One Day at a Time

We just got back yesterday from the Rahns' Garnet Lake Lodge on Slate Creek in the Black Hills (South Dakota). It is one of the most beautiful places on earth, even on days like Friday when it rained all day.

Here's a list of critters I saw:
chipmunks
mountain bluebirds
juncos
osprey diving for fish in the lake
bats
nighthawks
a turkey vulture
some large eagle-like bird
fish jumping in the lake (could have been trout, but also could have been the more obnoxious sucker-fish)
nuthatches
a beaver
a herd of excited cattle
baby grass snake Perry found under Lee & Faith's tent

And number one on the list of things I did not see:
mosquitoes

Andy, Scott, and I arrived at the lodge on Friday somewhere around noon. A very gentle but very steady rain was falling, and continued to fall until around 6 or 7 that evening. Andy, Scott, Mely, and I played a few rounds of Mexican Train dominoes while waiting for others to arrive. When John, Stacie, and Lando showed up, Andy, John, and I attempted to take Lando for a bike run to wear off some of his excess energy. At first he wouldn't really come with us at all--came part of the way, then turned tail up to the lodge. Andy went back up to grab a leash to see if we could run him that way. Several minutes later he came riding down the road with an invisible dog--Lando had wiggled out of his collar, so Andy just had the empty leash. I snapped a few pictures--hopefully they'll turn out.

On Saturday morning, Andy led a hike around the property. We made a circle, hitting some of the highlights of the landscape. There are some pretty great views and steep hills there. Down in the meadow we encountered the herd of curious cattle. They kept coming closer and closer until Andy shooed them away. The bull was a good two hands taller than the cows, and there were several biggish babies in the group. Cute, but cuter at a distance greater than 10 feet. After climbing up the steepest part of the property, we leveled out onto a forest service road between Redfern Mountain and "Redfern Jr." (Jr. was named by the Rahn boys), we went up Jr. a little way to the Eagle's Nest, an old tree fort the boys had built. On the way there, we passed a stand of dead and dying pines that had been infested by bark beetles. Perry said he'll probably organize a party to take down those trees when Andy and his brother Chris are visiting in a couple of weeks. Infested trees are quite striking, though, because they are a very distinct coppery color.

That afternoon I napped a little while most of the gang played volleyball and/or badminton. Good thing I did. Later that evening the hordes descended for a grilling party and bonfire. Because of the rain on Friday night, we were able to have bonfires and s'mores both Friday and Saturday. The stars were brilliant on Saturday and Sunday nights, even with the light of the half-moon.

Sunday was fairly lazy. Some of us went boating (Andy even managed to capsize his canoe), and some of us went swimming (unintentionally on Andy's part at first). We pulled out raft 2.0, which was much more troublesome than raft 1.0 last year. Some of the lashings broke, and others were simply non-existant, so determining which piece of the raft was stable at any given time was a challenge. Both John and I tried log rolling unsuccessfully (and no, we did not do so deliberately) as the board we were standing on came disconnected from the rest of the contruction. Andy might work on raft 2.1 while he's there in August to stablize it somewhat.

On Sunday afternoon/evening, Andy and I took a bike ride into Hill City where Scott and Mely picked us up after doing a little shopping for dinner. We went cross-country for a little while, then met up with a dirt road on forest service land. These parts of the ride were true mountain-biking experiences, especially the dirt road. It was basically downhill, but had many small "bump" uphills (if you were on a BMX or a bike with shocks, the little bumps would send you sailing). Then we met up with the George S. Mickelson Trail, a decomissioned railway that has been converted into a gorgeous trail for biking, hiking, horsebackriding. From this map, I believe the white section that says "Redfern Mtn" is the 160 acres of the Rahn property (it is a rectangle with the shortest sides on the top and bottom).

I'll post a picture or two as soon as I get my film developed (yes, some of us still use film in our cameras--I like to be surprised). I went through three rolls, and would have started a fourth if I had found it in my bag before halfway home.