Wrapping up our time in the Hills...

Our last day in the Black Hills, so I had to get in as much motorcycling as I could. It was sunny and breezy, temps in the upper 60s... good riding weather. We took some back roads once again - plenty of those in the Hills. When we got to Keystone, Joan said, "Let's take that road!"... we hadn't been on it before; why not? It turned out to be a great biking road: lots of twists and turns. I had to stop to get a photo...

Check out the road sign. The road took us into Hill City, where we stopped for a late lunch. Not sure what was going on, but it was plenty busy in town. We had to wait to get a table for lunch at the Alpine Inn...

From there, we rolled back through the Hills towards Mt. Rushmore. We turned off on Iron Mountain Road. It's been a couple years since we rode on this road; just thinking about it makes me smile. Besides the twisty roads, there are "pig-tail" bridges and tunnels with a view of Mt. Rushmore...
And the view on the other side of the tunnel...

There are a couple sections of the road that split off and become one lane. Yeah, I had to stop for another photo op...
This road was designed and built in the early 30s. Unlike most roads today, it was designed to be scenic and entertaining. The pig-tail bridges were built of wood, by hand; no level surfaces. No attempt to make the road "properly crowned" or to follow any road engineering plan. I am sure the state or federal entities that govern road construction would never allow something like this today... but, it is a blast! Narrow, twisty, steep, hair-pin turns, low tunnels, blind corners... yep, just thinking about it makes me smile. ;-)

A stop in Keystone for some taffy, then more twisties all the way back to Hart Ranch. Nice way to wrap up our time here.


We head out tomorrow; the bike is back in the trailer, the patio furniture is put away. On the road again...