Bear Lodge Cruise

6.12 Bear Lodge District

Getting out and about with a Little One isn't as easy as we thought it was going to be. We thought we'd try our first outing today and head into Wyoming to the Bear Lodge District of the Black Hills.

It's an area that's quite close but far enough away that we haven't explored it like the Northern Black Hills. We packed up and headed west. When we got to Sundance, we headed towards Devils Tower but instead of staying on the highway, we opted for the first dirt road we could find.

The sun was shining and it was a perfect day. Not too hot, no Wyoming wind. Sometimes we forget how beautiful the Bear Lodge District is. It seems that there are more aspens, more sunflowers, and somehow, just as much wildlife.

6.12 Bear Lodge Aspens

We took the road that goes to Cook Lake. Since we had never been there it seemed like the perfect time to explore. There were hardly any people on the road (most people prefer the direct route to the Tower) and we had all day.

We didn't hear a peep out of Eli as we enjoyed our ride. Eventually we made our way to Cook Lake. Not only is it a serene little lake surrounded by hills and forest, it has hiking trails and a campground. Since, our camping expeditions for the next few years will be predominantly front-country, we made a mental note and both agreed that we'd like to come back to this area. Maybe for our first family camping trip.

6.12 Cook Lake Campground

After stopping to stretch and feed Eli we jumped back into the Jeep and cruised on. It felt amazing to be on an adventure with our family. We couldn't help but reflect on how much we had changed and grown and on the fact that we now had a little person of our own.

The wildlife was on the move and there were more does with their fawns than we could count. It was spectacular. It has been a particularly good year for the deer and I've enjoyed watching them more than usual. 

After enjoying our time out on the dirt roads we decided to head back towards Sundance. It had been a successful first adventure with our little boy and it helped us to realize that we can still do what we love- it will just take a bit of adjusting. In all, it had been a memorable day.

Dutch Oven Delight & Afternoon Explorations

This morning I woke up early and set to work on creating my first solo meal in my new Dutch Oven. The plan was to make Apple Turnovers- I figured that it sounded easy enough. I read through the recipe and noticed that the only thing we didn't have on hand was Mt. Dew. After a quick trip down the hill to the store I was ready.

Above Step 1, Steps 2 & 3 below. 12.18.11

First thing I attempted to do was to light the charcoal. This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I started in a traditional charcoal starter with newspaper and lighter fluid but it wouldn't catch. After two failed attempts I pulled out a metal cake pan, lined up my charcoal and hit it again with the lighter fluid. There seemed to be some hope of it igniting but I still wasn't having any luck. It was becoming ridiculous. What was I doing wrong? My neighbor, Monte, stopped in to deliver a load of wood and miraculously was able to get the charcoal to light and stay lit. I was on my way.

Josh and Nate were still sleeping at this point so my plan was still on track. I really wanted to surprise them with a sweet and delicious breakfast. I foiled and sprayed the DO and set to work on the recipe. Rolling the apples in the croissants was easy and after doing about 12 I realized that there wasn't any way I was going to fit all 16 my 4-quart Dutch Oven. So I prepared a 8x8 pan that I would be able to bake in the oven.

Once I had melted the butter I mixed in the sugar and cinnamon. I poured it over the croissants in the DO and the 8x8. It was a gooey delight. Then I topped the whole thing off with a bottle of Mt. Dew.

When the coals were ready I counted out the number I needed for the top and the bottom and got it situated on the gravel. It's amazing how much there is to cooking in a Dutch Oven. I really learned a lot in the Dutch Oven Cooking course I took at the Becoming An Outdoor Woman Workshop and this was my opportunity to put it to use.

After 15 minutes I turned the top 1/4 clockwise and the bottom 1/4 counter clockwise. I did this two times to make sure that the heat was even. Then it was done.

Apple Turnovers! 12.18.11

By this time Josh and Nate were awake and making coffee. They were starting to split wood when I came out with bowls, forks and a spatula and served up golden brown Apple Turnovers. They were perfectly cooked and incredibly sweet. It was really satisfying that they came out so well.

After eating breakfast, the guys split and stacked the wood and I set to cleaning the house. After a couple hours and some serious team work we had all the work done. It was adventure time!

We hopped in the Jeep and headed out to Camp 5 Road to check the status of our geocaches. The road was snowy but we weren't the first ones to travel this way. After checking the first cache we headed up to our second one. The road here was a little more tricky and we couldn't make it all the way so we parked close and hiked up through the snow, making our own path. Wu blazed the trail, then Josh, then me, then the new pup, Samsquanch before Nate. The puppy was on his first real adventure and he was having fun. He would later take a long, satisfying nap to recover.

