Getting out of Sisseton involved taking the detour around downtown again. You know you're in a rural spot when the detour involves dirt roads.
Sisseton was added to the itinerary for one reason, it's the closest place with a motel to Sica Hollow State Park.(pr; shee-chah) It comes from the Sioux for evil. There's a trail through the park they consider haunted. Considering their legends of the area, it's not too surprising.
The hollow was considered a peaceful place until a stranger named Hand came through. He taught the children how to attack and kill. The elders sought the help from a Medicine Man, and asked what would need to be done to return peace. The Medicine Man appealed to the Great Spirit for help.
The answer came in the form of a spirit named Thunderer. His presence brought wild storms that drove Hand mad. Vines pinned his arms and legs and Hand drowned in the rising flood waters. The flood would eventually drown everyone except one young girl named Fawn. But, peace came back to the hollow.
The haunting come in the form of mysterious whistling and groaning sounds that are said to come from the ground. Add in the occasionally red tint of the spring fed streams and the swamp gas that's said to glow in the dark and it's easy to see how the area got its reputation. A few mysterious disappearances only cemented it.
The Sioux shared their stories with the settlers and they were even spooked by them. The legends eventually grew into alleged sightings of a Bigfoot type creature. In the 1970's several people disappeared. Hunting parties were organized, but they were never found.
The approach to the park is over wide open farm land. Then suddenly you're in deep forest. Once you hit the trees, you'd expect to see a few homes here and there. I saw no homes, no cars and nothing large than a squirrel until I came out the other side.
As for the trail itself, the website only mentioned how to get there. It never mentioned the trail's length. I was in and out of the park in about an hour.
Getting back out to Hwy 10 was an adventure. While the drive to the park from the east was clearly marked, the drive out south was completely different. I found myself back on farm roads in a reservation that wasn't on the map. When in doubt, choose the largest road and follow it in the right direction until you find a bigger road. As long as I kept the morning sun to my left, I knew I'd eventually find the highway.
Pulling out the map, up ahead was the Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge. Way ahead of schedule for the day, I stopped in. Or at least I tried...
It tuned out this is just one of the scenic drives through the refuge. Eventually, I'd find the entrance and head in.
At the kiosk map I didn't see many trails, just a few short ones from one place to another. But, they do have a fire tower...
The refuge's ranger seemed surprised when to have a visitor. With certain roads closed for repair, and very little bird migration, it's their quiet time. The only other vehicles I saw were from the park service, or road construction trucks.
Lunch was a family style restaurant in Aberdeen called Millstone. And yes, the lasagna special was quite good.
From Aberdeen, it was west on Hwy 12. There was no way I was going to pass up a stop in Bowdle. Clocking in at one hundred-fifty feet, they have the tallest water tower in the state. It's such a part of the town's identity, they hold an annual Tower Days Festival at the end of June every year.
My home for the night was the Selby Motel, located right on Hwy 83. It's a clean, well kept independent motel, currently under new management. The changeover occurred after I had booked a room and all those reservations had been lost. No problem, there were plenty of rooms available.
With plenty of time on my hands, I decided to just take my camera and walk around downtown.
Being the county seat, there's the inevitable county jail and police station. Overshadowed by grain elevators, and right on main street, sits the Shelby Opera House. It was built here in 1908. Six years later, they showed their first movie. In the 50's and 60's, one night a week it was turned into an indoor roller rink. You can rent out the opera house for a private function for only $55 and a $100 cleaning fee. It's an extra $25 if you want to use their kitchen.
With little or nothing happening downtown, I wandered into the Cloverleaf Bar and Grill, formerly the Berens Hotel Lounge. The hotel is long closed, but this turned out to be the place where the locals go. The food was pretty good, and the usual bar and grill fare. The beer list was all national brand domestics. The only one I didn't recognize was something called Grain Belt. It's been brewed in mid-west since 1893. The brewery has been bought and sold numerous times and moved almost as often. Yet, somehow I had never seen it before. I liked it, and had two more while chatting with a three of the regulars. They're all retired and either rent out their land or have it managed by other family members. I kept trying to get them to tell stories of Shelby. They just wanted to hear mine.
With the day waning, people trickled in and out. I said my good-byes and worked my way back to the motel. There's an open field behind the back parking lot, perfect for a buggy sunset.
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