturday, June 6, 2020
On Saturday morning, I departed Sidney in no particular hurry and got back into Moline, Illinois around 11pm. It was a long, boring, and uneventful drive. But it gave me a lot of time to think about what I’d seen and let it all just sink in. The people, the places, the feeling of being out there in the middle of nowhere with nowhere particular I had to be, and no particular time I had to be there. Just exploring, and eager to see what lay ahead. Dodging hailstorms, baking in the sun and wind, standing at the foot of a gorgeous, roaring waterfall, undertaking the treasure hunt for Mother Featherlegs and Hat Creek.
It was different in many ways from what I imagined, and that turned out to be OK. Looking back, I don’t think I’d change much about it. There were a lot of places I intended to see that were closed due to the COVID-19 craziness: mining museums, stagecoach museums, old west museums, and the like. But along the way I found much more joy, I think, photographing abandoned ranches, barns, and vehicles along the backroads of South Dakota and Wyoming. If I were able to go back now and add a couple more days, I would devote them to doing more of that. Just driving slowly down the gravel backroads, and pausing along the way to make photographs of these relics before they fade forever into the past. Seeing the relics of the past for myself brings me much more joy than reading about artifacts in a museum.
I will offer this piece of advice: If, like me, you love just wandering down the back roads, I advise you to keep a cooler full of water and perhaps an extra can of fuel on board. This kind of adventure, something we call “dirt road therapy” here around my home in Missouri, will take you through some desolate country when you get out west. You could be stranded miles from anything and anyone for a while. Prepare accordingly.
Trip Highlights and Lowlights
Highlights:
Palisades State Park, South Dakota
Prairie Homestead, Philip, South Dakota
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Chapel in the Hills, Rapid City, South Dakota
Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
Needles Highway, South Dakota
Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota
Stampmill Restaurant & Inn, Lead, South Dakota
Backroads – especially Silver Creek Road in Lusk and Stagecoach Road in Hat Creek, South Dakota
Lowlights:
The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota
Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota
Deadwood, South Dakota
Lessons Learned
- Plan the trip as thoroughly as you can, and be prepared to deviate substantially from the plan as circumstances dictate.
- An ice chest filled with bottled water and fruit can go a very long way toward keeping me hydrated and energized when there are not restaurants around; it’s worth the trouble to keep the ice fresh and the cooler stocked – especially in the summer months.
- Good, high-top hiking shoes that provide ankle support. I like the ones that are waterproof as well – I found that they are exceptionally good for fording shallow streams to get to waterfalls.
- The local county seat (the Assessor’s office in particular) is a great place to get help to find things when their exact locations are a bit murky.
- People should be more cautious than I typically am when travelling solo. Climbing around in the rocks and wandering around in the woods alone is risky business. Far safer to bring a companion and walkie-talkies if you can stand the company.
- Keep the gas tank full when wandering – stop whenever you have less than half a tank to refuel. Pack and maintain a first aid kit in the vehicle.
- If you are serious about taking photos, plan twice as much time as you estimate that you will need.
- Don’t take advice from friends and family when they things like: “Oh, you just have to try the hot roast beef sandwich at Wall Drug Store!”
- When something has a name like: “The World’s Only Corn Palace,” there’s probably a reason there is just one.
