13 June 2022
Sturgis, SD to Murdo, SD
447 km
I was up at 7:30 and took a short walk. We had our meeting at 9:30 and all indications were a third day of storms in the area. This time, a little further east in the Rapid City region. For the next couple days, it was a choice of North Dakota or Iowa. They decided on Iowa, so Chris booked rooms in Murdo, a couple hours east of Rapid City.
We drove to Deadwood for breakfast at the Wooden Nickel.
And then we got forty-five minutes to walk around the iconic town.
Shenanigans ensued.
From Deadwood, we drove north to Belle Fourche where the damage from the four inch hail the day before was very apparent. Tree debris and branches everywhere.
Windows broken.
Cars dented.
Windshields cracked.
Siding pockmarked.
The storm had lasted about five minutes.
We went to the museum next to the Centre of the Nation monument.
This centre of the nation includes Alaska and Hawaii.
We checked out the museum which had a couple of interesting exhibits.
Like the shoe store x-ray to check to see if shoes fit properly.
Yeah. Nope.
After a stop for ice cream, we drove north, pulling off on a road near Newell to wait.
And we finally met up with Bill’s group and I had a chat with one of the Tour 5 members who snagged a last minute spot on the photography tour.
They took off and we stuck around playing football and saying hello to the locals who were curious why so many people were hanging out on a side road. They don’t see that everyday.
Don’t think the young cows do either.
The storms finally showed up late in the afternoon.
We packed up the football and headed towards Rapid City where storms were forming south of the city.
After a quick pit stop, we drove down a side road that ended at a cemetery. We set up to watch the storm spit out lightning while it move left to right in front of us.
The rain picked up and we headed north towards Wall. The Badlands National Park south of Wall had a overlook that gave a great view of the Badlands and the approaching storm.
Despite the fact that it was well after sunset, I knew it was a great view because the entire sky would light up like daylight from time to time and expose the whole area. Bit of a surprise the first couple times. One to see it and not believe what I was seeing. The second to confirm.
The wind was incredibly high. I could only use one tripod because I had to hold on to it for dear life .
We got about a half hour at the overlook and left just as the rain hit us. On radar, we could see the hail core that showed four inch hail and we were hoping to stay ahead of it, but we got stuck behind a slow car on the way to the interstate and it slowed us enough that we couldn’t get ahead of it on the interstate. Once that became apparent, we considered turning around when an exit appeared out of nowhere. We exited and sat under the overpass to watch the hail with about a half dozen other vehicles and a tractor trailer.
It was definitely golf ball sized.
Later reports said it was bigger than that.
We spent about fifteen minutes watching the show and then headed back up to the interstate.
The road was covered for a few miles.
We drove the last hour to Murdo on a dry road and pulled in at one in the morning to the Landmark Inn.
What a spot.
Go to Day Nine
Go to Table of Contents