The trail then follows French Creek, a lush, wooded area with plenty of water and shade. The trail is gentle and crosses open prairie and straight through some prairie dog towns, as it heads north into the boundaries of Custer State Park. It's just 2 miles from the Wind Cave Visitor Center, where the National Park Service offers a guided tour of the cave. I only hike in Darn Tough socks, their durability is second to noneįor the Northbound hiker, the trail begins at the Norbeck Trailhead in Wind Cave National Park. My all time favorite long underwear bottoms!Īll the cool kids don't even have one yet. Paradox 1/4 zip merino blend (discontinued) There was a lot of intense sun, especially in the wide open prairie. I like the Glacier Gloves because they provide a lot of coverage and are comfortable to wear.Īn umbrella was a MUST for this hike for me. This merino blend bra is lightweight, quick drying, and comfortable I'm still hoarding Cascadia 8's from circa 2013. Note: this style has been discontinued - replaced with Chambeau pants (I haven't tried these yet) I found pants to be essential on this hike due to the ticks and poison ivy. I like to wear a sun hoodie for full coverage from the sun, and there are many sunny, exposed sections on this trail. I like this headlamp for trips where I don't expect to do much, if any, night hiking. Pixel 4a, charging cable, ziploc for water protectionĪ bit more than I really needed for this trip. I like to use this to record GPS tracks of my hikes (much more battery efficient than running a phone app), and good to have in case of an emergency. Great for taping up hot spots and blisters If you're not carrying a potty trowel, you're not digging your cat holes deep enough. Ibuprofen, antibiotic cream, super glue minis, safety pins, tenacious tape, needle, Tinidazole, tweezers The zipper gives great access to see everything in your food bag at once. I love this bag as a food bag, it's so easy to see all your food at once without having to dig. We both love these filters and use them on smartwater bottles for filtering as we sip, keeping us on the move and not having to take time to stop and filter. Long handled spoons are key for eating out of ziplocks! We fly into Rapid City, so we had to pick this up once we got into town - we found one at WalMart in Rapid City. Note: we used the now discontinued Jetboil Sol Ti. We like to take the JetBoil for speed and ease of use when we're hiking together and only need to boil water for our meals. Evernew bladders are compatible with Sawyer Squeeze Filter Lightweight, inexpensive option to keep gear dry inside packįit well in pack side pockets, works directly with Sawyer Squeeze FilterĮxtra water storage in case of long carries. Most similar in design to a Six Moon Designs Swift X or Gossamer Gear Mariposa I knew the forecast going into this hike was quite warm and that this very lightweight 40deg quilt would be sufficient I like the comfort and warmth of the NeoairĮnlightened Equipment Revelation 40deg quilt Shepherd hooks are enough to hold down the shelter with the V-stakes for the front and back Overall a fun hike and a great way to end our journey to the western Great Plains and TR’s conservation legacy.Titanium shepherd hook 6x, V-stakes 2x, bag High, milky clouds played havoc with photos for much of the day – but relented for a few shots in the morning and from the summit. Of the two trails, we enjoyed the #4 the most because it was less rocky and traversed more varied terrain (especially the needle-like rock formations). After swarming us at the lookout, this mass of hikers mysteriously evaporated as soon as we were descending on the #9. But once we were on the trail we were pretty much alone until we got near the summit – at which point a whole lot of hikers materialized on the trail. We started from the #4’s trailhead at Sylvan Lake which was an amazingly popular (and crowded) place even on a weekday. This time we opted to do a loop to the stone lookout on the summit up the Little Devils Tower #4 Trail and down the Black Elk Peak Trail #9. Although not directly part of Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation legacy, we included it in our roadtrip because it offered a good hike, one we’d done before in 2003 (during our highpointer days). It sits in the Black Elk Wilderness west of Rapid City, South Dakota. Black Elk Peak (its name was changed from Harney Peak in 2016) is the highest natural point in South Dakota.
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