Mickelson Trail Bicycle Ride - Day 2

I was out of the motel at daybreak and had a nice breakfast at Our Place in Custer, SD. I then headed back towards Edgemont to complete the 3 mile section between mileposts (MP) 6 and 9 that I missed the day before. I drove first to the Minnekahta Trailhead to pay my $3 daily use fee then drove to where the map shows the trail crosses highway 18S. 18S is a blacktop road that says it is Old Hwy 18. When I got to where the trail crosses the road I found that the road is on a trestle about 30 feet above the trail. When I parked, I could see a cowpath down to the trail. I also saw my first (and only) rattlesnake of the trip. The section of the Mickelson south of Custer is known to have rattlesnakes.

Rattlesnake - the only good kind (dead ones)

I walked my bike down to the trail making plenty of noise so as not to surprise a snake. I headed south towards MP-6. Between MP-6 and MP-7 is an overlook of the Cheyenne River and near MP-7 is a trestle across Sheep Canyon (where I heard most of the rattlesnakes are found - luckily, I didn't find any). I passed a young couple pedaling north but they didn't stop to talk. After I reached the point where I had my flat the day before I turned around and headed north (uphill). I came upon the couple that I had just passed who had stopped to take photos of each other on a trestle across Sheep Canyon. I offered to take a photo of the two of them after which I found out they were from Cedar Rapids, IA which is only about 100 miles from Des Moines. They had started in Deadwood at the north end of the trail and cycled 3 days to Edgemont and were on their way back to Deadwood. I saw them at least once again each of the days of my trip.

Old Hwy 18 over Mickelson Trail - I'm parked next to the tree on the left.

Overlook of the Cheyenne River and near MP-6

Sheep Canyon from the Sheep Canyon Trestle near MP-7

After returning to the spot where I had parked the van (which must have been around MP-8), I cycled to MP-9 where I had reached from the north the day before. I made it back to the van without seeing any snakes and only saw two small snakes (not rattlers I don't think) the rest of the trip.

I drove back to the Minnekahta Trailhead (TH #13) and cycled north towards the Pringle Trailhead (TH #12). The first few miles of this section were very open.

Mickelson Trail near Minnekahta Trailhead

I cycled uphill for 10 miles to MP-26. The treeline started at about MP-20 and the scenery was more enjoyable than the open trail I had been cycling. I passed a number of other cyclists on this section and talked to a few of them. I also stopped to talk to a lady walking the trail and who had been out gathering wild plumbs. The 10 miles downhill back to the van were a lot of fun and the mileposts went by quickly. I loaded the bike and drove to Pringle where I had a late lunch at a biker bar. After lunch I drove a couple of blocks to the Pringle Trailhead (TH#12, MP-32.1) and found a large group of Adventure Cycling Association riders doing a week long Black Hills fully-supported ride. It was getting hot and many of their riders were SAGGING the rest of the afternoon. Only about a dozen continued riding from this point. I rode south to MP-26 and back. There is an abandoned saw mill on this section.

Old saw mill near MP-32

Once back at the Pringle Trailhead, I had completed all of the first 32.1 miles of the trail in each direction. While driving the highway between Custer and Edgemont at the start of the day, I noticed that the next 3.6 mile section between the Pringle Trailhead (TH#12) and White Elephant Trailhead (TH#11) was right next to the highway and decided to skip this section. I parked at the White Elephant Trailhead (TH#11, MP-35.7) and cycled north towards Custer to the point where the trail crossed under US-385 (about MP-41.5).

Rock formation near Sanator - where the South Dakota state tuberculosis sanatorium once operated

Just before reaching the crossing, I happened upon an older gentleman with a flat front tire. He did not have a spare tire tube and had packed the tire full of grass thinking that if he packed enough grass inside, he might be able to ride his bike the 4 miles back downhill to Custer where his car was parked. I had a spare tube and we fixed the tire and I rode with him 1/2 mile to the highway crossing. The man's tire was holding up and by now it was after 4:00 pm so I needed to get back to the van to drive to the Harbach Park Trailhead in Custer (TH#10) to get in the last section of riding for today then drive to Hill City where I had a motel reservation. The downhill ride went quickly. I arrived at TH#10 in Custer around 4:45 pm, unloaded the bike and started cycling north up the 5.1 mile section between Custer (TH#10, MP-44.5) and The Mountain Trailhead (TH#9, MP-49.6). I have to say this was probably the most scenic section of the trip for me. In addition to the 3.6 miles between TH#12 and #11, I also skipped the section from Custer south to the US-385 crossing which is about another 4 miles. All total so far I had skipped 7.6 miles of the first 49.6 miles of the trail - all south of Custer. The total miles on my bike odometer for the day was 60.3.

Custer Trailhead (TH#10)

Between Custer and The Mountain trailheads (MP-44.5 to MP-49.6)

Between Custer and The Mountain trailheads (MP-44.5 to MP-49.6)

The Mountain Trailhead (TH#9, MP-49.6). Supposedly one can see the Crazy Horse monument from here but I didn't see it

The shadows were getting long by the time I made it back to Custer. I loaded the bike and drove to Hill City. After checking in to the motel and cleaning up I had a delicious burger at Desperados Cowboy Restaurant.