Josh & Nate at Cache #2. 12.18.11

Both of the caches were in good shape and unaffected by the snow. Awesome. Getting to each had been easier and quicker than we had thought and we wondered what to do with the rest of our day.

We headed towards I-90 and turned onto Cooke City Road. It's a small back highway that leads to Whitewood. It winds through prairie and forest all the way there. It was a perfect day to drive with the windows down and enjoy the fresh air. While on our cruise we decided to find a couple geocaches that other people had put out. There were quite a few that would be on our loop home.

The first geocache was west of Whitewood and located across from the Frawley Ranch North Entrance. It was a small cache and a fairly easy find. Before we knew it we were back in the car and on our way. Our next stop was at a small bridge a few miles down the road. With the sun quickly setting we checked the hint; nuts. We were thinking that it was in a tree until we saw all the hardware on the bridge. All three of us were looking with our eyes wide open. We finally found a tiny micro cache and were delighted when we realized it was disguised as a nut and bolt. It was the coolest container we'd ever come across. After logging our visit we headed home.

It had been a long and busy day and it was time to fill our bellies and watch a movie or two!



Today's Recipe.... 
Courtesy of The Patrick Sisters

                                    Apple Turnovers

               2 large granny smith apples (big enough for 16 apple slices)
               2 10oz cans crescent rolls
               1 c butter
               1 ½ c sugar
               1 tsp cinnamon
               12 oz can 7 up or mountain dew


     Cut apples into wedges. Separate dough into triangles and place 1 apple wedge on each piece of dough.  Seal the edges of the dough and place in 14 inch Dutch oven that has been sprayed with Pam, lined with tin foil and sprayed again with Pam. Stir butter, cinnamon, and sugar and heat until warm. Pour butter mixture over turnovers and then pour can of soda over all. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes at 350 degrees (17 coals on top and 11 on the bottom). Top with powdered sugar icing after baking.

Crepes and Escapes

Crepes 6.19.11

Today, Amanda and I took advantage of our opportunity to sleep in, so we got a late start on our adventure for the day. After taking showers and letting the dogs run we made some World Famous Laliberte Crepes. Amanda whipped up the batter and let me figure out how to cook them just right. On top we put peach and blueberry yogurt, sprinkling them with powdered sugar. It was my first time to ever try making crepes and they turned out freaking awesome! It's weird now that I have a French side of my family! After the first crepe came out a little over done I had the cooking method down. I made about 8 crepes today and let me tell you (and Amanda agrees...), they were good.

View from Roosevelt Loop Trail 6.19.11

After wolfing down breakfast we decided it was time to leave for an adventure. The only problem was we had no idea where we were heading. So, we picked Mt. Roosevelt. It's a favorite of ours and we thought it would be nice to let the Wu and Tahquitz run a bit. We loaded the beasts in the jeep and off we went. We were hoping to have some privacy so the boys could run free but of course that wasn't a possibility where we normally go. There were tourists everywhere and we headed back to drop off Tahquitz (He doesn't like car rides very much). Before we left Mt. Roosevelt we found a trail to take and let the dogs run on. We hiked a ridge line and after a bit of exploring we wrangled the boys up and started back. On the way Amanda found a nice case for a pair of binoculars. SCORE!! After that we took Tahquitz back home. We laid some treats around the house for him and then Amanda, Wu, and myself were off to explore.

Custer Peak Camground Site 6.19.11

We decided to explore back roads that would take us south into Hill City, so we could try out this restaurant that the locals love, The Alpine Inn. We took Highway 385 out to Rochford Rd. then down Mystic Rd. It's a cut off we've seen multiple times but for some reason we had never taken it before. It turned out to be a great drive through steep canyon walls. From this road we took a cut off called Custer Peak Campground. As the name suggests, it leads to a campground area which is spectacular! Nearly every camping area was against a large creek and it seemed like each one came with about 4 acres of personal land. It was a very private area that we thought our friends would love when they come up here.

We stopped and let Wu Bear take a swim. He jumped out of the jeep and as soon as he figured out where the best entrance was, he started swimming. He loves to have a stick thrown into the water so he can jump in after it and bring it back. Recently, he's started taking up whining like a little girl just before you throw the stick, and to be honest, it's one of the funniest damn things I've ever seen. After being drug around by the strong current he was done, so we headed back towards Hill City to get lunch.

When we finally arrived in Hill City, we parked next to The Alpine Inn and were hoping to enjoy some German goodness..... It was closed. Facing disappointment we travelled on.

