4th & 5th of July; A cousin Party and Sightseeing in the Black Hills of SD --
Fourth of July was spent in Spearfish, going to church with Cousin Bitsy and enjoying her showing us some sights in and around Spearfish. One of the interesting things we saw was this sculpted stump, representing fish leaping, as up a small waterfall. This photo is a "stitched" set of three or four photos taken from different angles as I walked along the sidewalk near the sculpture. This technique allows the viewer to "see" the fish at the back side of the stump, as well as a full view of the largest fish whose tail is wrapped around the stump. No single photo captures this entirety.
We also visited the City Campground which has been around since Grumpy was a little girl. He remembers camping there with his Dad in the early thirty's. It is much different now; lush green grass all over and a modern restroom facility. Cabins that existed in 1933 have been removed to make way for RV parking. The Grand Mother was not impressed, as she lamented the fact that the RV's are parked too close together. I think we both preferred our accommodations at our air-conditioned/heated cabin at Spearfish Creek Inn. Yes, we used both air-conditioning and heat; the weather went from hot to chilly while we were there.
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The 5th of July is Bitsy's (AKA, "Joan") birthday. She claimed to be "85", but Grumpy knows that she lied about her age -- perhaps she just wanted to qualify for Senior Citizen discounts. At any rate, the Birthday Girl treated us all (Lorraine, Kay, Elynor and Grumpy) to a sightseeing tour up Spearfish Canyon, through the old gold-mining town of Lead and back to Spearfish via Deadwood on U.S. 85A.
In Spearfish Canyon, she pointed out where two large boulders had tumbled from the limestone cliffs some two hundred feet above and, clearing their way through trees, ended up leaning against each other partially straddling Spearfish Creek.
Then, a few miles further up the Canyon, she showed us a view of Spearfish Falls from the highway. Grumpy had lived in Western SD for over 25 years; he had traveled numerous times sightseeing up and down Spearfish Canyon. But he had not seen nor heard of Spearfish Falls. When we stopped briefly at Roughlock Lodge, Grumpy took the opportunity to hike down into the bottom of the Canyon to get this picture. The amount of water coming out of this "hole in the canyon wall" is so large that Grumpy thought it must be the origin of Spearfish Creek itself. But later observation upstream revealed that probably only about half of the flow in the Creek comes from these Falls.
At the upper end of Spearfish Canyon, where it meets with U.S. 85A, is a legendary eatery known as "Cheyenne Crossing". Here, the Birthday Girl (center) was feted with a fine dinner, accompanied by (right to left): Lorraine, Kay, Ward & Elynor.
After a sumptuous lunch, we went over the "hill" to Lead, the former home of the Homestake Gold mine -- largest in the world, until it closed a few years ago when the value of gold in this location (up to about 8,000 feet below the surface!) became unprofitable.
However, before Homestake pulled up stakes, they discovered a surface deposit (including some of the "tailings" from the deep mine) where the former "company town" homes were located on a hill just across the gulch from the deep mine.
Homestake eventually literally dug up the mountain that was there before (Grumpy remembers it well) with the result, this hole that is several hundred feet deep and about 1/2 mile across at the top.
After a slow drive through downtown Deadwood, we journeyed back to Spearfish to meet with cousin Jimmy and his wife Shirley. The final picture shows five cousins, including four from the Eddy clan, with Shirley and Elynor. After a brief visit, which concluded this "Cousin Party", and recounting some memories, the Grand Mother and Grumpy returned to their cabin for a good night's rest. Tomorrow we go to Lander WY to visit old friends whom we first met when we lived in Belle Fourche.
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