Day 1
Our first day consisted of a long 10 hour car journey from the Twin Cities to Custer State Park where my family was renting a lodge. Leaving at 6am, we drove southwest through Mankato and down to I-90, which we were on basically the whole rest of the way. A few coworkers warned me that the drive would be boring and that as much as you think you don’t want to, stops at Wall Drug and the Mitchell Corn Palace would be a much needed break. Dr. S and I were hellbent on not stopping at these places - and we didn’t! We fought off the thousands of signs for Wall Drug successfully. (We were quite happy once we were past the town of Wall and the signs for Wall Drug ceased.)
I honestly didn’t think the drive was too bad. Southwest Minnesota seemed to drag on a bit - lots of windmills, grain silos, and trains hauling grain - but things got much more interesting once we crossed the border. The landscape became drier prairie, with much fewer trees. We also were not expecting the dramatic river valley of the Missouri River and the change of landscape thereafter. We were both captivated by the rolling prairies and grasslands of western South Dakota. Neither one of us had ever seen ranch country before. As I-90 swept just north of the Badlands, we could see little glimpses of that landscape as well. We were gawking all over the place, which at times was a bit dangerous considering the interstate speed limit in South Dakota is 80 mph. It certainly made the drive go quickly however. By 4pm we were settled into our room at the lodge.
Day 2
The one activity that was an absolute must for Dr. S and I on this trip was the hike up to the lookout tower on Black Elk Peak (formerly called Harney Peak). We broke in new hiking shoes, bought a new backpack (and Camelbak) for Dr. S, and read up on the hike beforehand. Looking at the weather for the week, the very first full day of the trip was the chosen day. Not too hot and no chance of rain. Besides the two of us, a handful of my family also decided to do the hike.
Before I get too far with detailing the hike I should mention the wildlife we saw not even a mile down the road from our lodge. Custer State Park is home to a huge amount of animals (which I’ll list on a later post) but the most iconic is the bison. The park hosts a nearly 1500 head herd that roam freely. (There’s fencing and cattle guards to keep them in the park). Sure enough, our first full day in the park we venture out and see a bison nearly immediately. The car traffic was stopped to allow a bull bison to just nonchalantly mosey down the road. We slowly rolled past and snapped a few pictures. Quite a way to start the day!
Switching back to the hike… We were using the shortest and most used way up to Black Elk Peak, which starts at Sylvan Lake. This apparently is the most popular place in the park by a long stretch, because it was packed with people and we had to hunt for parking spots. With that said, if you visit the Black Hills and want to do the hike up to Black Elk Peak or do anything else by Sylvan Lake, either do it super early in the day (which we should have done) or avoid the summer tourist season.
With a large gain in elevation and a round trip of 6 - 8 miles (depending on which source you were using), we knew the hike would be manageable but challenging. (The final distance of course ended up being around 8 miles.) What we weren’t prepared for were the effects of being in a higher altitude. The trailhead near Sylvan Lake is roughly 6000 feet. Black Elk Peak is at roughly 7250 feet. All of us in the hiking party live below 1000 feet. Quite a big change for all of us. On the way up, we weren’t getting physically tired, but cardiovascularly tired. Our breathing was more labored and we needed to take breaks for water and rest even though our leg muscles weren’t taxed in the slightest. The need for breaks was (mostly) fine however because it allowed us to take pictures and just soak in the awesome scenery.
Once (finally) at the top, Dr. S and I basically ate our small packed lunch right away. It was food first and then exploration. The views from the top were of course spectacular but so was the mountaintop itself. How the Civilian Conservation Corps ever were able to build the lookout tower so far into the wilderness and on this craggy peak of the Black Hills was just amazing. All the members of my family sampled the various viewpoints of the tower and a few of us hiked over to the nearby peak. This is the actual highpoint (and thus the top of the actual peak). I joked that it “was the highpoint of trip” and that “it was all downhill from here.” Groans all around.
After a good amount of rest, we headed back down the trail. The hike down was waaay faster than going up of course, but Dr. S and a few of my family members were just blazing back down. They started just moments before the rest of us but we never caught up to them the whole time. I found out it was because Dr. S really had to use the bathroom (the trail was far too busy for doing business in the trees) and the others with her had just been to Colorado a few weeks prior so the altitude wasn’t affecting them as it was the rest of us.
Once everyone was back down, we reunited with our vehicles and headed back to the family lodge via the Needles Highway. The Needles Highway is a curvy, switchback laden road that runs north-south in Custer State Park and runs through or near some of the tallest towers (or needles) of Black Hills craggy rock. There are also a few one-lane tunnels through the rock. It’s very scenic, but for the person driving it’s also a bit hellish. It’s not really a two-lane road but like 1 - 1.5 lanes wide depending on the section. This isn’t so bad when the people driving at you are considerate. When there are entitled idiots on vacation thinking they get to use the whole road for just themselves...well, you get the idea. The views were great though and we did get to see some wildlife. I did however need a few beers once we got back to the lodge (one for the hike, two for the drive on the Needles Highway).
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| Needles Highway wildlife - a very scruffy mountain goat |
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