Monday 3 October 2011

Oct 2nd and 3rd Keystone to Gillette Wyoming

Lake Sheridan North of Keystone


Roughlock Falls
Steve wants to gamble and Deadwood is a little casino city North of the Rushmore area. Also we were told that Spearfish Canyon is a must-see at this time of year, with the leaves changing colour and 3 waterfalls. So we took a large loop around Deadwood to see the canyon, and then checked in to one of the casinos for the night. The canyon was well worth the drive, however quite busy with locals and tourists, as they had also heard that this is the weekend to see it.  We got back to Deadwood early afternoon. I watched a movie while Steve gambled and then I went down to the casino and won back most of the money he'd lost. Linde gambled a bit and Richard had fun at the bar.

 

Main Street Deadwood


 On the way out of town, we stopped at the Mount Mariah Cemetary, where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried. It is an historic graveyard for the area, built on  a very steep hill overlooking the town.





We thought that after we left Deadwood, Monday would be a long day of just driving. Luckily we stopped at a visitor's centre and were told we had to go and see The Devil's Tower. We took a 50 mile detour and was that ever worth it! It is this huge tower of rock just coming out of the ground hundreds of feet high. It is a popular rock climbing site, as well as quite beatiful to see.
This North East corner of Wyoming is mostly rolling grasslands, with cattle, beautiful horses in all colours, a lot of hay, and a lot of small oil derricks and natural gas equipment.  We stayed the night in Gillette, Wyoming.