Hatch Reunion

Cowboy cousins

Uncle Danny and oldest son Dan (aka Deed),
retired USN Master Chief



(Ft. Morgan, CO: July 17, 2010) So there we are sitting in the amphitheater at Mount Rushmore waiting for the illumination show to begin when Ed's phone rings. Going backwards in our journey was something we didn't plan on but Ed's Uncle Danny was planning a Hatch family reunion back in Colorado and would really like us to come. So Friday, 16 July, we drove back to Colorado for the Saturday reunion. My side of the family has never had a reunion, or at least I've never been invited to one, hmmm. Anyway, we went, met a lot of people we'd never met before, Ed got to see some people he hadn't seen in many many years, had some good food, and just got to know some of the Hatch family a little better. It was fun and we're glad we went.

Another plus of going back was our friends from New York, Bill and Sara Payton had sold their house, and moved to the Denver area and we had missed them on our first time there. So we got to have dinner with them and get caught up from when we saw them in April.

Now, back to Wyoming!

Spearfish Canyon, SD

Spearfish campground view


Devils Tower WY -- first national monument

Climbers on Devil's Tower


Deadwood, SD


Shootout play act in mainstreet Deadwood, SD

(Spearfish Canyon, SD July 16, 2010) We left the Mount Rushmore area and drove to Spearfish Canyon to camp for a couple of days. This is a beautiful area and the campground was really nice and quiet with just the sound of the creek lulling us to sleep at night. About 4 miles up the canyon from where we camped scenes from the movie "Dances With Wolves" were filmed.

We took a short trip across into Wyoming to see Devil's Tower which was pretty cool. We hiked the mile and a quarter around the base of it and were able to see about 6 people attempting to climb it. There are science reasons the Tower is formed liked it is, but we liked the Indian story that a giant grizzly clawed the column from top to bottom, hence the long sharp columns that appear somewhat uniform from top to bottom.

From there we drove to Deadwood, Wyoming where Wild Bill Hickock was killed. We hiked the mile uphill to the cemetery where he, Calamity Jane and Seth Bullock are all buried. It's pretty much a tourist trap town and we didn't stay long but we did stay long enough to see the traditional street gunfight demonstration.

Harney Peak Hike

(Black Hills, SD: 16 July 2010) After all the driving and touristy site-seeing we figured it was time for a hike! So, we headed to the Black Elk Wilderness and Custer State Park to climb Harney Peak. At 7,242 ft. Harney Peak is the highest point between east the Rocky Mountains all the way to the Pyrenees Mts in Europe! The climb is steep (about a 1500' gain in 3 miles) and rocky but not too difficult. The view is another amazing sight. We had a picnic lunch up there and watched the oxygen-deprived Least Chipmunks run around like they were crazy. The hike down was much easier. We made it a loop by going a different way and saw the Cathedral Spires, another beautiful Black Hills rock formation. Another remarkable thing about the hike is the number of people we saw. This is a wilderness hike mind you and we must have passed 80-100 people in the 3-4 hours we were on the trail. Families with young kids, older couples (way older than us!)...some hiking in flip-flops no less!

Wall Drug, SD

(Wall, SD: 15 July 2010) From the Badlands we made a touristy stop at Wall Drug which was another one of those places that "they" tell you you "have" to see. A couple started this place in the 1930's as a highway stop for travelers. The trouble is no one stopped. As a last ditch effort to stir up business they put up signs for hundreds of miles in all directions advertising free ice water for all who stopped. This was the 30's and most of the roads out here were still gravel-dirt. That was all it took. People stopped for the free ice water to cut the dust and the rest is history. The place has grown into a real quirky/gimmicky kind of tourist stop that actually was pretty fun. They even had a wall-mounting of a "real" Jackalope! And they still give away free ice-water!

The Badlands, SD

(The Badlands, SD: 16 July 2010) The day after visiting Mt Rushmore in the heart of the Black Hills we headed east to the Badlands. This was a do-it-cause-you're-in-the-area event, not something we planned ahead of time. The Badlands form an interesting transition between the Great Plains and the mountains and they are simply AMAZING. AMAZING in a completely different way than Mount Rushmore. The pictures say it better than words, but what you can't get from the pictures is the size the huge vistas, humongous panoramas of these odd formations of rock, grassland, hills all smashed together and going on for miles and miles and miles.

Custer State Park

(Custer State Park, Custer, SD: 17 July 2010) Custer State Park is absolutely gorgeous. We were thrilled to see buffalo, big horned elk, white tailed deer, prairie dogs, and mules as we drove through the park. Named after George Armstrong Custer, the park encompasses some of the area explored by a Custer led Army expedition in 1874. The US had signed a treaty with the Sioux Nation in 1872 agreeing to not try to take the Black Hills, an area long held sacred by the Sioux and other tribes. Though authorized by the Army, Custer's expedition itself was probably a violation of the treaty. What made matters worse, one of Custer's men found gold in French Creek (picture at very top). That kind of news can't be kept secret. Soon the Black Hills were swarming with miners trying to make it rich. It was only a matter of time before the Army was sent to protect the miners from the Indians. The US broke the treaty and the Indians eventually lost their lands. Custer would die at the Battle of Little Big Horn, in Montana, about 150 miles west of here in 1876. He was killed by the same Indians whose lands had been turned into mining camps in these Black Hills.

What a RUSH!

(Keystone, SD: 14-15 July 2010) I have always wanted to see Mount Rushmore. When we started plotting out this trip it was on my list of places to go. I had never been to South Dakota so I didn't really know what to expect. I have been told that some of it is not so pretty but where we were, mostly around the Black Hills, was absolutely beautiful.
Mount Rushmore was amazing and all the history behind the selection of the sculptor, the choice of figures and selection of the Presidents is all very interesting. It was a rainy day but we finished the audio tour there and headed out to the nearby tourist-trap-town of Keystone, SD where we loaded up on what someone told us was some of the best taffy and caramels ever made! It was good, but our vote is they are a close second to taffy-caramel from Cannon Beach, OR!
The next day, though it had already been a full day, (see Badlands and Wall Drug blogs) we decided to head back to Mount Rushmore for the evening illumination ceremony. It was well worth the effort. A Ranger gave a short talk then showed a movie about the history of the making of the mountain carving. Imagine this, you're sitting facing the mountain and by now it is completely dark. As the movie concludes spotlight, starting very dim and coming from different angles start to slowly illuminate the features of the four presidents etched in granite...it was eerie-pretty and very dramatic. They ended with a flag lowering-retreat ceremony involving a Boy Scout troop visiting the area combined with a tribute to veterans. The Ranger invited all veterans down to the front stage to be "thanked" by applause from the 300-400 folks attending. Ed went down with more than a hundred or so other soldiers-sailors-airmen-marines and coasties and the applause went on for about 5 minutes. As the colors were struck a Boy Scout trumpet quintet played retreat and taps. What made it an extra special moment for Ed was that it was a year to the day of his retirement ceremony back in Suffolk, VA!