Saving Time in a Bottle

relishing the life God has given us

Carhenge / Chadron State Park

Memorial Day Weekend Road Trip 2021 | Driving from Halsey to Chadron | Carhenge | Chadron State Park

From Halsey, we continued heading West on NE-2 generally following the Loup River. The roads were empty again this morning, which we hoped was a good sign that we wouldn’t have trouble finding a campsite that night. We enjoyed the views of the rolling Sandhills for miles and miles, as far as we could see. Along the way, we stopped to see the courthouse buildings in Thomas, Hooker, Grant, and Box Butte Counties. We also started working on our Nebraska Passport for the year, checking off stops on our passport app whenever we came near enough.

After seeing the courthouse in Alliance, we drove North on NE-87 to our next attraction of the day: Carhenge! A very realistic to-scale replica of Stonehenge…made of cars. At first we maybe thought of it as a joke, but we actually enjoyed our brief time here. We walked around the cars and other sculptures, found a letterbox, played PokemonGo, and took pictures. When we first came to Omaha, we overheard a conversation in which the speaker described Carhenge as a ‘Spiritual Experience’. We wouldn’t necessarily go that far, but it is a free and unique stop in the heart of Nebraska. This is also where we probably saw the most people on our entire trip, though that isn’t saying much because overall we didn’t see many people.

Next, we made our way over to US-385 and continued driving North. We started to see more hills and ponderosa pines as we drove, making us excited about being able to explore this region. Our first stop though was to secure a campsite. We found a spot at a first come-first served site in Red Cloud campground in Nebraska National Forest south of Chadron and right off US-385. So far, it wasn’t as busy as we expected, and we hoped that it would be a relatively quiet spot over the holiday weekend. (I should note that the reason we were concerned about finding a spot was that we hadn’t made any prior reservations, and last summer one of our first camping experiences in Eastern Nebraska involved searching all over for a site that wasn’t reserved, 2-3 days before leaving for a trip on just a regular weekend. I assumed that such a scenic area would be even more busy on a holiday weekend, but somehow that ended up not to be the case. Guess we’re still figuring this out!)

We got our tent set up, ate some peanut butter sandwiches for lunch, then decided to take it easy for a couple hours and wait for the afternoon sun to go down a bit. Later, we decided we were ready to check out the closest park, so we hopped back in the car and drove down the road a little to Chadron State Park.

Chadron State Park started out the same way most Nebraska state parks do: lots of cars in the initial parking lot, and signs for all sorts of activities such as a pool, golf course, picnic areas, pond, cabins, campsites with hookups — signs for everything except hiking trails, as far as we could see. We could’ve stopped at the visitor’s center to learn more, but were turned off by the amount of people around, and figured that we could find our way.

We drove through the park, heading gradually uphill. We spotted some unmarked trails along the side of the road, but decided to wait until we came across something more established. After one strike out we found the Steamboat Loop Trail (with a little help from the AllTrails app). There wasn’t a sign at the parking area, it just had a short row of spots near a picnic area and outhouse. We got out and began heading counter-clockwise around the loop.

The trail began as a wide, grassy mown path through wildflowers and trees, then began heading steeply uphill. It became very narrow for a brief stretch, and turned into a dirt path. Before long we were on a ridge heading uphill some more, the trail a bit wider, with more exposed views on both sides. Out of the shade from the trees, Charlie stopped whenever we came to a patch of shade cast by the exposed Chadron rock formations, and we happily obliged. Thankfully it was only in the 60s with a pleasant breeze blowing through so it wasn’t too hot for Charlotte. I think she liked to stop to take in the view just as much as she enjoyed the shady spots.

The whole region we were hiking in is called the ‘Pine Ridge’ and extends from Fort Robinson in Nebraska, North westerly to Pine Ridge, SD. Similar to the Badlands of South Dakota, the Pine Ridge is formed from erosion of the surrounding tableland into the White River (which is also the erosive force for the SD Badlands), though because of moisture and elevation, Pine Ridge is able to support a greener ecology. The final result is an escarpment that steeply gives way to the White River Valley below, but with many sheer rock faces and formations created by the varying layers of rock.

The Steamboat Loop Trail was about 1.4 miles long. Curtis kept looking at AllTrails hoping we could add on and make it longer, but I said we should just stick to the loop and keep driving up the park road when we were done. We enjoyed the views of this trail, but we kept looking out at further ridges and wondering how we could hike over there, and see even more. We noticed the park road continued uphill, continuing outside the state park and into the National Forest to a point that was called “Black Hills Overlook.” That seemed promising, so we headed in that direction. As the road left the park, it went over a cattle guard and turned to gravel, but it was still well maintained. We followed it all the way to the end, where we found a small empty lot and trailhead. Since we had done all the elevation climbing by car, we decided to go for a short and easy hike here just to enjoy the views some more.

I remember several years ago when we were road tripping around national parks in Utah, how it seemed like all our favorite trails were just outside of the national or state parks, and that ended up to be the case here as well. There were beautiful views in every direction, and the trail was easy to follow with little elevation change. It was too hazy to make out the Black Hills (if you can actually see them from here, as the name suggests) but we enjoyed seeing more of the Chadron rock formations, scattered ponderosa pines, and rolling hills and buttes as far as the eye could see. It was especially windy up here, but not dangerously so. We walked for about a half mile, until the trail seemed to start going downhill, then returned to our car. If you’re interested, you can see our short AllTrails recording here.

After that, we returned to our campsite for the evening. We made mac & cheese on our soda can stove, played a game and read before settling in for the night. The campground had a few other occupants, but remained quiet — the only noise came from the nearby highway, and the thunderstorm that passed over through the night.

Nebraska National Forest / Halsey

Memorial Day Weekend Road Trip 2021 | Driving From Omaha to Halsey | Hiking and Camping in Nebraska National Forest

Curtis had a 4 day weekend for Memorial Day, and we couldn’t just not take advantage of that this year! While we still have over a year left in Nebraska, our schedule for the rest of this year is already full and we’re realizing how quickly the next year will likely pass, and how fleeting these warm summer days are. And so without making any reservations or concrete plans, we set off for Western Nebraska with a route that would cover a lot of counties and scenic areas we’ve been wanting to see. I was especially excited with these plans because compared to our last vacation (backpacking 128 miles) this one felt much more relaxing and laid back.

We set off on Thursday afternoon after Curtis came home from work. After getting out of Omaha, we took NE-92 West all the way to Merna. Once we were passed Wahoo, the evening traffic disappeared and we enjoyed the open and empty highway. Our route took us through Butler and Polk counties, which had been a gaping hole in our map between I-80 and US-30 for far too long. We decided to only stop to see courthouses that were on our route for our drive today, as it was already early evening and we wanted to arrive at our (hopeful) campsite by sunset. We managed to see four courthouses that were on the way: Polk County in Osceola, Howard County in St. Paul, Sherman County in Loup City, and Custer County in Broken Bow.

We made it to our chosen campground that night in Nebraska National Forest near Halsey right around sunset. We set up our tent and took Charlotte on a short walk around before calling it a night. It felt like such a treat to be able to camp with mattress pads, pillows, and extra sleeping bags laid out after having the bare minimum while backpacking! We were thankful to be so comfortable and that the tent side of the campground had only one other occupant. But while the campground was quiet, it was located next to some very active train tracks and we heard at least 6 pass by throughout the night.

