Maycation...the rest of the story.

by Mike Koppa — last modified 2008-08-18 23:03

During my aforementioned “Maycation”, I spent six days in the Black Hills of South Dakota with three fiends. This was the third annual trout fishing trip/homebrew fest and was a fantastic time. Three of us are home brewers, so each contributed a 5 gallon keg of beer. My batch was an all-grain variation of the Lappenstein Pale Ale featuring Chinook and Cascade hops from my garden. Tim Suchocki brought an oatmeal stout, and Scott Quimby chipped in with a nice American style Pale Ale. (Greg Bartelme brought a 30 pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon-which we all know goes great with anything!)

The cabin we stayed in was built in the 1920’s. The property was “purchased” from the State of South Dakota as part of a fundraising effort for Custer State Park with a “100 year lease”. There were many such cabins in the park at one time, but today there are just a few here and there. At one point, the association of cabin owners tried to get their leases extended, and the resulting legal decision granted all of the owners leases through the year 2029. Efforts are currently under way to at least preserve the cabin past the lease date. The lease states that the property must be “returned to the original state” at the end of the lease. That would mean destroying a unique gemstone fireplace and historically significant property---one that has been intertwined to the history of the park since the beginning as the original operators of the Sylvan Lake lodge lived there at one point. In the 1970’s a campground was installed essentially in the back yard. The campground took away some of the privacy but added potable water and a shower house. It has been an awesome opportunity to get to stay there the past few years. Hats off to Grandma Putney!! The Black Hills area is a must see. We explored a number of trails and trout streams. Scott has made a hobby of exploring old mines and ghost towns left over from the Black Hills gold rush. We found a couple new sites with the help of Google Earth and Scott’s GPS.

On the Lappenstein Black Hills “must see” list:

Wall Drug After all those signs, how could you not stop? They start serving breakfast at 6:30 AM MST. We left Milwaukee at 8:00 PM and were the first customers of the day.

Mt. Rushmore Give yourself time to see the video presentation. Time it so you get to see the lighting ceremony too. “He carved the Mountain.” Enough said.

Crazy Horse Check it out from the parking lot for free. Skip the gift shop and $10 entrance fee. If you went there in the last 20 years, they haven’t gotten very far since you were there.

Needles Highway At one point in the 1920’s the plan was to carve statues of famous figures from the “Old West” out of the Needles (large rock formations that line this scenic loop). That would have been awful. Don’t forget to honk out “shave-and-a-haircut” when going through the one-car tunnels.

Sylvan Lake Stay at the Sylvan Lake lodge or camp at the campground if so inclined. Hike up to Harney Peak for the best view in the Black Hills. Make it a couple days and take in all that Custer State Park has to offer.

Custer State Park Sylvan Lake and Needles Highway are a must see. Since you already paid the park fee, you might as well check out the wildlife loop and Calvin Coolidge Game Lodge. The weekend before Memorial Day is always the free open house and free fishing weekend. Tatanka!

Upper Rapid Creek Walk-in Fishery A spectacular trail and plenty of brown trout.

Avoid:

- Bear country USA: Picture a drive-through concentration camp for bears.

- Anything to do with “Dances With Wolves”.

- “Pan your own Black Hills Gold” roadside attractions.

- Feeding the burrows on the Custer State Park wildlife loop. They may climb into your car if you aren’t careful.

- Most of the local radio stations.

The only bummer of the trip was the gas bill that approached $600 for the week. When we left Hill City gas was $3.48 a gallon. When we got to La Crosse 10 hours later it was $4.19. What is up with that? With homebrew and some thoughtful bargain shopping ahead of time, we made the whole trip for $250 each. That included reserving the nearest campsite for some added privacy, and guilt reduction for using the showers and water.