Flume Trail National Recreation Trail SD in April, by Brian: 4 April 2010 -- We met Louise's friend Denise and her faithful little trail-dog, Bree, for a snowy, windy, early April hike on the Flume Trail National Recreation Trail. The trail, eleven miles long, starts at Coon Hollow and ends at the Calumet Trail-head at Sheridan Lake. There is mid-point access at the Boulder Hill trail-head. Because this trail-head is so close to home, we often hike here, combining the Flume Trail with the mountain bike trails in the area for interesting twists and turns. Do remember, though, that the Flume Trail itself is for foot traffic only.
We started at the Coon Hollow trail-head, twelve miles from our house. The eleven-mile Flume Trail National Recreation Trail (Black Hills National Forest Trail 50) takes us back in time to the mining boom of the 1880's. The Rockerville Flume (for which the trail is named) carried water twenty miles, from Spring Creek west of present day Sheridan Lake, east to the placer diggings near Rockerville. The trail follows the actual flume bed for much of its length. Along the way you'll see historic artifacts and parts of the flume itself. Because of these fragile artifacts, this is a hikers-only trail.
Special features along the trail include:
*Spring Creek Canyon, a scenic walk-in fishery just below Sheridan Lake Dam
*Two flume tunnels about a half-mile below the dam
*Spring Creek Loop, a three-mile circle route at Spring Creek Canyon
*Spring Creek Canyon, a scenic walk-in fishery just below Sheridan Lake Dam
*Two flume tunnels about a half-mile below the dam
*Spring Creek Loop, a three-mile circle route at Spring Creek Canyon
*Boulder Hill Loop, a 2.7 circle route at the Boulder Hill trail-head
*Boulder Hill summit, a high rocky vista with spectacular views of the eastern Black Hills, plains and Badlands.
*Boulder Hill summit, a high rocky vista with spectacular views of the eastern Black Hills, plains and Badlands.
They hiked; I wandered around and took some photos of a little flotsam and jetsam of an old mining site. It looked like an ancient metal predator or scavenger had strewn the carcass of the camp -- not much left. The area around there is a quartz-fest, and at some point might have actually held a little gold. The mine site itself wasn't in evidence, but the old flume that carried water through the area can still be seen in places. Where I was, there was an old car or truck and a few seat springs and cans -- nothing that a collector would covet, but interesting for snapping off a few shots.
The surroundings consist of a number of big upthrusts of lichen-covered rock mixed with ponderosa pines, which make for some interesting color and texture combinations. I managed to take a few photos in periods between the slashing little mini-blizzards that blew through, and a few more amid the scattered sun breaks. Spring life was just starting to assert itself out of the recent Good Friday snow dump. 
I had spotted this old car or truck (what little was left of it) on a previous jaunt through the area -- now the snow actually made it more interesting to revisit. One thing I find interesting is the nexus of nostalgia and photographic merit. For me it's often a question of shape and shadow and color, but there's a wide spectrum of aesthetic interest among people in all things old and rusting that kicks in as well. 
There were a few other rusting odds and ends at the site besides the old car or truck. 
After leaving the scattered remains of the mining site, there were a number of other interesting little vignettes to see if you took time to look closely at the otherwise somewhat routine surroundings. I am always a sucker for combining geologic formations and photography, so I took a few of those shots in this very interesting area of slate upthrusts and quartz, as well as a few small "still life" shots of things along the trail. Fortunately, it doesn't take much to keep me amused. 
So, while not a collection of spectacular vistas, it was a very enjoyable little half-mile in the Black Hills, even while dodging April snow squalls. Within a month or so, the "flowers-to-rusting-cans" ratio of the area will switch over, and there will be more to admire.
Surrounding Bark and Stone on the Flume National Recreation Trail
Left-Over Oak Leaf from Last Fall
Vintage Car Needs Work
Car Edge
Petered Out Power Plant
Snow Seat Meets Branch
Spring and Old Tire
Crumpled Can and Tree Branches
Old Can Shelters New Growth
Sticks and Quartz
Moss Garden in Bloom
Tree Springs from Rocks Black and White
Moss on Lichen Rock
Vertical Outcrop in Trees
Quartz and Cone Still Life
 Emerge -- South Dakota's State Flower&)
Pasque Flowers (Pulsatilla Mill.) Emerge -- South Dakota's State Flower
Rock Amid Pines
Brian, with photos by Brian. Text and Photos copyright Goin Mobyle LLC 2010