Hiking in the Black Hills is always fun – and especially when you’re able to learn something about the rich mining heritage of the region.
With a bit of reluctant anticipation, we bundled up and took off Saturday afternoon (6/6/09) for the Upper Spring Creek trail head about 30 minutes driving time southwest of Rapid City. I say “reluctant,” since the weather page of the Rapid City Journal had earlier predicted high temperatures in the 80s, but Mother Nature was delivering a decidedly cooler reception. I think the folks at the Journal got their forecasts mixed up. As we arrived at the trail head for the second in the 2009 Moon Walk series hosted by the U.S. Forest Service, there was a very light mist and the threat of rain. The temperature was in the low 40s.
After an enjoyable but wet trek last month to Camp Bob Marshall near Custer, we were beginning to think the Moon Walk series is haunted by nasty weather. Not to worry, however, since mere rain won’t cancel a scheduled Moon Walk – only lightning. Nonetheless, we were more than just a bit wary as we wound our way along Sheridan Lake Road and it kept getting foggier and foggier. This seemed to be a bad omen.
Bad omen or not, about 100 people showed up at the trail head. They would not be disappointed.
After a brief introduction by USFS Recreation Forester Amy Ballard, we started our hike across a narrow Spring Creek bridge and began a short but mildly steep climb up toward the old Rockerville Flume Trail.
With a bit of reluctant anticipation, we bundled up and took off Saturday afternoon (6/6/09) for the Upper Spring Creek trail head about 30 minutes driving time southwest of Rapid City. I say “reluctant,” since the weather page of the Rapid City Journal had earlier predicted high temperatures in the 80s, but Mother Nature was delivering a decidedly cooler reception. I think the folks at the Journal got their forecasts mixed up. As we arrived at the trail head for the second in the 2009 Moon Walk series hosted by the U.S. Forest Service, there was a very light mist and the threat of rain. The temperature was in the low 40s.After an enjoyable but wet trek last month to Camp Bob Marshall near Custer, we were beginning to think the Moon Walk series is haunted by nasty weather. Not to worry, however, since mere rain won’t cancel a scheduled Moon Walk – only lightning. Nonetheless, we were more than just a bit wary as we wound our way along Sheridan Lake Road and it kept getting foggier and foggier. This seemed to be a bad omen.
Bad omen or not, about 100 people showed up at the trail head. They would not be disappointed.
After a brief introduction by USFS Recreation Forester Amy Ballard, we started our hike across a narrow Spring Creek bridge and began a short but mildly steep climb up toward the old Rockerville Flume Trail.
Our guide was Colorado native Michael Salisbury, an archaeologist and historian based at the Mystic Ranger Station on the Black Hills National Forest. By the time we reached the flume trail, the hillsides were almost surreal, wrapped in a glowing fog that emitted a low-key but even light across the gulches.
Then Ranger Salisbury gave us a breather as he told the story of the Rockerville Flume.
So, just what is a flume? Why was it important to gold miners? And why – more than a century later – was this curious group of people traipsing around in the fog along an old flume trail?
A few answers – along with some “foggy photos” -- are included in our June 2009 Moon Walk Gallery. Our thanks to the Minnilusa Historical Association for allowing us to use some of the few remaining photographs of the flume.
Then Ranger Salisbury gave us a breather as he told the story of the Rockerville Flume.So, just what is a flume? Why was it important to gold miners? And why – more than a century later – was this curious group of people traipsing around in the fog along an old flume trail?
A few answers – along with some “foggy photos” -- are included in our June 2009 Moon Walk Gallery. Our thanks to the Minnilusa Historical Association for allowing us to use some of the few remaining photographs of the flume.
After you browse through the notes and photos in the album, mark your calendar for the next Moon Walk at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 11th. It's the Underground Wildnerness at Ice Cave near Custer. You'll get an update about the diseases that are taking a big toll on bats, and you'll learn about the limestone formations that create caves in the Hills.
And maybe you'll see that full moon!
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