Black Hills – MacKenzies on the Road

June 20, 2018

Rendezvous in WY

What chance is there waaaaay out here in WY of meeting up with family and friends. Well, not quite as slim as you think.

Our first meet-up was with Darrin’s younger(?) brother, Paul, and his lovely companion, Virginia (and of course Trouble, aka Beastie Boy, and Harley). They were travelling all the way up here from FL and we happened to land at the same campground. That’s our story and we are sticking with it!

Darrin’s younger brother Paul…where’s my walker?

Then we met-up with the Conways from NH at Devil’s Tower! We had a great reunion, catch-up, chow down and soggy hike around Devil’s Tower. Thanks for swinging by guys! Safe travels!

We have had a great, if soggy, week in the WY Black Hills and Devil’s Tower area. We stayed at a great little campground in the national forest, Reuters. Randy, the amazing host took great care of us. Thanks Randy…hi to Boo and Shadow!

The whole motley crew…Paul, Virginia, Randy and well you know the guy on the end😎

WY Black Hills. Camping in the clouds, 40s and 50s and raining.

They say the sun is supposed to shine tomorrow, but we are not holding our breath. Remember how we were complaining about the heat? Well, be careful what you wish for. It is in the 50s and soggy, but what a view! We’ll take it! Although I can’t figure out why Darrin keeps piling up his mash potatoes?

Thanks Jenny and Scott for the inspiration for the blog title and the sage. I think I’m feeling a little batty now😋 Hope you had a safe trip back to Laramie!

June 18, 2018

One of those days you remember

So we took off full of pent up energy after being waylaid in Newcastle. We were ready to get back into the woods after our time in the hotel.

We headed up in the Wyoming Black Hills to find a dispersed place to camp. While Heading up the fire road we checked the weather…hmmm….severe thunderstorms and a slight chance of a tornado! No ridgetop with a view for us. We needed a secure place to set up before the storms hit in a few hours.

Looking, looking, looking, hmm there’s a spot just down that little slot canyon. It looks like a 4 wheeler may have left a trail just our size. Dropped the rover into 4 wheel low range and down we went into the little canyon. No problems dropping down to the site, but it wasn’t as flat as it looked from above. Surprise, surprise!

So, it’s hot down in this little canyon and when we went to jockey the Rover around the vapor lock reared it’s head for the first time since installing the famous Peach Can Vapor Lock Reduction Device (PCCVLRD) and the rover quit (PCCVLRD 2.0 is in the research and design phase, production to start shortly).

At least we were in a place safe from the approaching storm, but we wanted a secure place to set up and camp, not just ride out the storm.

Out comes the winch and 45 minutes later we had winched ourselves back out of the little canyon into a semi secure spot in a glade of ponderosa pines.
While using the winch to shift around bit I tried the starter and the Rover sprang to life

We jumped in and made a beeline down to the security of the little national park outside Sundance, WY.

Where we met some wonderful people.

We were given a pile of dry wood for out little woodstove.

Given a ride into town for groceries.

Given a nice lunch at the community center.

Lesson learned!

Free dispersed camping is great, but not when you are in a rush and racing a storm.

We would have missed out on a nice spot and great people!

Sorry, no pictures🤨

June 16, 2018

Happy Campers

We are back on the road and camping in the Black Hills!

And it is 65 degrees!

We are very happy campers!

June 6, 2018

Black Hills Storm

Storms in the Black Hills can be quite intense. With all the flat prairie land to the west and south, the storms can build up some steam to run into the hills. The outcome is amazing storms that are intense and fast moving. Last night a storm skirted around us, just barely skimming our nicely sheltered camping spot and allowing for some great pictures.

A little hale mixed in for good measure!

June 4, 2018

Dispersed Camping

All National Forests, Bureau of Land Management, select Wildlife Management Areas, and a few other lands have what is called dispersed camping. This means that you can camp on the lands free of charge, if you don’t count the taxes we pay. Each have their own rules to follow, but they are minimal and the camping is awesome, if you are okay with shitting in the woods. There are no toilets, no showers and no drinking water. You have to pack in everything and pack it out.

Tonight we are camping in the Black Hills National Forest in SD. When we entered the forest, we stopped at the ranger station and picked up their detailed maps showing all the places we could drive in and camp. We picked an area on our route, drove in a mile or so (the road is what we would call a class 4 or maybe even a class 5 road at home – 4 wheel drive highly recommended), picked an amazing spot, set-up, turned on the Grateful Dead and cooked dinner.

Viola, a great place to spend a few days and the best part is there isn’t a soul in sight, just trees and hopefully some wildlife.