Five scouts along with five adults started out at 4:45am Sunday morning to go from Cape Cod to Medicine Mountain Scout Camp. The drive to Logan airport was smooth. At the airport, we had a surprise that our plane was the only Delta flight leaving from terminal E instead of A. Fortunately, we had enough time to walk across the airport to our gate for our 8am flight. Our flight arrived on-time at 10:30 but the airport and Enterprise car rental were very busy, and it took until nearly noon to be on our way in a Chrysler Pacifica mini-van and Toyota Forerunner SUV.
A breakdown on the interstate slowed us down a bit and we drove through a short rainstorm that briefly dropped the temperature from 85 to 55. We stopped at a Wendy’s in Cheyenne for lunch. Then we left the interstate and drove across the plains through towns of Torrington and Lusk.
We made it to the Black Hills at the town of Custer and then drove 10 miles on a dirt road to get to camp at 6:15pm. We checked in with the camp ranger and then picked up our dinner and breakfast food that the camp had waiting for us. Our campsite was soft and grassy with some tall pines and on a gentle slope. We setup our tents and prepared dinner. The camp loaned us a ‘patrol box’ with cooking supplies and stoves. We missed the opening campfire because of our late arrival. Instead we explored around camp on our own. Camp was in a beautiful valley with a high ridge in the distance. There was a pond with many fish, and we saw an otter. Our camp guide for the week, Don Kellogg, came over to meet us and make a plan to meet at 7:45 in the morning. Don is a scout council member and retired railroad engineer who has done summer camp expeditions for nine years.
On Monday, we got up by 6am to make a hot breakfast including bacon and hashbrowns. Our first stop was Jewell Cave National Monument. We had reservations for a guided tour which started from the elevator in the visitor center and went down 250 feet into the cave to a cavernous space with the metal elevator doors, railings and walkways that felt like the lair of the bad guy in a James Bond movie. The ranger took us on a one hour walk along a paved path with railings through almost a mile of the cave. We got to see how the cave was formed and how it’s breaking up in areas. Some amazing features were how large the cave is (100’s of miles) and how much is still unknown and how it reaches the surface at only one small opening. We ate lunch back on the surface near the visitor center.
Our next sight was the Mammoth Site at Hot Springs. On the way, we drove through Custer State Park which was scenic. We stopped to watch prairie dogs in their ‘town’ and later stopped to see bison near the road. The Mammoth Site was a sink hole that trapped mammoths and other animals over 100,000 years. A large, open building is over the site, and staff are still actively excavating. It was cool to see the fossils in place and to see some staff actively digging and cleaning fossils. The excavated fossils are displayed in a museum attached to the dig site. Then we had a chance to practice throwing spears like the ancient mammoth hunters using an atlatl which is a short piece of wood to give extra leverage. There were practice targets including a bison and wolf, and some scouts tried throwing the spear as far as they could which was pretty far, more than possible without the atlatl. On our way back to camp, we stopped at Dairy Queen in Custer. Back at camp, we cooked spaghetti dinner.
On Tuesday, we were up early, made hot breakfast with french toast, and started out at 7:45. We drove to Custer State Park along the Needles Highway which is an amazing road over the granite peaks with some narrow one-at-a-time tunnels. We stopped at the top by Needles Rock and hiked around the ridge for a while. Then we stopped at the pull-out to view the Cathedral Peaks. Next we drove to the top of Mt Coolidge Lookout which is East of the main Black Hills and has great 360 views of the mountains and plains. Then we drove the Wildlife Loop Road of Custer State Park on the lookout for bison and we weren’t disappointed. First we came across a bison herd about 200 yards from the road. Later the road went through the middle of a bison herd, and we had to stop while some bison crossed the road right in front of our vehicles. We also saw deer and antelope. We stopped for lunch on picnic tables by the stream next to the park visitor center.
Then we headed towards Mt Rushmore on the Iron Mountain Road which is yet another super scenic road. There are pull-outs where we could see Mt Rushmore in the distance. And the civil engineers were clever to line up road tunnels so that Mt Rushmore is perfectly framed looking through the tunnel. The road also takes hairpin turns to another level called pigtails where the road curves around so much that it goes under itself. At Mt Rushmore, we had time to take pictures, tour the visitor center, watch the movie and hike the loop to the base of the mountain. Back at camp, we made chicken stir-fry dinner and had a campfire.
On Wednesday, we got up a bit earlier, made hash browns and egg sandwiches for breakfast and headed out at 7:30. We drove to Sylvan Lake Park at the trailhead #9 for Black Elk Peak, the tallest mountain in the Black Hills, and the tallest mountain going East until reaching the Alps. The trail was well-maintained with many scenic views on the way up. At the summit, there’s a stone tower with awesome views. We ate some snacks and soaked in the views for a while on top. On the way back, we took trail #5 which was also a great trail with scenic views especially of the Cathedral Peaks. A few hikers did the spur trail to the top of Little Devil’s Tower which in some ways had even better views than Black Elk because you could look at Black Elk. Back at Sylvan Lake, a picture-postcard beautiful lake, it was the definition of refreshing to take a swim in the lake and cool off.
