Day 1
5/31/25
Dumont trailhead to Deadwood and back
This the highest elevation of the trail. We reached 6236 ft.
Stats: Distance: 33mi. AIS: 4.09 hrs*. Speed avg: 7.9mph Climbing elevation 1919 ft.
*To any new followers AIS stands for Ass In Saddle. It doesn’t include stopping time.
(It’s important to know that cell coverage is very spotty unless you are in a town. Most of my daily posts will be delayed until I get to good coverage to download the photos. In other words my posts are not in real time.)
Really nice trailhead with pit toilet bathroom, tasty well water and a big parking lot. They allow snowmobiling on the trail in the winter so this trailhead has a nice warming shelter as well.
Rode slight uphill grade for about 1.5 miles. Then we began a really nice descent for 14.5 miles to Deadwood. Jim said we were going 18mph at times without pedaling. We were traveling through pine trees, aspens, open meadows but mostly forested the entire way. Most of the railroad bed grade is 4% or less. There was a short section where the bed had been flooded out and we were rerouted. That section had some steeper climbs but they were short walks for us.
Once we arrived in Deadwood we parked the bikes and took a walk down the historic Main Street. Since it was 11am on a Saturday it was only moderately busy with tourists. Apparently tomorrow (Sunday) is the Deadwood- Mickelson Marathon. It is very popular attracting thousands of runners from all around the US. They run the trail from Rochport to Deadwood. They were very busy setting up all the water stations, etc for the run.
Deadwood is always busy attracting tourists with casinos and gambling. Because it is a historic mining town, it has beautiful old brick buildings and plenty of old saloons. The old Main Street is hopping with places to see. That includes the saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was shot.
We had a late breakfast at an old converted gas station and started our uphill climb back to Dumont Trailhead. Stead climb for 14 miles and 3 quick walks in the steep section.
The trail wasn’t very busy in the morning but by the afternoon all the e-bike riders were on the trail. They outnumbered the self-propelled cyclists by a lot. I’m getting used to how many people prefer pedal assist but it’s the young 20 and 30 something’s that surprise me! On second thought I think they were tourists renting e-bikes to ride the trail. There are several vendors along the route.
This stretch of the trail had several remnants of gold mines and actually a great view of the famous Homestake Mine in Lead, SD. It was in operation not so terribly long ago. Most of the mines closed pretty quickly. Not productive enough. Lots of little ghost towns and signs of towns that no longer exist. Mo
We made the 3 hour climb back to our van. At the trailhead we decided to shower with our camp shower. It’s not part of our van. We left the water bag out in the sun while we rode. We struggled to use our “camp shower” that we’ve had for years. We haven’t actually used it in several years and it wasn’t cooperating well at all. Needless to say it was a dribble shower. Failure I’d say. We will try again tomorrow after our ride.
Camping via Harvest Host. There’s a website for camping at local businesses. We made a reservation request and were accepted by the business. You have to be hard sided and self-contained as far as bathrooms go to stay at Harvest Host sites. All they ask for in return for camping is that you patronize their business. This is our first Harvest Host camp. It was called the Sick n Twisted Brewery where they have their own microbrews and delicious pizza. We made it just in time to order and eat before they closed for the day.
There were 5 of us spending the night. I think she said they could fit 7. The lineup was 4 vans and one camper. Behind our vans was a creek. It was quiet and dark. Perfect!
Suppose to be very hot tomorrow. We shall see how it goes.
cinnicrew 