The next morning, we decided to do a hike in the area both to help Charlotte burn some energy and because the weather was so pleasant, and we thought it would end up being too hot for her later. Curtis had a letterbox saved near the Scott Lookout Tower, and though we could’ve driven up to that point we decided to do a 6 mile round trip hike to get there. We broke camp and then drove a little ways into the forest and parked near the trailhead, then began our hike.

Curtis explained to me as we were walking that the Nebraska National Forest is actually an experimental forest, conceived around the turn of the century as a means of providing ‘local lumber’ to the otherwise treeless plains. After walking a ways through the forest, we came to the conclusion that their experiment was successful, and maybe it was time to start experimenting with some mountains. 😉 In all seriousness though, we really enjoyed this hike as we had the entire thing all to ourselves. The trail gained about 500 feet of elevation very gradually, and we enjoyed seeing wildflowers along the way. Curtis even found the letterbox — he was the first finder 10 years after it was planted!

We kept looking ahead of us whenever we had a break in the trees hoping to see the tower, but in true tower fashion we weren’t able to see it until we were almost on top of it. We decided to take turns climbing up while the other would stay at ground level with Charlotte, but when Curtis started climbing, Char decided she wanted to join him. She made it up to the first landing before she realized what she was getting herself into — maybe she suddenly remembered her one experience climbing a firetower in New York? So instead, she turned around and started heading back down. She stopped about halfway and started crying until we came to her rescue and helped her back down. After that she was perfectly content to sniff around the base while Curtis and I took turns enjoying the view from the top.

After we had enjoyed the view and had some snacks, we hiked back to our car. If you’re interested, check out our AllTrails recording here. We got back on the road heading West, hopeful that this peaceful and scenic hike was a sign of more like it to come!

Wabash Trace Trail / Gaston Ave to US-34

Section Hiking the Wabash Trace Trail | Gaston Ave to US-34 | May 2021

Back while we were training to backpack the Centennial Trail, I imagined that coming off the trail would be difficult. I thought for sure that we’d have post-vacation blues, especially after planning this trip for so long and training for it for months. I also worried that once we had experienced a taste of long distance backpacking that normal life wouldn’t ever be as enjoyable anymore. However, this wasn’t the case for me at all. I wasn’t disappointed when it came time to leave the Black Hills and drive home to our relatively flat area. While I’m very glad we did the hike and appreciate all we learned from it, I was genuinely excited to return to our normal life, with our daily routine of walking around lakes or parks, making our favorite meals together, and binging Arrested Development on repeat. I love our life in Nebraska and am very content here.

One thing that I kept thinking about on the Centennial trail was how much I was enjoying our section hiking of the Wabash Trace Trail. Sure, it’s fun to take on a long distance trail all at once, but I think it’s better that we’re just enjoying this particular trail one stretch at a time. It makes it easier to remember each part, to take our time and notice all the little things. By doing so, we also get to see how the trail looks in different seasons.

And so there was no doubt in my mind when Curtis asked what I wanted to do for our first weekend back, I was ready to continue on to the next section. We left early in the morning, hoping to beat the predicted rain and the heat and humidity that would come later that day. We crossed the Missouri and drove to Gaston Road, and parked in the one spot we had made note of last time we were here.

It had been over a month since the last time we had hiked on this trail, and I couldn’t believe how different it looked. All the trees were now filled with leaves, the whole trail was lush and green. The purple hennepin that filled the fields a month ago was gone; the corn had been planted and was already several inches tall. We saw several different types of purple wildflowers along the trail: Virginia Waterleaf, Spiderwort, and Dame’s Rocket. (Curtis uses the phone app “iNaturalist” to identify wildflowers. He takes pictures when we see them, and when we get home he uploads them to the app and finds out what they are!)

The most interesting thing we saw along this stretch of trail was along Silver Creek: while crossing the bridge (which was impressive in itself), we saw the remnants of at least 15 train cars just lying beside the creek! We had seen a few other train cars at a creek near Minneola, but there were many more here and they were much more visible from the trail.

We ended up walking to US-34 before deciding to turn around. Next time, we’ll drive to Malvern and hike back up to this point. We saw lots of bikers on our way back, after having had the trail to ourselves while hiking South. We made it to our car, and immediately after getting in, the skies opened up and it started pouring. What good timing! We managed to hike 6.6 miles round trip for this stretch. If you’re interested, check out our AllTrails recording here!

After the Centennial Trail

A Summary of the Week After Hiking the Centennial Trail | May 2021

We awoke the morning after completing the Centennial Trail sore and still with tender feet, but thankful to have slept better than we had in over a week. The only thing on the agenda today was to make the long drive back to my parent’s house in Iowa and relieve them from having to puppysit Charlotte. Without any stops the drive would be about 10 hours, but of course we had planned a less-direct route in order to get new counties.

We left our hotel at 6 AM that morning, heading East on SD-44 and hoping to continue on this highway across South Dakota and get a new row of counties South of I-90. However, we soon realized this wouldn’t be possible because the reservations were still not allowing through traffic due to COVID-19. We had researched this beforehand and thought the restrictions were lifted and had no trouble passing through Pine Ridge on the way to the Black Hills, but a message sign suggested otherwise. Oh well, we still enjoyed the small bit of highway we were able to drive, and because of this we were able to drive through the Badlands to get back to I-90. We thought about going back to SD-44 further East, but saw signs that warned of heavy construction and long delays on those highways and instead decided to set our focus on getting new Iowa counties.

Driving I-90 wasn’t so bad though — it wasn’t busy at all and the morning seemed to pass quickly. We made one stop at the rest stop on the East side of the Missouri River, where we saw the Dignity Statue, which was created and dedicated to honor the Native nations of the Great Plains. Curtis has been wanting to see this sculpture for a while and ranks this as one of his favorite sculptures right after the National Monument to the Forefathers.

We continued on I-90 into Minnesota until we reached Jackson, then drove South into Iowa on US-71 and resumed our drive East on IA-9. The only courthouse we managed to see was in Jackson County, Minnesota, though afterwards we realized we had passed several in Iowa. We were mostly hungry and eager to get back home and be reunited with Charlotte. We did manage to get all that we were missing across the Northernmost row of counties in Iowa though! We took IA-9 to US-63, then South to Waterloo and finally Cedar Rapids. We grabbed some HyVee Chinese to have for dinner with dad (my mom was at Nanna’s that evening), and arrived just after 7 PM after 12 hours of driving. Charlotte was very excited to see us (as were my family’s other dogs) but I know she had a blast spending the week with my family! I love that we live close enough so that they can watch her for us when we travel, because I know she’s always happy and comfortable when she gets to visit.

We spent the next couple days hanging out with my family, going to parks, and getting caught up on things we missed while on our hike. Curtis had a work trip coming up on Sunday, May 9 that he needed to return home for, but I decided that I would rather stay with my family than spend the week alone in Omaha, so Charlotte and I said goodbye to Curtis on Saturday afternoon and he made the drive back home.

Charlotte and I had a great week spending time with my family. I was so happy to get to spend Mother’s Day with my mom for the first time in 8 years! I also got to see my sister’s last tennis meet (I had also gotten to see her first one last month when we visited for Easter).

