On Day 2 of the 2025 Black Hills Bounty, we shook off the effects of overnight thunderstorms and readied for a day of climbing. From the outside, it would not appear to be a big elevation gain day, but numbers on a screen don't account for the surface conditions, or where the climbs come during the day, or even the fact of a loaded bike. The day hit hard.
From camp, we meandered down a rough Low Standard Road that led to a vintage ranch and a dead-end. We veered onto barely used two track back to a water tank fed by McKenna Spring and turned to face a rocky, steep, heft-a-bike pitch up an abandoned two-track. Good Morning Black Hills! Clawing up that pitch, we emerged onto a cowpath to reach a welcomed stretch of open prairie gravel.
With that warm-up, the main group climbed an increasingly steep Low Standard Road to the top of Elk Mountain Fire Lookout for drop-off-the-earth 360 degree views, followed by a white knuckle descent on another abandoned two-track. After a short recovery on some pavement, we powered 14 miles up gorgeous Red Bird Canyon to disperse camp by an unnamed spring.
It was a legitimate Black Hills Bounty type of day.
Here's our story of Day 2, as told by our collection of images.
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| Group effort to find the leak in Jeff Bloom's air mattress, with an assist from the cattle tank. |
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| Preparing for the day. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Rob Foudray rolls down USFS Low Standard Road 277. |
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| Heading south on USFS Low Standard Road 277, a couple of miles before it dead-ends. |
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| Jeff Caldwell storms up USFS Low Standard Road 277.2A toward McKenna Spring. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Craig Groseth and Rob Foudray on USFS Low Standard Road 277.2A. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Ben Cooper reaches the end of Low Standard Road 277.2A and looks up. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Jeff Caldwell likes what he sees of the nasty pitch ahead. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Rob Foudray gears down, and bears down. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Brit Flinchbaugh and Mark Almer riding into it. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Paul Brasby and Jeff Bloom are determined to stay upright. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| I got this! says Jeff Bloom. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| OK. Now that abandoned road gets serious. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| That shows the grade better, but it felt even steeper. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Multi-stop heft-a-bike, less than a mile. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Everyone is off the bike on this one. (image by Brit Flinchbaugh) |
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| Re-grouping and recovering at the top. (image by Paul Brasby) |
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| A pleasant little cow path led us out. (image by Paul Brasby) |
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| Gatekeeper Jeff Caldwell awaits riders emerging from that abandoned road. (image by Brit Flinchbaugh) |
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| Recovery spin on fast gravel on Mann Road (USFS Secondary Road 270). (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Stretching out on Dewey Road (Custer County Road 769). (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Re-grouping as we're about to turn north into a headwind. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Dewey Road looking northwest. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Craig Groseth chugging up Dewey Road. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Kevin Fox looking to start the climb up to Elk Mountain Fire Lookout Tower, (image by Mark Almer) |
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| If Jeff Caldwell is standing on a pitch, you know it's steep. (image by Paul Brasby) |
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| Jeff Caldwell, Rob Foudray, and Ben Cooper atop Elk Mountain. (image by Paul Brasby; Jeff Bloom is also up there somewhere) |
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| That's a climb. And the descent lies ahead. (image by Rob Foudray) |
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| Elk Mountain view. (image by Rob Foudray) |
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| Elk Mountain view. (image by Rob Foudray) |
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| Elk Mountain view. (image by Rob Foudray) |
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| Early on the descent of Elk Mountain. (image by Paul Brasby) |
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| Renowned landscape photographer Paul Brasby in action. (image by Rob Foudray) |
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| Still descending Elk Mountain. (image by Rob Foudray) |
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| Low Standard Road 818.1A off Elk Mountain starts innocent enough. (image by Rob Foudray) |
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| Similar view of Low Standard Road 818.1A. (image by Paul Brasby) |
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| Mark Almer dropping off Elk Mountain on another abandoned road. (image by Brit Flinchbaugh) |
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| Brit Flinchbaugh and Mark Almer negotiate the final descent off Elk Mountain. (image by Brit Flinchbaugh) |
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| Craig Groseth starts up Red Bird Canyon on USFS Secondary Road 376, before it turns to Low Standard. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Kevin Fox and Craig Groseth meet Christy, a local who "has never seen a bicyclist up this canyon." The backcountry is full of kind, generous, caring people like Christy. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| The canyon walls start to close in on Red Bird Canyon. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| The road up Red Bird Canyon turns to Low Standard, which translates to High Reward. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| As the creek bed drops, we find ourselves riding along the rim. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Kevin Fox powers up Red Bird Canyon. |
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| Further north on Red Bird Canyon, the terrain and foliage continue to change. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Jeff Caldwell and Ben Cooper roll up after their ascent of Elk Mountain. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Craig Groseth and Ben Cooper roll to camp in Red Bird Canyon. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Dispersed campsite near an unnamed spring at the northern part of Red Bird Canyon. (image by Kevin Fox) |
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| Another view of the Red Bird Canyon dispersed campsite. (image by Paul Brasby) |
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| RideWithGPS map of Day 2 of the 2025 Black Hills Bounty. |
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| Topo map showing the steep grades of Elk Mountain. |
