Goodness! Where has the time gone? It's been over two months since I last posted an installment in this series documenting my time in the Black Hills, and almost six months since the trip itself. A brief recap is therefore in order!
In early June I traveled to Pahá Sápa, which is the Lakota (or Sioux) name for that area of North America also known as the Black Hills of South Dakota. Accompanying me on this journey were my friends Kathleen, Joey and Will.
To start at the beginning of The Wild Reed's Pahá Sápa Adventure series, click here. You'll eventually get back to this post!
Alternatively, you can just stay put and check out the historic town of Hot Springs, South Dakota, which Kathleen, Joey, Will and I visited on Tuesday, June 11, 2013.
Above: With Kathleen in Hot Springs, SD.
According to Wikipedia:
The Sioux and Cheyenne people frequented the area, appreciating its warm springs. European settlers arrived in the second half of the nineteenth century. The city, first known as Minnekahta, was renamed in 1882 and a variety of health resorts were built on the basis of the springs.
Hot Springs is one of the warmest places in South Dakota with an annual mean temperature of 48.6 °F (9.2 °C). . . . The city center contains over 35 sandstone buildings and is the home of a 105-year old United States Department of Veterans Affairs hospital (Black Hills Healthcare System - Hot Springs Campus), which was deemed a National Historic Landmark in 2011. The 100-bed center offers extensive outpatient treatment, acute hospital care, PTSD treatment, and an alcohol and drug treatment facility.
Above: Will and Joey shooting some pool in a Hot Springs bar.
Above: The Blue Bison Cafe.
The Blue Bison is located in the historic Holman building, constructed in 1901. According to the cafe's website, the Holman building is the "last of the Richardsonian Romanesque influenced buildings built in Hot Springs." Also, "[one] quality of the building is the well-preserved store front and cast iron columns. The front of the building is of sandstone construction, and the 22 inch thick walls are locally mined flagstone." The side windows are clearly a later addition.
Aside from the Mammoth Site (which we did not get to see), the other major attraction in Hot Springs is Evans Plunge Indoor Pool and Mineral Spa (which we did visit). Evans Plunge has a long and interesting history, one that can be read about in the image above and by clicking here.
Above: Will and Joey walking alongside the Fall River which flows through the center of Hot Springs.
Following the advice of a local shop owner, we drove a short distance out of Hot Springs to the beautiful area pictured above and below.
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Pahá Sápa Bound
• Pahá Sápa Adventure – Part 1: The Journey Begins
• Pahá Sápa Adventure – Part 2: The Badlands
• Pahá Sápa Adventure – Part 3: Camp Life
• Pahá Sápa Adventure – Part 4: "The Heart of Everything That Is"
• Pahá Sápa Adventure – Part 5: "I Will Return to You in the Stone"
Beautiful pictures.
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