My mom and I spent a few days at my Nanna’s farm, doing a few errands that needed to be done, some farm chores, and lots of quality time. I brought Charlotte along and as always, she loved exploring and sniffing all over the Farm! Nanna sent us home with lots of tomato plants both for us and to give away. Curtis and I are going to be attempting a few plants on our little balcony this summer — I’m very hopeful that we’ll have success, because there’s nothing better than Nanna’s tomatoes! Last year we made lots of jars of tomato sauce that we used for homemade pizzas using her tomatoes, and I’ve been very much looking forward to being able to make more.

Curtis drove back to my parent’s on Friday night, and we spent one more day together before driving back on Sunday. On Saturday, mom and I made sushi together for the first time and it actually turned out really good. We also went for a short hike with the dogs.

My favorite part of this whole week at home was having to much time to spend catching up with my mom. She’s my best friend and I am so thankful for the relationship we have!

Finally, on Sunday it was time to return to Omaha — Charlotte and I had been away from our home for over 3 weeks at this point! We said our goodbyes and got on the road by 10 AM. For our route back, we drove South on I-380 to IA-1, which we took South to Washington. We saw the courthouse here before beginning our long drive East on IA-92. The purpose of this route was to drive through our remaining 2 counties in Southeast Iowa, Keokuk and Mahaska. Now we only have a handful of Iowa counties left in NW Iowa which are on our radar to complete by the end of the year!

We stopped to see the courthouses in Sigourney, Oskaloosa, and Knoxville, but diverted a little ways from our route after Oskaloosa in order to drive through Pella. We were about a week late for the Tulip Time festivities, but made it one day before they dig up all the tulips so we were still able to see some in bloom, without the crowds. Finally, we made it home late that afternoon, and celebrated being home with Mexican takeout for dinner.

South Dakota Centennial Trail Day 8

Backpacking the South Dakota Centennial Trail | Day 8 | Alkali Campground to Bear Butte State Park | Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Read about Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5 / Day 6 / Day 7

We awoke bright and early on the morning of day 8, ready and motivated to finish the Centennial Trail! While we had normally started hiking around 6 AM each day at the beginning of the hike, and 7 AM in the last couple days when the lows were in the 30s, today we were ready to go at 5:30 AM. This was in part due to the fact that we didn’t have to bring everything with us today. We had made the decision prior to leave our tent, sleeping bags, Curtis’ backpack, and other things we didn’t need for the day at Alkali Campground, and Curtis would carry my backpack with only the necessities: food, water, and (most importantly) the keys to our car!

We left the campground and rejoined the trail going through Fort Meade Recreation Area, enjoying the sunrise as we walked. We knew the trail would begin with hiking up a random butte in the recreation area, but other than that, we expected it to be a relatively easy day until we came to Bear Butte.

While we were correct in thinking the trail wouldn’t be difficult, this section didn’t come without some minor frustration. We could see Bear Butte in the distance and were really excited to walk across the plains and grasslands to get there, but instead the trail was seemingly wandering aimlessly around the forested butte. It was especially frustrating being able to see Bear Butte but feeling like we weren’t actually making any progress to get there. It was then that I started feeling like I was a bad backpacker — surely a good backpacker would enjoy every mile that took them through unique and interesting landscape, but instead at this point I just wanted to go the fastest route from point A to point B: My location to Bear Butte!

We certainly got more than we bargained for throughout the Fort Meade section of the Centennial Trail. Our map showed it as being only 4 miles, but instead it ended up being 6 miles throughout the entire recreation area, with those extra two miles being sucked up in switchbacks and meandering. At one point, we stood on a prairie ridge, overlooking the old fort buildings, Bear Butte off to our right, and the trail head across SD-34/79 within sight only 2 miles distant. And then the trail went off to the left to wander through the hills for another 3 miles.

It was truly a neat area and I’m sure if we lived near the Black Hills we’d enjoy hiking there with Charlotte. There was also plenty of history along the trail from the Fort Meade days around the end of the 19th century; like abandoned stables and buildings and another cemetery, but we didn’t stop to admire it – we didn’t even stop for pictures. Our minds were far from the trail…instead of living in the moment, we were very focused on deciding where to eat when we were finished. I was mentally going through every chain restaurant I knew of and considering what I’d order if we ended up at each one. I was also thinking about my favorite memories in restaurants. It turns out I could come up with a lot of memories revolving around food when I’m calorie starved.

We finally came to the end of Fort Meade; this section ended up being 6 miles long instead of 4. However, our pace was considerably better today than it had been every other day — we were now hiking 3 miles an hour instead of 2, mostly thanks to me not wearing my backpack! We crossed SD-34, walked across a bridge over Bear Butte Creek, and finally entered the grassland section.

This honestly felt like the moment we’d been waiting for all morning, and for several days now: when we would begin our long approach to Bear Butte through open grassland. It was everything we hoped it would be — sunny with green grass all around, but cool and windy, and vast views in every direction. Bear Butte in front of us, the Black Hills behind us. And boy were we glad to not be in the hills today — dark clouds were hovering over them for most of the day. Thanks to the wind, we were able to keep our windbreakers on and protect ourselves from the sun.

We saw signs of bison or cattle all around, but no actual bison until Bear Butte. We heard plenty of prairie dogs again though! We walked up and over a ridge, and made slow but visible progress towards the Butte, the wind whipping the grass in picturesque waves. We arrived at Bear Butte Lake and followed the trail around the East side. After 12 miles of hiking, we made it to Bear Butte Lake Trailhead and we crossed SD-79 to enter Bear Butte State Park.

The trail led us close enough to the parking lot to where we could go check on our car and leave a few other things there. We were relieved to find it in the condition we left it a week ago. Finally, we began our climb up Bear Butte. We took it slow, and stopped at the informational signs on the way up, learning about the history and significance of this area, the plants and animals that live here, and that it was actually a laccolith, or volcanic formation and not a butte.

The trail up Bear Butte surprised me by how rugged it was. I think that’s partially to do with the fact that state parks in the Midwest that we’re now used to are all pretty safe and easy, and there’s nothing challenging or dangerous about the trails. Here, the trail was made up of loose rocks that would slide under my feet. It was often very narrow and would hug the side of a cliff with a steep drop off on the other side, with railings that were only ankle-high, and had pretty sketchy ladders or steps. I took it pretty slow because I really didn’t want to fall to my death just before finishing the Centennial Trail. It didn’t help when the trail crossed over to the West side where the wind was much stronger and louder.

Despite being scared the whole way up, the scenery was amazing and I wish I could’ve stopped to take it in more. I could’ve taken some cooler pictures if I weren’t so afraid to look down. My mind just couldn’t accept the fact that we were still hiking the Centennial Trail since this part felt so much different than everything else we had just hiked through. It felt like the trail ended when we came to our car, and now we were just doing another short hike before our “vacation” was over.

The state park trail leading up to the top of the butte and the end of the Centennial Trail was just under 2 miles one way. When we made it to the bottom of the stairs to the lookout, we walked up together to the end… and it felt a little anti-climactic. There was no “End of Trail” sign, or anything about the Centennial Trail here (to be fair, they had literally rebuilt that platform the week before). All we had was the knowledge that we had completed it. But of course, we still had to hike back down the butte! I decided to wait until we made it back to our car to text my mom and tell her that we made it.

Another day hiker was at the top, and he took some pictures for us before going on his way. We stayed up there for a while to relish the feeling, but also to delay the inevitably scary walk back down. I eventually gathered all the courage I had and we slowly made our way back down to our car. After getting out of the harsh wind, I was less scared and more just in pain as the loose rocks shifting after every step made my tender feet hurt so bad; of course, we were past that critical mile 14 when everything begins to hurt.

