Good morning—shadow in the grass, entrance to Spearfish Canyon.
Thursday morning, before the sun hit the Maitland Road, I took off on my bike for another Black Hills ride, the longest of this short trip. I rode down the Christensen Road again, but this time instead of turning up the forest road by Dick Termes’s house, I headed to Colorado Boulevard, braved Spearfish’s rush hour traffic for a couple minutes, and then headed up Spearfish Canyon, into a strong, cool downslope breeze to chase sunrise over the cliffs.
Sunshine on the rim, shadow and chill belowUp ahead, the only other two bicyclists I saw heading into the canyon. Shortly after passing them, I did meet one couple on a tandem whooshing down the Canyon Highway back to town.
Bridal Veil Falls
Pow! First sunshine on the canyon floor! Sunrise in town was 07:05. I hit this bright spot at 08:38.
Spearfish Creek runs along the east side of the highway, so if you’re riding up the Canyon, you have to cross the road to see the source of the burbling rush that accompanies you.I looked upstream and down—no sign of Kevin Woster. He’s probably fishing farther up in the backcountry.Looking back at the highway from the Iron Creek trailhead.Instead of heading back the way I came, I decided to climb out of the Canyon along Iron Creek. The trailhead is marked here, just past the boulders, with a map of the trails to Big Hill for winter fat bikers. No snowflakes falling today—just leaves.
Still at the Iron Creek trailhead.
Well, not perfectly still.
All right, enough dilly-dallying. Let’s go—up the creek, with two pedals!
Iron Creek’s own raging falls, about a foot and a half high.
Up the connector……into the meadows……of Big Hill!Visibility matters, on the highway and on the trail. Pedal pedal pedal…The C Loop……because you can C so much! East over Spearfish Canyon, to Terry Peak and its companions.
And then just hang on, downhill over the washboard and through the dust on Tinton Road.Lookout Mountain—I was just there yesterday!Best city park in South Dakota: Spearfish!Spearfish Creek and I roll into town.
I was out all morning, maybe 40 miles. Remember, for every picture above (and I reached for the phone and hit that button 105 times, averaging just about three shots per mile, once every three minutes), there are countless sights I didn’t snap of the brilliant, unboundable world outside each frame. So…remember.
I was out all morning, maybe 40 miles. Remember, for every picture above (and I reached for the phone and hit that button 105 times, averaging just about three shots per mile, once every three minutes), there are countless sights I didn’t snap of the brilliant, unboundable world outside each frame. So…remember.