I HEART the Black Hills!
By Dan Daly • Aug 11th, 2010 • Category: Culture
According to a website I ran across, when folks at the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls looked at satellite images of the Black Hills, they were astounded by what they saw…
Dan Daly Author Archive
Dan Daly is an on-again, off-again Black Hills resident since 1978. The Aberdeen native hit the road after high school, building houses in Boulder, working oil rigs on Colorado's Western Slope, delivering cars in California. In Wyoming and Idaho, he worked as a newspaper journalist. But the Black Hills kept luring him back. For 18 years, he wrote for the Rapid City Journal. The job gave him a chance to see the Hills from atop Mount Rushmore and the bottom of the Homestake Mine. Whenever possible, Dan grabs his dog Kody and heads to the Hills. These days, he's perfecting the art of low-impact backpacking: hike two hours to a scenic spot, break out the wine, cook up the pasta, watch the sunset and fall asleep under the stars. Email this author
Mary, Don start Vacation Makeover
By Dan Daly • Jul 12th, 2010 • Category: Discoveries
I had a chance last week to meet Mary and Don Nolin, two of the winners in the “Vacation Makeover: Destination Mount Rushmore,” online contest. They won a free vacation to the Black Hills, worth up to $4,000, and a Kodak Zx1 Pocket Video Camera…
Summer Nights return to downtown Rapid City
By Dan Daly • Jun 15th, 2010 • Category: Events
Hard to believe, but Rapid City’s Summer Nights in downtown Rapid City is now in its third year. It’s a great event, and people fill the streets each Thursday night to dance, drink, play and enjoy the warm evening air. (It’s been raining so much lately that someone the other day referred to this region …
Rue’s Deadwood Connection
By Dan Daly • Jun 3rd, 2010 • Category: Culture
Rue McClanahan, the saucy senior in television’s “Golden Girls” and a one-time Deadwood casino partner, has died at age 76.
We never met Rue, and I’m not sure she was ever actually in Deadwood. This was back in the heady days of Deadwood’s foray into legalized gaming that began 20 years ago. She was among the …
Free camping on June 12
By Dan Daly • Jun 1st, 2010 • Category: Events
Kicking off the summer season, we thought we’d pass this deal along. Mount Rushmore KOA is offering a free night of camping for locals — anybody who lives within 100 miles — on Saturday, June 12…
The Alex is still a landmark
By Dan Daly • May 18th, 2010 • Category: Culture
Last week I, along with a couple of thousand other locals, had a chance to tour the newly renovated Alex Johnson Hotel in downtown Rapid City. The citywide open house was a mob scene. People were streaming through the front door. They packed the lobby, the second-floor ballroom, the new coffee shop, the tavern and …
Big Mick gets big honor
By Dan Daly • May 6th, 2010 • Category: Outdoor Adventure
It couldn’t happen to a nicer trail.
The George S. Mickelson Trial, the 119-mile railbed-turned-bike path, has been named to the Rails-To-Trails Hall of Fame. It’s one of just 25 trails from among 1,600 nationwide to be named to the Hall of Fame, and the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy raved about the trail, locally known as the Big …
Sorry, Montana, Black Hills skies are bigger
By Dan Daly • Apr 30th, 2010 • Category: Outdoor Adventure
This morning when I was looking at some of the great photos on the Black Hills Facebook page, I was looking at the great skies. No disrespect to our neighbors in Montana – Big Sky Country – but I think the Black Hills have the most interesting skies in the country.
A few years ago my …
Buzzard’s Roost in spring
By Dan Daly • Apr 15th, 2010 • Category: Outdoor Adventure
On a beautiful spring morning recently, my friend John and I grabbed the dogs and headed for the Hills. It’s been a long winter, and we all needed a good airing out – especially the dogs. We ended doing a half-day hike at Buzzard’s Roost, just off Rimrock Highway west of Rapid City.
Buzzard’s Roost is …