We made it back down the butte and to our car at 2 PM — now we were really done! Curtis went in the visitor center to stamp our journals, but I stayed in the car because I was officially done walking for the day. We had thought all along that today’s hike would be 14 miles (including hiking back down Bear Butte) but it turned out to be 16.3, for a total mileage of 128.5 miles on the entire trail.

Back in the planning stages of the hike, we had thought it would be cool to drive to the Badlands after finishing the hike and do a short backpacking hike there for one night. I think it was on day 2 or 3 that I said “How about we just get a hotel?” and we never looked back. I was so excited for a shower, a night in a bed, and a climate controlled room for the night! And I was sure that my family would be thankful that we showered before showing up the next day.

Our next steps today were as follows: We drove through Sturgis to snap a drive-by picture of the county courthouse, then drove back to Alkali Campground to retrieve all our things we left there. Next we drove to Rapid City, first stopping at a Walmart to pick up some things we needed, then went to the restaurant we had landed on for our “first meal” — Culvers! We chose this mostly because it had a drive-through, and because burgers just sounded good. We decided to go all out with our order though, ordering actual adult meals instead of kid’s meals like we normally get, and it ended up costing double what we normally spend. Worth it! Finally, we found a hotel for the night around 4. Curtis ended up doing a late night run for more food, but once I was showered and in bed I was basically useless for the next 14 hours.

Curtis was able to record the entire trail using AllTrails, however after doing so well for the first 7 days, he accidentally ended the recording before the last day. So if you are interested in viewing the AllTrails recordings, click here for the first seven days, and click here for the last day. We tried combining the two recordings, but it ended up cutting out over 20 miles throughout the hike.

South Dakota Centennial Trail Day 7

Backpacking the South Dakota Centennial Trail | Day 7 | Elk Creek Valley to Alkali Campground | Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Read about Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5 / Day 6

I had hoped that because we only had 2 days left in our hike that today things would start to feel easier, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case today. I didn’t sleep well through the night, and my first thought when waking up was that it had been 2 weeks since my Poppa had passed. The thought of what was happening back at home was on the front of my mind, as well as all that had happened before we left for this hike, and it set an emotional tone for me throughout the day. All the minor inconveniences felt like bigger things in my mind and I felt tested on all sides. Curtis was especially patient with me, helping me as much as he could. This included taking over my camera for today because I just didn’t have the energy to think about taking pictures.

This morning started with a short downhill hike into Elk Creek Valley, then the trail followed a contour Northward. We enjoyed the impressive views of the cliffs on the other side of the valley, down the canyon, and out onto the plains to the East. Across the canyon we could see the roof tops of what looked like and turned out to be (at least at one point in time) a monastery; Bethlehem Cave & Retreat. After going up and down some more, the trail eventually led down and met up with Elk Creek.

The first creek crossing was quite interesting — we could see water flowing upstream, but then it seemingly disappeared, going underground where we were supposed to cross. There were a lot of ropes tied to trees, so I assume it’s possible that this crossing could get much higher. We remembered our shuttle driver telling us about potential waist-high crossings and were hopeful that we wouldn’t have to deal with that, especially with the temperature today being only in the 40’s.

While we never had to deal with crossings that high, we did have to cross the creek several other times, all of which were shin-deep. Most of the crossings also had ropes to help us cross, and sometimes I could get around using the ropes and large rocks in the stream. But having wet feet didn’t help my overall mood. I was quite relieved when we finally made it to Elk Creek Trailhead, and very hopeful that we were done with creek crossings. I especially appreciated Curtis’ help through this stretch, helping me across the creek, and when he made it to the trailhead ahead of me he dropped his backpack and came back to carry mine for the last tenth of a mile. A quick look at our AllTrails recording showed us at just over 100 miles hiked!

We stopped for a snack break at the trailhead and to let our boots dry out a bit. It was now around 11 AM, and we had hiked 6 miles by this point. Curtis talked me into taking an ibuprofen to help with the pain in my feet and back. We were tired and cold, but excited for the next section of trail — we’d be going up and over our last 5000′ saddle and everything would supposedly be downhill from there, as we would be leaving the Black Hills that afternoon. We also believed we only had 8 miles left to hike today. I think my biggest mistake at this point of the day was believing it would get easier because we were almost done. Just because we were hiking over 15 miles every day didn’t mean that my body would get used to it and make it any easier!

After our break, we continued up the trail, going up 600′ in 3 miles. Our map showed that we would be following another UTV road, but we were excited to find a hiking trail that was possibly a recent addition. We took a short break when we were about halfway to the saddle, our spirits were high. But after we continued our trek, it started snowing…or sleeting? Hailing? We weren’t quite sure what to call it, but it was definitely a frozen precipitation that didn’t accumulate, and it was definitely cold. We picked up the pace to try to keep warm and started our way downhill.

Shortly after coming to a trail junction for the Sturgis Dam Trail, we started our long descent out of the Black Hills. Over the next 3 miles, we dropped 1100′. I’ll never forget coming over the crest of a hill and hearing the sound of I-90 traffic in the distance. I’m pretty sure that is the most excited I’ve ever been to hear interstate traffic! We also had a few breaks in the trees where we could see the plains North of us, and Bear Butte where we would hopefully be tomorrow. When I saw it on the horizon, I had a hard time believing that it was only (we thought) 14 miles away on the trail, and around 8 as the crow flies.

As it turned out, I was right to be doubtful. We thought we only had around 2 miles left, but those 2 miles felt like the longest miles ever. I knew I was bad at gauging distance, but this seemed ridiculous. I got more discouraged the further we went, thinking surely we should be there by now, and after so many days of hiking how was I taking so long?!

We crested one last short hill and were now in the last stretch. We spotted some boundary markers for the Black Hills National Forest and the historic Fort Meade, and heard a 21 gun salute coming from the Black Hills National Cemetery. Finally, we made it out of the forest and onto our final mile of the day, walking out of the tree cover and through grassland…and then it started pouring. The rain soaked through my rain jacket. I was so ready to be done with this day.

We were very thankful though to find that we didn’t have to cross through Alkali Creek, and the rain stopped after we crossed under I-90. We met up with a gravel road and followed it to Alkali Campground in Fort Meade Recreation Area, our site for tonight. This was technically the last place we were allowed to camp until Bear Butte Lake, so even if we wanted to we couldn’t have hiked any further. Since we were in the off season (before May 13), we didn’t have to pay any fee, but were still able to use the outhouses and tap water.

When Curtis looked at his trail recording for today, we realized that today’s hike was 2 miles longer than our trail map had led us to believe. I wasn’t really surprised to hear that after feeling like the “last” 2 miles dragged on forever. Our total mileage completed today was 18.3 miles, just barely shorter than day 2 which was our longest day at 18.5 miles. I was exhausted, but proud of myself. I was also a little nervous that tomorrow’s mileage would also end up longer than we thought…but we’d cross that bridge when we came to it. For now, the plan was still to finish tomorrow, and it would be significantly easier for me because I would be able to ‘slack-pack’. More on that later!

Read About Day 8 Here

Curtis was able to record the entire trail using AllTrails, however after doing so well for the first 7 days, he accidentally ended the recording before the last day. So if you are interested in viewing the AllTrails recordings, click here for the first seven days, and click here for the last day. We tried combining the two recordings, but it ended up cutting out over 20 miles throughout the hike.