Next we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial. The visitor center had many exhibits and a movie on the making of the monument which is still under construction. Then we took a bus ride to the base of the mountain. A special treat was to meet up with former Chatham Scoutmaster, Warren Nash, who is a crew member working on Crazy Horse and came along with us on the bus tour.
Then we drove into Hill City for a delicious dinner at the Alpine Inn where we had wedge salad, filet mignon wrapped in bacon, baked potato, Texas toast and a large dessert. We had some time to look at the shops in town and the scouts favorite t-shirt said ‘Don’t pet the fluffy cows’ with an image of a bison.
On Thursday, we had another early start making our own hot breakfast and on our way by 7:30 to the Badlands National Park. On the way, we stopped to visit the Minuteman National Monument including the visitor center and a deactivated missile silo. It was sobering to learn about how many thermonuclear missile silos (450) were deactivated under Reagan, how many active missiles still remain, how quickly a missile from South Dakota can hit Moscow (30 minutes) and how many close calls and false alarms there have been.
We entered Badlands National Park from the East entrance and stopped at the Door Trailhead where we hiked about a mile into the Badlands which felt other-worldly with an unusual rocky landscape. It was hot at around 100 degrees and the reflection from the rock walls made it feel like an oven. Then some scouts went to the visitor center while others went on another short hike on the Notch Trailhead which went to a notch at the crest of the Badlands mountains with views down to the plains. Then we met up for our packed lunch at the visitor center and took time to see the exhibits and park movie. Next we drove the park loop and stopped at several pull-outs with various views of the changing layers and colors of the Badlands. On our way out of the park, we saw more wildlife including prairie dogs and bison. We stopped at Wall Drug which is a spectacle, and we all got some tasty ice creams. Back at camp, we made chili-mac for dinner.
On Friday, we again got up early to make our breakfast and head out by 7:30. We drove through Newcastle on the western side of the Black Hills up to Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming. We hiked the trail that goes around the base of the tower which was neat to see close up and from all sides. It has the tallest volcanic columns known in the world (over 600 feet). We saw a few climbers including an 11-year-old girl. There were beautiful views down the Belle Fourche river valley from the trail. We went to the visitor center and some scouts earned their junior ranger badge. We ate lunch at the picnic grounds at the base of the mountain.
We drove back to the Black Hills, this time from the north and into the Spearfish Canyon. We stopped at the Bridal Veil Falls and walked up to the base of the falls. Then we drove up to Roughlock Falls which had some walking paths along the falls and stream. The stream had many trout that we enjoyed watching. The drive back to camp through Cheyenne Crossing was yet another super scenic route. We stopped again at Dairy Queen for Blizzards in Custer.
Back at camp, we made pork chop dinner. Then there was a closing camp flag ceremony and campfire. During the flag ceremony, we could hear an approaching thunderstorm. So the camp staff moved the campfire from the amphitheater to next to the pavilion where we could be under the pavilion roof. The thunder and lightning made a dramatic background to the camp program. When the program was over, the storm was still going and it was raining heavily. So we stayed under the roof for about 30 minutes until the storm passed. It was wild to watch the storm and hear the thunder from the pavilion and feel the strong wind shift, sometimes blowing hot from one direction and then blowing cold from another direction. Back at camp, we had a big campfire and smores.
On Saturday, we didn’t need to get up early but another thunderstorm blew in around 5:30am and woke us up with strong winds that were loud in the pine trees, heavy rain and loud thunder. They could rename the camp from Medicine Mountain to Thunder Mountain. Fortunately the storm was over by 6am when we started getting up. We ate breakfast, packed up camp and loaded our vehicles by 9am.
We drove to Evans Plunge in Hot Springs. This is a public pool fed by natural hot springs. The pool is in a very large building and has slides, water volleyball and rings. Next we drove to Torrington for lunch at Arby’s.
Our last stop was Fort Laramie National Historic Park which is a very historic spot having been a trading post, important stop on the Oregon Trail, and military headquarters for the Indian Wars. We saw the park movie and exhibits at the visitor center. Some scouts earned their junior ranger badge for the fort. There were many restored rooms to see including the calvary barracks. There was also a vintage saloon selling sassafras sodas.
From the fort, it was all travel back home. There was an amazing sunset over the Rockies as we approached the airport. After getting to our gate, we got dinner at the food court. Our overnight flight was delayed two hours because the airline needed to find one more flight attendant. The rest of our travels went smoothly, arriving 8am at Logan Airport and back to Chatham around 10am.
The scouts enjoyed all our stops and there were a variety of favorites. One liked the Badlands best, another Black Elk best, another Bridal Veil Falls best, another Jewell Cave best, another Mammoth Site best, another Fort Laramie best. Overall, the Black Hills are beautiful. We got to experience a lot and there’s a lot more still to see.
