Not long after I started mountain biking I began using the BHNF map to find new routes to explore. There seemed to be an unlimited supply of old roads, and all sorts of interesting places to see. I was finding rides to the tops of many of the higher summits, and realized that this exploring could be a fun, long-term project worth documenting. At the time I was just collecting my trip notes on the back of the copies of the USGS topo maps that I was using for my field maps. Taking a tip from my geology field work, I started recording my trips in a dedicated field notebook. This trip would be the first notebook entry in a series that now includes 34 volumes.
The
plan for this trip would be to start in the town of Galena, ride east on BHNF
Road 170, and then ride a clockwise loop of BHNF 170, 135 (now FH 26, the
Vanocker Canyon Road), and 541, including a side trip to the Veterans Lookout
Tower. This ride would explore a nearby corner of the hills still new to me,
and reach another lookout tower for the first time.
Route map for Veterans Lookout MB Ride.
I
started the ride at the end of the county maintenance on the Galena Road. From
the townsite, I headed east and uphill on BHNF 170. At the crest of the hill
leaving town there was a spur road leading right, and the road surface improved
a bit. The rest was easy riding downhill to the junction with BHNF 180, where
the loop portion would start. A sign here indicated that it was two miles back
to Galena and six miles ahead to Sturgis.
BHNF
170 to the east was closed to vehicles, and I ended up riding through a road reconstruction
area. I passed side roads leading north, then south, before exiting the work
zone. At the intersection with BHNF 135, after 45 minutes of riding, a sign
indicated it was four miles east to Sturgis and thirteen miles south to Nemo.
Based
on maps from more recent visits, it appears BHNF 135 of this era was replaced
by newer Forest Highway 26, aka the Vanocker Canyon Road. Old BHNF 135 followed
the road shown on the USGS topo, while newer FH 26 as mapped by GPS in 2007 follows
a route generally a bit to the west.
Here
the climb to the lookout tower began. Towards the top the road was steep and
rocky, probably the reason for its eventual relocation. At the top of the climb
was the intersection with BHNF 613 leading east, with the tower spur road
turning even more sharply left. The rocky summit looked to be Paha Sapa
Formation limestone. There was a relay tower and a small building. I could see
west to Terry Peak and Deer Mountain with their distinctive ski runs, and north
across the prairie to Bear Butte. After taking pictures I rode back down to
BHNF 135.
The
next junction with BHNF 168 was signed three miles to Bethlehem Cave and six
miles to Piedmont, I went straight on 135 to pass a house on the right. Then I
needed to portage the bike cross country around some construction, and up to
what I hoped was BHNF 536. A hairpin switchback to the right put me back on
better maintained BHNF 541, though there were no signs for either of these
roads.
The
better road crested a gentle divide. On the divide I made the right choice by
bearing left at a “Y” junction onto the fainter road, but luckily correct,
road. I wasn’t so lucky at the next junction, and kept straight and west for an
extra mile before reaching BHNF 180, where I realized I was off course. I rode
back to the last junction, headed north this time, and enjoyed a gently
downhill two mile ride on lesser used BHNF 541. This time I hit BHNF 180 near
its junction with BHNF 170 to close my loop as planned.
My
“portage” exiting BHNF 135, and my unintended side trip to BHNF 180 helped
teach the lessons that not all routes that look good on the map are good on the
ground, and that the better looking road is rarely the correct one. My
navigation in the hills would improve with time and practice, but there would
always be wrong turns out there to fool the hasty, fatigued, or inattentive
biker.
From
the 180/170 junction I retraced my route back to Galena. Back then I rarely
carried my camera on bike trips to lessen its exposure to the jarring of a
bumpy ride, but this time I had the camera and stopped just outside of town for
a picture of the Double Rainbow headframe. The mine hoist house was also still
standing. Total ride time for about 19 miles was 2:35.
Headframe of the Double Rainbow Mine near Galena, South Dakota