South Dakota Centennial Trail Day 6

Backpacking the South Dakota Centennial Trail | Day 6 | Estes Creek to Elk Creek Valley | Monday, May 3, 2021

Read about Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Day 5

It rained off and on through the night again, and though we don’t know the exact temperature we know it was the coldest night yet on the Centennial trail. We managed to stay warm in our sleeping bags though, and allowed ourselves to sleep in an hour later than usual. We finally emerged from our tent ready to face the world around 7 AM.

Today’s hike started with an easier section, finishing up the UTV road which gradually went downhill and to the South Boxelder trailhead. From here, we had the option to continue following the Centennial Trail through the woods on even more UTV trails to eventually cross CoRd-404, or we could walk the roads into Nemo and then meet up with the trail North of town. We chose to walk into Nemo, which is the only town that’s close enough to consider being “on the trail.” We knew it was a small town, but were hopeful that there would be a place where we could get a warm breakfast.

We walked the quiet road into town, past small ranches offering horseback riding, admiring the cliffs in the background. When we arrived in the town, we found a restaurant with an “Open” sign on, but sadly the doors were locked and there didn’t appear to be anyone around. We were probably expecting too much for a Monday morning in the off-season. While walking through town, we saw signs advertising lodging, food, and outdoor activities, so I guess this could actually be a hopping place in the summer. Today, we only saw 2 or 3 cars drive passed us on the highway going through Nemo.

After walking up CoRd-404, we met up with the Centennial Trail again and followed FS-26 for a short while before the trail broke off and followed another UTV road uphill. There might have been another rerouting of the Centennial Trail in this area, because it wasn’t easy to follow and we ended up on the UTV road longer than our map showed we would. But it did lead to a nice overlook to the North at a utility line clear cut. From here we could see out past the edge of the Eastern Black Hills and the plains to the North of Rapid City. But after almost 15 miles of UTV trails and roads, we were very thankful when the Centennial Trail finally broke off and we were back on a normal hiking trail.

The trail went down over 800′ until we came to Dalton Lake. This would be the only water source we’d have today, and the last reliable water source for at least another 12 miles. It was 1PM at this point and we had walked 10 miles so far. We sat down on one of the docks to eat a late lunch while filtering water. Similarly to Sheridan and Pactola Lakes, Dalton Lake was a highlight for us both because of its beauty and because we were able to sit down, relax, and enjoy it.

At this point, we were on track for finishing the trail on Wednesday, 2 days from now like we had hoped. According to Curtis’ plans, we could make Wednesday a 14 mile day if only we could cover around 20 miles by tomorrow evening. Since it was still early afternoon, we knew if we kept up our pace of 2 miles an hour, we could hopefully make it another 5-6 miles today, making tomorrow also around 14 miles — which sounded great to me, considering the 14 mile mark was consistently the time where my feet would start hurting to the point where that was all I could think about. We still had a lot of ground to cover, but now that we were seeing the days laid out like this, it really started to feel like we were going to make it!

Once we were finished filling our water containers, we packed up and set off on the trail. Right away we began heading uphill, up 700 feet in the next 3 miles. We enjoyed this stretch, with the trail being in good condition, switchbacking gradually, and we had some nice views back South and the ridges we had already crossed. We passed by one other person on this section of trail – the last person we would see until tomorrow evening and the last person we would see on the trail until Bear Butte! He asked us where we were going, and when we replied ‘Bear Butte’ he had the audacity to say – ‘I think you have a couple more days before you get there’. Thanks guy, we didn’t know.

After following a ridge for several miles, we entered the Elk Creek Valley and finally started heading downhill. It briefly started snowing on us while we walked the ridge, which honestly I just found comical and laughed it off. I was just thankful for cooler temperatures when we were walking uphill. The trail was now making large switchbacks and descending quickly into the valley, and we knew we needed to find a spot in this section to avoid camping along the creek. This seemed to be a difficult task as the trail was often narrow and there wasn’t much flat or suitable ground around us on which to camp, but finally we found a spot that would work. We had managed to hike an extra 6 miles after Dalton Lake for a total of 16.4 miles today, which would hopefully mean that both Tuesday and Wednesday would be shorter and easier days. The end was in sight!

Read About Day 7 / Day 8

Curtis was able to record the entire trail using AllTrails, however after doing so well for the first 7 days, he accidentally ended the recording before the last day. So if you are interested in viewing the AllTrails recordings, click here for the first seven days, and click here for the last day. We tried combining the two recordings, but it ended up cutting out over 20 miles throughout the hike.

South Dakota Centennial Trail Day 5

Backpacking the South Dakota Centennial Trail | Day 5 | Gold Standard Gulch to Estes Creek OHV Area | Sunday, May 2, 2021

Read about Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4

We awoke on day 5 of our hike, relieved that last night’s predicted thunderstorm was only spotty showers, and decided to embrace the change in weather. It could end up raining or snowing on us at any point, and we might freeze at night, but at least it wouldn’t be as hot as it had been over the past couple of days. Right as Curtis got out of the tent, he was greeted by a guy who was jogging on the trail. We had camped near the crest of a hill, and once we hiked over that the trail went downhill, losing about 500 feet of elevation until we came to Tamarack Trailhead below Pactola Reservoir. From here, the trail started following Rapid Creek upstream, which was quite full. The trail here was flat and easy, the air was brisk, the bridges big and wide, and we thoroughly enjoyed this part.

We made it to the Rapid Creek Trailhead after 2 miles of hiking. We could have refilled water here, but Curtis was hopeful that there would be clean water taps that he wouldn’t have to filter at Pactola Lake. From here, we could see the dam for the lake just ahead (West) of us, and it looked so tall. The Centennial trail followed a service road up the dam to the right (North). Here we broke away from the trail and followed a worn path headed West to the lake and Veteran’s Point picnic area. We hurried across US-385 and to Veteran’s Point at Pactola Lake.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a water tap here like Curtis had hoped, so he ended up having to follow the path all the way down to the lake to retrieve water. There were some benches here, so I sat down and enjoyed the lake views and bird watching while waiting for Curtis to return, and then for the water to be filtered.

Once all our water containers were refilled, we retraced our steps back across US-385 to the Centennial trail and continued on the trail, which zigzagged uphill around a service road and utility poles. Eventually we came back downhill and then the trail had us cross 385 again. I’m not going to lie, I was wishing we could have just walked up 385 instead of hiking that stretch of trail. I could have lived without all that meandering around a less-than-scenic area. It seemed that the service road was newer, and cut right through some trail meandering, making it difficult to follow at times.

But thankfully the next section of trail made up for it. After crossing 385, the trail followed a contour around a ridge that offered beautiful views of Lake Pactola. The water was a deep turquoise color, and was surrounded by pine trees and rocky ledges. This was another one of our favorite sections of the entire trail.

Featuring my trail wound

After this, the trail went North, paralleling with 385, going uphill out of the Pactola watershed and then countouring along a ridge. I enjoyed the aspen trees along the way. Once the trail leveled out, we made quick time and were feeling pretty good. We crossed 385 one more time, crossed over a ridge, and then made it to our minimum stopping point for today, Pilot Knob Trailhead. It was only around 2 PM at this point.

