Black Hills, South Dakota

Saturday morning we woke up early from the KOA in Louisville South, and headed out toward Wisconsin. Jodi was the work horse for the day. She drove us all the way through Indiana and beyond Chicago, where we stopped for lunch. I then took over the driving duties and continued on. We were planning on staying at another KOA in Oakdale, Wisconsin for the night. As we approached the KOA we realized we were ahead of schedule and also gained an hour to to the central time change. Since we had a couple of hours to hang out, we decided to go to Devil's Lake. I have read that this is one of the best climbing areas in Wisconsin. We checked in at the park entrance, and the lady there showed us where all the climbing was. By the way, the National Parks Pass worked great, already saved us $10. Thanks again guys for pitching in. Anyways, we took a couple of photos by the lake then grabbed our packs and headed for the cliffs. We hiked for about 20 minutes straight up into some high rock bluffs. The cardio workout was great. We ran into some locals up there who told us what some of the routes were. Most everything up there was top-rope. You could lead some pitches on gear, but the locals were saying they were sandbagged and the friction at the cliff was awful. The reason being, is that the rock is mainly quartz, I believe. Not the typical friction we are accustomed to at the NEW. We decided to "play it safe" and just set up a top rope on a 5.6, just to get a couple of burns in. Jodi and I had a blast. The cliff overlooks the lake below, and the cooler temperatures made for a perfect afternoon. Below is a picture of the rocks and Devil's lake.

After our little top-rope session, we headed back to the car and continued on to our KOA in Oakdale for the night. Side Note: As we entered the parking lot from climbing, we noticed a car with Virginia tags on it. I asked the young couple what part of Virginia they were from, and she told us Lovettesville. We both couldn't believe it, they lived about 10 minutes away from where we live now. What a small world. Below is a picture of our KOA campsite in Oakdale, Wisconsin.

Sunday started off like Saturday did, early start to get on the road for a full day of driving. Our goal was to get to Rapid City, South Dakota (about 10 hours). Once in Rapid City, we wanted to spend a couple of days in and around there climbing and sightseeing. We were on the road for about 30 minutes, until we crossed the mighty Mississippi River. We stopped, took a couple of pictures and then continued on. Below is a picture of us at the rest area overlooking the Mississippi.

We continued on for several hours until Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We got some gas and switched drivers. Again, we were aiming for Rapid City but found ourselves ahead of schedule, this time due to the mountain time change. We decide to change course and head into the Badlands National Park, which is right outside Rapid City. (40 miles or so). Jodi and I were blown away by this place. Below are some of the pictures we took. What an amazing place.

After the Badlands we continued on to Rapid City, where we stopped at the tourist information building to get information about the Black Hills. We talked with the lady there and told her all the things we wanted to do. She suggested we head up to Hill City, right in the heart of the Black Hills. We did exactly that. We got to Hill City 30 minutes later and found a place to set up camp for the night. We liked Hill City so much, that after we set up camp at the campground, we decided to head into town to grab a bite to eat. We ate at a local bar, and each had a beer and a buffalo burger. After dinner we headed back to camp, and into bed. Monday is going to be a climbing day.