The Black Hills

I've just finished the most remarkable weekend touring the Black Hills of Wyoming and South Dakota. This post is coming to you from Denver Airport where I'm in transit for my flight to San Francisco for work. The weekend has been glorious all weekend with temperatures briefly touching 30C today.


I hired a car from Gillette, Wyoming (the town does exist - look it up - I had to) and drove to Devil's Mountain, the site of Steven Spielberg's epic movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. From here it was on to Rapid City via Spearfish Canyon and a beautifully preserved mining town called Deadwood.

This morning I drove through the Black Hills of South Dakota; stopping to visit Mount Rushmore and the incomplete Crazy Horse memorial. I found myself ahead of schedule mid-afternoon. A spontaneous decision saw me book a 30-minute helicopter flight over Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills for some stunning aerial photography.

I was even offered a second complimentary flight. As I got into my rental car, one of the helicopter company owners came running out the door. Apparently, a couple had just booked a flight and thus a couple of seats were available. She commented that she hated seeing empty seats on a flight. As a result, she was happy to offer me one of them at no cost. Sadly, I was on a tight schedule as I had to get to the airport in time for my connecting flights to California.


However, I made the most of my return to the airport. I finished the day with a winding, scenic drive along the Needle Highway. The views were astonishing. The road itself was quite an adventure. At times it narrowed to a single lane bored through towering fissures in the mountainside. I'll write more details shortly and post a few photos.