The next section of trail is what our shuttle driver Jon had told us was his ‘least favorite section of trail.’ For the next 6 miles, the Centennial trail would join with a UTV road, which meant a wide, uneven, and rocky trail, and sharing the road with the UTVs. Our goal for today was to make it as far as we could along this road, and to save walking through the town of Nemo for tomorrow morning. We knew there wasn’t a lot in Nemo and that tourist season hadn’t ramped up yet, but we created a perfect scenario in our minds where Nemo would have a breakfast joint which we could enjoy first thing in the morning.

The trail/UTV road started by passing some cows, going uphill for a mile, and then downhill. I really didn’t want to write off this part as being my least favorite yet, and tried to look for the positives of this section. The wider trail gave me the option to pick a ‘lane’ that would be easier on my feet, which were starting to give up as they usually did around mile 14 each day. Uphill wasn’t too hard, but going downhill was difficult because the road was so rocky and I wanted to find the smoothest section of trail to step on for the sake of my feet. While I set a very slow and cautious pace, Curtis picked up his pace going downhill, which caused us to become easily separated.

As I was hiking, I rounded a corner and continued slowly walking down the trail when I heard a UTV behind me. I turned around and saw it was about to drive around the corner, so I walked to the side of the trail to make room for it to pass. It then came to a stop and I could see the passenger on her phone. I waited impatiently for them to start driving again so they could pass me and I could continue walking. Finally they started to make their way downhill, but when they reached me they came to a stop. “Did you see the mountain lion?” the passenger asked.

My eyes widened. “No,” I replied, in fact I hadn’t looked up from my feet in quite some time — I had been staring at the ground for so long looking for the optimal places to step. The passenger pulled out her phone and showed me a video she had just recorded when they stopped 20 feet behind me. Sure enough, there had been a mountain lion right next to the trail! “It ran away after we came near,” she told me.

Back on day 1 when we were being shuttled from Bear Butte to Wind Cave, our driver Jon had told us “There are mountain lions out there, but you won’t see any,” and I guess he was exactly right. There was definitely a mountain lion, but I didn’t see it!

I thanked them for letting me know, and then mentioned to look out for my husband up ahead. They continued driving and I started walking — at a much quicker pace now, thinking that the pain my feet were in was nothing compared to the pain a mountain lion attack would bring! At first I was shocked by what had just happened, but soon that gave way to fear and I became more emotional as I hiked down. Finally, I came around a bend and could see Curtis sitting and waiting in the distance.

As I was approaching him, I called out and asked, “Did those people stop to talk to you?”

“Yeah,” he answered, “Did you tell them to tell me off?”

“No,” I replied, “I just told them you were ahead of me so that they would look out for you.”

“Well they told me you said I needed to slow down and that I was too far ahead of you. I said ok and laughed it off, but I was thinking that this is just how we hike and I’m not going to slow down once I get into a groove.”

Assuming that they had shown him the video as well, I took offense to this as I was already emotional. I tried to keep from crying, but he quickly picked up that I wasn’t ok. He asked what was wrong, I replied “Sorry, I’m just emotional about what just happened.” He still seemed confused, but also apologized for his comment. He told me to sit down and take a break with him, to which I replied no, I wanted to get out of this area. We continued to stay here for a moment, until I finally asked, “Did they show you the video?”

“What video?”

“Of the mountain lion!”

“Uh, NO!”

So I guess the couple on the UTV decided not to tell him about that one crucial piece of information of why I might want him to wait for me, and instead just made me sound like I was upset with him for being so far ahead for no reason?! I filled him in on what he missed, and then it all made sense to him why I was so quick to take offense and become emotional! Oh well, I guess because of all that we can say that the only real tense moment between us on the trail was entirely not our fault, just misinformation from that couple!

We stayed together for the remainder of the hike that day. The trail was relatively flat, but that meant we had to deal with lots of mud puddles from the ruts in the road. We saw a day hiker out with his dog, and warned him about the mountain lion up the trail. It rained on us lightly, but we started to enjoy the scenery more — we noticed moss hanging from the trees, which had shifted from Ponderosa Pine to Spruce, among the dark grey cliffs and that paired with the clouds and light drizzle gave the area a very PNW-esque feel.

However, with the rain came a sharp wind, which ended up being the reason why we stopped a bit earlier than we normally would, before 6 PM. The wind just made me want to curl up and keep warm, so whenever a gust blew through it would make me involuntarily hunch over to get out of it. We found a nice flat spot to set up the tent, and Curtis quickly did so and I ducked for cover inside. We bundled up and prepared for a cold night. Despite setting up camp early, we still managed to hike a total of 15.9 miles that day.

Read about Day 6 / Day 7 / Day 8

Curtis was able to record the entire trail using AllTrails, however after doing so well for the first 7 days, he accidentally ended the recording before the last day. So if you are interested in viewing the AllTrails recordings, click here for the first seven days, and click here for the last day. We tried combining the two recordings, but it ended up cutting out over 20 miles throughout the hike.

South Dakota Centennial Trail Day 4

Backpacking the South Dakota Centennial Trail | Day 4 | Samelias Mountain Area to Gold Standard Gulch | Saturday, May 1, 2021

Read about Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3

Day 4 of our backpacking adventure began with a short trek up to the highest point of the Centennial Trail. The trail doesn’t go over the actual peak, which is unnamed, but it comes pretty close topping out at around 5800′ above sea level. Just before the highest point, we came to an outcropping of rocks with a nice overlook facing South over the Black Elk Wilderness. We stopped here for some pictures and to relish the moment of knowing the next 5 miles would be downhill, losing 1300 feet, and that the trail wouldn’t make us climb this high again. Which isn’t to say it wouldn’t make us climb, we were just less concerned now having only 1/2 liter of water for the two of us until the next water source.

The trail down to Sheridan Lake switchbacked down the mountain, and was easy enough to follow — until it started crossing county roads near the lake. Somehow we missed a trail arrow, and ended up walking down this once-paved road that was now being reclaimed by nature. The pavement was broken up by roots and trees everywhere, and was arguably the rockiest and most uneven section of trail the entire hike. I don’t think we realized we weren’t on the actual trail until we came out the other side at another paved road, at which point we had no desire to re-traverse a half mile of rubble. A quick look at AllTrails showed us to be only a quarter mile West of the South Sheridan Campground and boat launch, so we just followed the access road into the campground.

When we arrived at the lake, we took off our bags and began filtering water. The process takes a while, but we were thankful for a time where we were forced to do nothing but rest, rehydrate, and recharge our devices with our new solar charger. Looking out at the still and peaceful lake made me excited to finally start using our new kayak this summer — the idea of having an outdoor activity where I could be sitting down and not carrying a heavy backpack suddenly sounded very appealing! Once all our water containers were refilled, we rejoined the actual trail and continued on our way, walking around the Southern shore of the lake to where the Centennial Trail joins the Flume Trail near the lake’s dam.