Bumpin Buffalo in Hill City 6.19.11

Amanda dragged me down the street to find another place to eat. We saw a biker looking bar that served mexican food. I love Mexican food, but there was another little tavern called the Bumpin Buffalo. The sign was cool so we took a chance on went inside. It was incredible how much this place reminded me of a college bar I used to frequent when I still went to Oklahoma. (Go Sooners!!!) Anyway, I saw that they were serving buffalo brats with sour kraut... CHA CHING!! I love me some brats, but I really love me some buffalo brats! Amanda and I both ordered brats and had the waitress throw in some fried pickle spears. Those
things are amazing and it's kind of our thing to get them everywhere we go. They served the brats on a wheat hoagie with plenty of sour kraut. The fries were really good and the pickles were fantastic. Needless to say, the meal was awesome! I was a happy man.

Caramel Apple Pie Fudge 6.19.11

We took off walking down the street checking out all the shops that line Main St. Of course, Amanda found the one that served ice cream and fudge; I was hooked. She ordered a cake cone with a scoop of mint chocolate chip and I got a waffle cone with a scoop of Mocha Almond Fudge. We also got a couple squares of Caramel Apple Pie Fudge. WOW!! This was just what we had needed. It was the best fudge I had ever had!!

Thunderhead Underground Falls 6.19.11

At this point, we were completely satisfied and ready to head back home. On the way back up 385 we noticed a nice looking new sign for Thunderhead Underground Waterfalls. We've been looking forward to doing this for two years. We headed down the road towards the falls. When we got there we walked down towards the entrance and paid to get in. It's a self guided tour and it's only about 600 feet into a mountain, but it was pretty cool. You could see where there was copper in the tunnel walls and other really cool color patterns all over the ceiling from a variety of minerals. There is a creek that runs through the tunnel. If you follow this creek all the way to the back you can see the falls. It's a small drop but the water is coming down hard and it gives the whole place a really large feeling. We took a few pictures and then headed out.

Amanda and Wu at Custer Peak CG 6.19.11

It was another good day with my Baby and our Wu Bear.

Spearfish Canyon Rim

     The last couple of weekends Josh and I haven't strayed too far from home. With such wacky schedules we've been trying to find some time to get out and explore. That day turned out to be Sunday. By 8 AM it was apparent that it could be the hottest day yet this year.

6.5.11 Crow Peak Rec Area

      After a late start we loaded up the Jeep and headed towards Spearfish Canyon via Maitland Road. Maitland Road is basically a local's only dirt road into Spearfish. It winds along the northern side of Spearfish Canyon and offers spectacular views and serene privacy. We turned into Crow Peak Recreation Area and began to explore the two-tracks that run throughout the unit.

     We had been studying maps to find an old unused road that ran between Maitland Rd. and Spearfish Canyon and that day we decided to try every road we came to. We drove for hours on those roads and always ended up having to turn around for washouts and whatnot. The day was really starting to heat up and we were just crawling on these dirt roads without much of a breeze. We came across a road that was overgrown with grass, beautiful lush grass, and so we followed it up hill and to it's end. The road ended on a knoll overlooking Maitland's valley and had a thick carpet of pine needles with jack pines offering shade and respite from the sun.

6.5.11 Improve Picnic under the Pines

     Taking full advantage of the shade, we pulled out a tapestry and our cooler and set to having a picnic on a nearby rock. Oranges, granola bars, and peanut butter crackers were devoured. And Wu was re-hydrated. It was so peaceful knowing that we were the only ones in those woods. It was like the whole forest was ours to explore. So we did.

     Following our path back we took a fork that we hadn't been down yet. At this point we were off the map. These roads, for the most part impassible by jeep, had become mostly ATV trails. As we were discussing that the road was becoming narrower and likely coming to an end, we realized that we had been creeping along the edge of Spearfish Canyon. There was a spectacular view of the cliffs and the winding road. We took a walk to see where the road was heading which was quickly into a ATV only trail and stopped to enjoy the views. How had this happened?

6.5.11 View of Spearfish Canyon

     We let Wu run for a bit and then we packed up, heading for the Canyon. A swim would have to be next. There are a few spots that we always return to in Spearfish Canyon to catch a quick dip. One of our favorites is past Roughlock Falls on CR 222. It's just a little hole big enough for the three of us. Or one particularly crazy Wu, who happened to be all business. The water was as cold as you would expect it to be in early June in the Black Hills. Josh and I were in and out quickly- it was so cold our legs went numb, not to mention we were getting hungry agian. But Wu was in heaven and playing until we offered him a car ride home. Silly dog.