Friday, September 22, 2017

We picked up some brochures in the Visitor Center the other day, and I noticed there was a Spearfish Canyon National Scenic Byway road, south of Spearfish.  It also had caches on it, so we loaded them on our GPS' and struck off today.  We did some caches east of Belle Fourche to Spearfish, and it took us to some huge ranches and beautiful homes.  We also found some neat places where our geo-caching took us.  We hit A14 and drove south into the canyon.  We are so glad we changed our plans, as this was such a relaxing and very scenic drive.  We could tell the elevation was higher, as it was getting cooler and the Birch trees were a bright yellow-gold.  We ended at Savoy, and had a very tasty lunch at the Latchstring Lodge.  The old lodge was torn down and a new log type building was erected in its place.  This is where we hiked down to the Spearfish Falls.  We can see the dark clouds moving in, so we're happy with what we did in our two beautiful days here.  We move on Monday.

We had these 4 bucks across the road from us, until a camera buff had to get too close, and scared them away.  NO, it wasn't me!  They are seen hanging around our campground, and seem much larger than our white tail deer back home. 

A geo-cache brought us to this old rock house.  It was considered quite a fancy dwelling back in the 1870's.  One can only imagine.  Not far from here, a geo-cache took us to a one room, eight grade schoolhouse, but it was pretty deteriorated, and it didn't photograph well. 

We stopped at a pullout to get a geo-cache, and two Trout fishermen told us to look at the stream, before they scared them away.  There was a row of Wood Ducks sitting on a log.  Beautiful!

     These male Wood Ducks were so gorgeous, that they deserved their own spot on our blog.

                              One of my favorite shots driving along the Spearfish Canyon Drive. 

This photo is closer to Savoy, and the end of our drive.  It was at 5,000 feet elevation when we reached Savoy, and we could see more color in the Birch trees here. 

We hiked down the trail to see the Spearfish Falls.  It was well worth it, and good to stretch our legs.  It's also a good way to end our day.  We are watching the Brewers and they are sitting around in shirt sleeves!  They lost a tough one last night, so we hope they can redeem themselves tonight.