Being a beautiful Saturday morning at an easily accessible and scenic area, this part of the Centennial Trail became quite busy. We didn’t mind so much, in fact this part might even be my favorite part of the entire trail. It offered scenic views of the lake and hills on the opposite side, was in the shade with a nice breeze, and was overall a flat and easy trail. However I’m not sure I want to say it was my favorite part for sure, just because this part could have easily been a day hike, and not a short stretch of an 8 day trek…

When the trail came to the dam, it was time to break away from the actual Centennial Trail for a few miles. This year, there is some road construction happening on Sheridan Lake Road which includes blasting (allegedly) and so the point at which the Centennial Trail crosses the Road would be closed…at least until the end of May when the construction company would install a culvert specifically for hikers. So thoughtful. But for us intrepid wanderers, hiking at the beginning of the May, there was an 8.1 mile stretch of the Centennial Trail that we would have to detour around. Back in our planning stages, Curtis emailed both our shuttle driver and the forest service to figure out a way around this stretch. Eventually, the forest service offered a detour of comparable mileage to that being detoured, but it required a mile long road walk. Based on our trail maps, Curtis was able to come up with an alternative route that would only have us off the official trail for 5-6 miles with a minimal amount of road walking. The only question we had was whether we could get across the Sheridan Lake Road at that particular point — we were hopeful it would work out today since it was the weekend, and where we needed to cross was just a tenth of a mile up the road from a trailhead that was still open.

And so we continued on the Flume Trail, which was mostly enjoyable even though below the dam we had several stream crossings and were much more exposed to the late morning sun. For some of the stream crossings we had to walk through the water, while others had narrow bridges to cross. I’m not sure which was worse: I didn’t want to deal with wet feet again, but I also wasn’t comfortable crossing bridges less than a foot wide over rushing rapids. Curtis helped me by walking right in front so I could hold on to his bag for ‘security’… I’m not sure why that’s any better, but somehow it got me across.

We finally made it to the end of the Flume Trail, and then set off on our short trek cross country up to Forest Road 260 which would lead us back to the Centennial Trail. As expected, there were no workers today with it being a weekend, so crossing the construction area wasn’t an issue… Or so we thought. We crossed the road, and came to a cattle guard at the start of the forest road. We stopped here for a second to enjoy the feeling of knowing we wouldn’t have to backtrack and add additional miles to our hike just to get around this section, when we heard a vehicle in the distance. It was probably just a UTV, but our first thought was “Oh no, a construction vehicle, what if we get caught?!” I don’t think there was any concern of being ‘caught’ or getting in trouble since the forest road was still open, but in that split second our instinct was to hurry across the cattle guard.

I’ve never liked crossing over cattle guards, because in my mind I can just see myself tripping or falling through. And today, that mental image became a reality. The combination of rushing across, having heavier boots from crossing the stream, and a cable also lying across the cattle guard caused me to trip. As I was falling, I thought to use my hands to catch myself, but my heavy backpack slid forward and pushed my head into the ground. I ended up with cuts on my hands and knees, a sore wrist, and a goose egg and scrapes on my head. But… thankfully my camera was fine and I was still able to get up and keep walking? It could always be worse, right? Also I would like to note that this was my only fall/injury in 128 miles, which really isn’t that bad when you think about it.

I got up, dusted myself off, and we walked over to a shady spot to inspect the damage. We got to break out our new first aid kit (hey, at least I gave us a chance to put it to use so it wasn’t a waste, right?!) and decided that since it was almost noon that we’d also take a long lunch break here. We took off our boots to dry (not making the mistake we made on day 2 again), cleaned my open wounds, and ate some snacks. (We don’t have any pictures of me from immediately after my accident, so you’ll have to wait until the next post to see my face.)

After a nice long break, we packed up again and started walking up the forest road. The road gradually went uphill and after 2 miles we were reunited with the Centennial Trail. The only downside of this section was having to share the road with UTVs and crossing more cattle guards.

The next part of the trail was honestly another highlight for us and could even be our favorite part of the trail: We were walking through rolling hills of tall grass, interspersed with small groups of trees and so we enjoyed expansive views in all directions. It was beautiful, but came with one downside: we were now in the heat of the afternoon with no shade to speak of. Whenever we came to a shady spot, we’d stop to enjoy the slight break from the sun. This part would have been ideal either for sunrise or sunset; unfortunately we just couldn’t make that work with our schedule.

We eventually found trees once again, and soon came to the Brush Creek Trailhead along another forest road. After taking another much-needed break by the trail sign, we continued following the forest road for a while. It followed a stream before breaking off and we continued up Gold Standard Gulch. We walked another 2 miles, mostly uphill to near the top of the gulch until we came to a spot that we decided would be a good stopping point for tonight. Our main requirement for a campsite tonight was to find a place that would be safe in the event of a thunderstorm, since the National Weather Service had one predicted for that night. We chose a spot that wasn’t on a ridge or hill top, with decent tree cover but not especially tall or old trees, and where we wouldn’t have any risk of being flooded out.

We set up the tent, secured everything that we didn’t want to get wet, and then hung our bags up on nearby trees. We enjoyed a dinner of couscous (of which we made way too much) and then moved into our tent. No sooner had we settled in than it started raining — what perfect timing! However, the predicted thunderstorm never came, and it just rained off and on throughout the night. We had completed 15.8 miles that day and were pretty sure we were near or at the halfway point, both in miles and in days we had planned to be on the trail. Now we could only hope that the weather would cooperate for the next 4 days!

Read About Day 5 / Day 6 / Day 7 / Day 8

Curtis was able to record the entire trail using AllTrails, however after doing so well for the first 7 days, he accidentally ended the recording before the last day. So if you are interested in viewing the AllTrails recordings, click here for the first seven days, and click here for the last day. We tried combining the two recordings, but it ended up cutting out over 20 miles throughout the hike.

South Dakota Centennial Trail Day 3

Backpacking the South Dakota Centennial Trail | Day 3 | Iron Creek Campground to Samelias Mountain Area | Friday, April 30, 2021

Read About Day 1 / Day 2

We awoke on day 3 with enough energy to take on another day. Today’s hike would take us all the way through the Black Elk Wilderness and well into the Black Hills National Forest, and up to nearly the highest point of the entire trail. I tried to ignore that last part, and instead focused on the fact that today’s hike would not be as long as yesterday’s. We snapped some trailhead pictures as we entered the Black Elk Wilderness, then went on our way.

This morning’s hike started with a short uphill stretch which gave way to an easy downhill stroll. It was already a beautiful morning, and knowing that it would start to really warm up that afternoon, I savored the cool morning air. The first landmark we came to this morning was for the Grizzly Bear trail junction about a mile in. Back when we were visiting in 2017, we had actually camped in Grizzly Bear Gulch — I didn’t remember that name, but Curtis recalled wondering if there were actually grizzlies out here. Thankfully there aren’t, at least right now (supposedly there’s a black bear sighting about once a year in the Black Hills), so securing our backpacks and food at night isn’t a concern.

At 3 1/2 miles, we came to a fork in the trail where it wasn’t clear which was the right way. Curtis first chose the path to the right — it turned out being wrong, but worth walking up just a short distance to enjoy an overlook. While the Centennial Trail goes over many ridges and saddles, it rarely hits any peaks, so exposed points like this were a treat. We stopped for a while to take it in, when I noticed a face in one of the rocks. It took a moment before realizing that we were looking at Mount Rushmore. It looked so small in the distance, which was the exact opposite first impression than what I had the first time I laid eyes on it. It also looked impressively high up from this angle.

After a mile of walking downhill, we came to a fork in the trail where we had the decision to walk an extra half mile one way to Mount Rushmore. Back in the planning stages of the hike, it sounded easy and like a no-brainer — why wouldn’t we go, if only to get the national park cancellation stamps, clean drinking water, and use the restrooms with running water?! But after having walked 18.5 miles the day before, and still having 12 miles of hiking on the actual trail planned that day, I had no desire to walk the extra mile. I sort of offered to Curtis that I would be willing to wait here if he really wanted to visit the park, but he declined and we continued on our way North. Seeing it once from a distance today was good enough.

