Big Bend Adventures (12-04-14)

Since no one can hike all day, every day, we looked for other adventurous outings to fill our time.

Eating may not seem adventurous, but dinner at the Starlight Theater is always a fun time.  Some day we’ll branch out and try other restaurants, but at this point, we've always headed here. 

The food is excellent, there is usually live music, they have $2.00 Margaritas, and you can’t beat the sunset view from their front porch.

We thoroughly enjoyed the original songs by Moses Martinez, touting the benefits of living in Terlingua, Texas.  As quirky and “off the grid” as the town is, you never have to walk anywhere in Terlingua.  There is no one who won’t stop to give you a ride. 

And, of course, the town is 90 miles from the nearest traffic light.

The hot springs are always a welcome destination after spending several days on the hiking trail.  It’s on the opposite side of the park, so we combined it with another trip. 

Cooler weather would have kept us hanging out in the 103* water longer, but we still enjoyed sitting and watching the Rio Grande River flow by.

We have had two major outings, and they were both adventures that we’ve never been able to do before:

Rio Grande Rafting Trip

Rafting down the Rio Grande is something that Paul and I have always wanted to do, but there is hardly ever enough water in the river for this particular adventure. 

With all the recent rain, the river is flowing pretty strong.  Paul and I were the only takers for this trip, so we spent the day on the water with just our guide, John Parker.

The river led us through Colorado Canyon, where the “rapids” were fun but barely worthy of their name.

Our lunch was over the top, with enough food to feed a much larger crowd- and it was all set up on a table, complete with tablecloth and paper plates.

I think the best part was our conversations with John.

  It was interesting to hear about the town and the area from the perspective of someone who decided years ago to make it his home.  John came for the hot springs, and loved the town so much he bought property 16 years ago, for a mere $100 an acre.

We learned so much from John that in the days following our river trip, our conversations were peppered with the phrase "John said"...

As for our other adventure- well, this post is getting to be too long, so I will give our other trip it’s own post..

South Dakota- Hill City area (08-02-12)

Custer State Park:
The day we arrived in Hill City, we immediately headed out to check out the local tunnel, but before we left, we had to measure the width of our truck.  Why? Because the sign says the tunnel is 8’6” wide.  Luckily our truck is only 8’2” wide- no problem,  two whole extra inches on each side!

We stopped just before going through the tunnel to climb on the nearby rocks for about an hour. Both Paul and I enjoy rock scrambling, and there are some awesome rocks here.  (our truck is actually in this picture).

Once we tired of that, we stood and watched other vehicles come through the tunnel for a  while.  Apparently we just missed seeing a tour bus squeak through.

And finally, it was our turn!

 

I walked behind the truck through the tunnel- its not like there was going to be a traffic issue, although, a car came right behind me, happy to use our dually to keep people out of his way!  Once inside, Paul had a great time,  but scared the wits out of everyone nearby when he blasted the air horns.
Custer State Park contains Harney Peak, the tallest peak between the Rockies and the Swiss Alps. We hiked an 8 mile loop, eating lunch once we made it to the peak.


We were tired on the way down, and debated taking the short spur that would lead us to Little Devil’s Tower, and we decided we had come to far to pass that close without seeing it, so up we went. 

 We were glad we did- great views and more rock scrambling!

View from Little Devil's Tower-Harney Peak is in the distance

Wind Cave National Park:
The story of how Wind Cave became available to become a National Park is kind of funny ( but not to those involved at the time, I bet).   In 1889, The mineral rights for the land belonged to South Dakota Mining Co.  They hired J.D. McDonald to oversee the cave, and had him file a homesteading claim on the land to keep anyone else from gaining access to it.  J.D.’s teenage son Alvin spent most of his time exploring, mapping and giving tours of the cave. Sadly, he died at the age of 20, but he left behind comprehensive maps of what he found.  After the mining company dissolved a few years later, the McDonald family expanded the touring business and took on a partner.  Over the next several years, more and more arguments broke out between the partners, and eventually they both claimed they owned the property.  They made the unfortunate mistake of taking their battle to court, and the court decided that NEITHER partner had filed an appropriate claim, and ruled that the land would revert back to government ownership.  In 1903 it was turned into a national park.   We started our day at Wind Cave by hiking  a 5 mile loop. Most of the trail was pretty very prairie land, complete with several bison herds.  We even saw a Golden Eagle, although we didn't realize what it was at the time.







 
The prairie dogs were plentiful and very vocal.  They barked from the time we were in sight until we had passed their colony.                 What I will remember most about the trail though, is that it contained the most poison ivy I have ever seen, and it was impossible to dodge it all.  We were both wearing shorts, but we were as careful as we could be, and washed our legs, boots, and sticks when we got back to the truck.  I’ve never actually had poison ivy before and it looks like we both escaped the effects of it this time!       The afternoon forecast called for high heat and possible thunderstorms, so that's when we headed for Wind Cave itself. With a constant year round temperature of 54 degrees, we put on long pants and grabbed a jacket for our 1.5 hour "Fairgrounds Tour",  240 feet beneath the surface.          