Next came a fairly steep 2 mile uphill trek. The sun was getting higher and the trees thinned out leaving us exposed. However, we were starting to see more of the impressive needle formations around us. Three other things we noticed during the Black Elk Wilderness were that 1. There were none of the Centennial Trail/Trail #89 signs that we had grown used to seeing through Custer State Park, only signs at trail junctions; 2. Throughout the first 30 miles of the Centennial trail, we only came across one (very thin) downed tree, which Curtis easily took care of. However, once we came to Black Elk Wilderness, there were quite a few. None were especially big, but it would always take a bit for me to hoist myself over them with my shorter legs and heavy backpack. And 3. We were not that far distant from winter. Frequently, when crossing streams, there would still be a considerable amount of snowpack in the shade.

We also noticed that both time and miles passed much slower than we thought reasonable. No matter how fast we thought we were going or how long we’d be walking, the average was always 2 miles an hour, and we would consistently take a break every mile.

As we approached the Northern boundary of the Wilderness, we took one of our frequent bag breaks near a stream. Curtis thought we were close to a trail junction and showed me on the map, and then we thought we heard someone coming. We were a bit excited, as it was the first person we would interact with since yesterday morning. But the person never showed, and their footsteps receded. We peeked around the corner and saw our trail junction, not ten feet away – at least our way marking wasn’t terrible today.

In total, we hiked 8.5 miles through the Black Elk Wilderness on the Centennial Trail, just over half of our total mileage for the day. While it was scenic and we enjoyed the views of the needles, this was a rough part of the trail with lots of ups and downs, and the trail was narrow with many downed trees as mentioned. All the streams were full with snow melt, and I think that lured us into a false sense of security for the next section of trail.

We left behind the Black Elk Wilderness and continued on into Black Hills National Forest. The trail went downhill a ways and we passed the junction with Willow Creek Trail. We crossed SD-244 and passed by the Big Pine Trailhead with a small parking lot. Here we saw one other day hiker enjoying this stretch of trail. We stopped and found our only letterbox of the hike not far from the trailhead.

After that, we continued walking the wide and much easier trail, compared to the narrow trail through the wilderness. However, it was not as easy as we hoped… We resumed our normal paces, with Curtis in front and myself behind, and it wasn’t long before I couldn’t see Curtis. While the trail had no markings in the Black Elk Wilderness, it now had both Centennial Trail/Trail #89 blazes on trees AND red ribbons wrapped around trunks. But soon I came to a fork in the path, and I didn’t notice the #89 sign because I mostly just look at my feet when I walk. In my defense, the way for the Centennial Trail also had a log partially blocking the path, which is sometimes hiker code for “don’t go that way,” and since I was looking at the ground and not at signs up on the trees, I turned right when I should’ve gone left. Both trails were similar in condition and width, so I didn’t have any idea I wasn’t on the right path. I was still following red ribbons, which are easier to see than the brown trail signs. I walked down this trail for about 10 minutes until suddenly, there was no trail, and no more ribbons. I looked around for a bit confused, then noticed I had full cell phone signal here. I tried calling Curtis to no avail (I would later learn the actual trail where he was didn’t have cell service) then decided to consult Google Maps. The amazing thing is that while the majority of the Centennial Trail isn’t on the map, the one mile stretch between the Big Pine Trailhead and the next county road was! I quickly noted my mistake and then simply followed the red ribbons back the way I came.

As I was nearing the trail junction, I saw a very worried looking Curtis walking back towards the Big Pine Trailhead and I called out to him. A wave of relief came over his face and he came over to me and we embraced. I apologized for not paying attention and he apologized for being so far ahead, and we continued on our way. Yes, it’s pretty embarrassing now to think I was briefly lost, but if you really think about it, one time out of 128 miles isn’t that bad. I also felt bad because the next mile was all downhill, which meant Curtis had to retrace his steps uphill when he came looking for me.

After crossing the county road, we came across a flowing stream. We decided to sit down on the bridge and take a break, and Curtis started to purify some water. He wasn’t so sure about this water though as it was flowing through agricultural land, and only ended up purifying just over a liter. We were sure we’d be fine, and would come to more water later. Besides, we hadn’t been drinking as much as we thought during the days. Unfortunately we forgot to account for the fact that it was much warmer now than it had been earlier that day, and that our hike today would be ending with a 3 mile uphill climb.

The next stretch of trail was pretty easy, taking us past some personal residences and through a valley. We passed several trail junctions with what seemed to be newer logging roads and soon had US-16 in view. However, the different trail junctions, logging roads, and lack of signs had us confused of how we were supposed to get across the highway. We found a culvert that was 5′ high which seemed safer than sprinting across four lanes of late Friday afternoon traffic, and ended up going with that. While it was uncomfortable to have to hunch over and carry our bags through it, it also felt refreshing to get out of the sun for a couple minutes.

Once on the other side, we arrived at the Samelias Trailhead. I sat down while Curtis wandered into the parking lot to check out the map. He realized our mistake and saw that there was actually a 7′ tunnel under the highway a little ways West that we could’ve crossed under… oh well. After a little more rest, we were ready to take on the last few miles of today’s hike…all uphill.

Each day, Curtis had marked on the map the minimum amount of miles we needed to walk each day, with the hope that we could make it a little further. Today’s minimum stopping point was at this trailhead, knowing that we couldn’t camp here and would still have to continue up the trail a ways. While we were tired and not necessarily wanting to go uphill, hearing all the traffic from US-16 helped to motivate us to keep hiking. We certainly didn’t want to listen to traffic all night while camping.

We followed the trail up to a saddle and around Samelias peak, down a little ways, and then followed a contour around another unnamed peak. After one last uphill stretch, we finally came upon a good enough spot to camp, just 150 feet below the highest point on the trail. We’d save that last bit for tomorrow, knowing that after we reached that point it would be downhill for over four miles.

As we set up our tent, Curtis expressed his concern that we didn’t have much water left — only a liter — and the next water source was 5 miles away. Maybe if we were really concerned we would have eaten trail mix and dehydrated fruit for dinner and saved the water for drinking, but instead we made mac and cheese bringing us to about a half liter of water. Our water planning definitely needed some improvement for future trips.

Curtis had been skeptical when planning meals that processed cheese would sound good after hiking all day, but oh boy did it hit the spot! I was disappointed when Curtis told me that it was the only mac and cheese we had, so I told him that’s the only meal I want on our next through hike.

That evening, Curtis started to not feel well, and looking back he’s pretty sure he had some mild form of heat stroke. I had a little sunburn on my arms, but that was my only discomfort — besides my feet, legs, and back, of course. We settled in for the night, mentally trying to grasp the fact that tomorrow could very well be our last “nice” day on the trail, as the weather forecast hadn’t gotten any better. Still, we were satisfied with today’s mileage of 16 miles completed — meaning if the next day went as planned, we could be at the halfway point by this time tomorrow!

Read About Day 4 / Day 5 / Day 6 / Day 7 / Day 8

Curtis was able to record the entire trail using AllTrails, however after doing so well for the first 7 days, he accidentally ended the recording before the last day. So if you are interested in viewing the AllTrails recordings, click here for the first seven days, and click here for the last day. We tried combining the two recordings, but it ended up cutting out over 20 miles throughout the hike.

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