 

Wind Cave is the 4th longest cave in the world, and has caverns on three different levels.  Its best known for its Boxwood formations, so named because the formations on the ceiling resemble open cardboard boxes.

Mammoth Site, Hot Springs, SD: In the early 1970s a land developer in Hot Springs, South Dakota, was clearing some land in preparation for building, and came across what appeared to be a ma tusk.  He called the paleontology department of a nearby university and asked them to come out and take a look.
 

The paleontologist confirmed that it was indeed a Mammoth tusk, approximately 26,000 years old, and said he would need several years to determine if the site was of significant archeological value.  Of course, it was, and the developer sold the land to the University for what he paid for it.

          The bones of more than 60 mammoths, as well as bones from 65 other species have been found here.  26,000 years ago this area was a sinkhole that partially filled with warm water from a nearby spring. Vegetation surrounded the sinkhole year round, making it appear to be an easy place for a mammoth to grab lunch. However, if they got too close and fell in, the steep, slick walls made it impossible to get back out.  Most of the animals found here were young males, and the female guide suggested that had they been willing to ask for directions, they may not have fallen in a hole!   

A building was built over the site and a month is spent every year, excavating more of the sinkhole.  They know that it is at least 65 feet deep, and to date they have dug down 22 feet.  They find so many bones in that one month that it takes them the rest of the year to study and catalog them.  If you want to be one of the volunteers that do the digging, you can signup for it.

  Pioneer Museum-Hot Springs, SD    
This museum is housed in the old schoolhouse, and I loved the building- with its creaking floor and towering doorways, it reminded me so much of the grammar school that I attended.

I wish I had had the fire escape they had on the side of their building though-the round tube contains a spiral slide!

Each classroom  housed antiques from various aspects of life so many years ago.       My favorites rooms were the music room, and the children’s room, which contained the setup for a classroom as well as a display of antique/old toys, some of which I remembered from my childhood.                  

Paul’s favorite rooms were the ones that contained the tools and other mechanical items. I think I would keep my hair straight and wet, if these appliances were in use today!

Hot Springs, Arkansas




walkway to the 7th floor of the Arlington Hotel

 

   Whenever possible, Paul and I have decided we love to adhere to the 2-2-2 rule.  That is, travel no more than 200 miles a day, finish driving by 2 pm, and stay 2 nights.  Once we left Memphis, it was a little over 200 miles to get to Hot Springs, and we got there early enough in the day so that we could do some exploring.  We checked out the National Park Visitors Center which is in a restored bath house and is a museum of sorts, giving people an idea of how the bath houses operated back in the early 1900s.



Yesterday was one of those absolutely perfect days.  The weather was perfect- about 65 degrees and sunny and everything went just how we wanted it to go.  We started off by hiking about 6 miles or so in Hot Springs National Park.  Basically we walked through the woods, over the hill and into the town.  This trail actually ends at the 7th floor of a hotel! The hotel is built into the hillside and at the7th story, there is a walkway.  That's also where the pool and hot tub are. If we had only known, we'd have brought suits. 



      We ate lunch in town (another strange thing to do on a hike) before trekking the 3 miles back over the hill.  Once there, we got the truck and drove it back to the Arlington Hotel.  By this time it was 4 pm and at 4:30 there was going to be Christmas caroling in the hotel lobby.  The lobby is huge and set up with small bar tables, so Paul and I ordered Margaritas and waited for the music.  The hotel really does it up nice, providing free refreshments- coffee, hot chocolate, cookies, etc.  The music was great- they handed out song sheets so everyone could sing along.

      After the music died down we headed outside.  The hotel is right in the middle of the town, where all the shops are and it was "Gallery Walk" night, which means all the stores stayed open later.  We strolled around the town, wandering in and out of stores, and also got to see the town Christmas lights light up.  We never did eat dinner that night.

So, Hot Springs is, of course, known for its hot springs.  They were used years ago therapeutically, mostly before the modern  medicines and antibiotics we have now.  The water, when it comes up to the surface from deep in the earth, is about 140 degrees and about 4000 years old.  Its full of minerals that are supposed to be good for you.  Obviously the water has to be cooled down to a usable temperature, but its illegal to cool it with non-hot springs water.  Many of the springs have been capped to protect them, and the government controls the water, supplying the bath houses and anyone else who wants to drink the water.  The bath houses are all in a row on the same street. Beautiful old buildings. There are also several dispensing fountains throughout the town, and everyone is free to fill up whatever containers they bring. 

      Our venture into a Bath House took place this afternoon, after going for a long walk in  a local state park.  We chose to keep it simple and just utilize the main "hot tub" rooms at one of the bath houses.  They have 4 huge hot tubs, all set to different temperatures and you can move from tub to tub as much as you want.  That really is the simple route.  The bath houses mostly cater to people who want private massages, tub soaks  and whatever, but I wasn't really interested in going that route.

The weather here has spoiled us and caused us to change our plans for our next destination.  Well, actually, the weather forecast for Oklahoma City did that.  The temperatures there will be in the 20s at night, with possible snow on Tuesday, so we are bypassing OK and heading for the Dallas area instead.