July 11, 2006

July 11, 2006

We now have driven 1200 miles since leaving Milwaukee. For the first several days we were refilling the tank every day at a cost of $75. I was beginning to think this was going to be an expensive adventure. Fortunately now the attractions are getting closer together and the scenery better so we are driving much less. I haven’t had to fill up now for several days. I did stop at the park general store to add air to one of the tires; it seems to have a slow leak.

This morning we backtrack a couple miles to the Peter Norbeck visitor’s center. Our camp neighbors from Milwaukee recommended it last night. It has some interesting exhibits about the park and was well worth the detour. Afterwards Aimee and I debate the path we are going to take to Sylvan lake, our next stop. The scenic Needles highway has several small tunnels along the route. We remeasure the RV three times and it will be very tight but we should be able to make it. As we are debating, the park ranger stops by and adds his two cents and now it is 2 against one and we take the longer tunnel-less route.

Sylvan Lake is the location of the trailheads headed for Mt. Harney, the tallest peak in South Dakota at 7200 feet. It will be our first entry in the HighPointers club, whose members want to scale the highest point in each state. The trail to the summit is three miles long and runs through a ponderosa pine forest. The trail floor up is a geologists dream as it is littered with beautiful rocks, including granite, pink and white quartz and mica. Aimee’s first thought was that there was broken glass on the trail until we noticed it was mica. Mica is a mineral that comes in sheets and looks like translucent cellophane. There were so many mica sheets and particles on the trail that it glistened like diamonds in the sun.

At the summit we can see all the surrounding granite outcroppings including the needles that we missed on our route detour. We also see a large granite outcropping that we think is the back of Mt Rushmore. On the flat granite summit we spy a mountain goat grazing. It looks somewhat like a shaggy polar bear with horns. We take an alternate trail down the mountain. This time we pass very close to the Cathedral Spires, which are very majestic and impressive. You can’t get these views from a car. We hear some yelling and notice a group of rock climbers scaling the sheer cliff faces of one of the spires. These guys are nuts as the spires have got to be at least 500 feet high and it doesn’t appear they are using rope protection. On the way down I am dragging. Four hours of hiking seems to be the limit of my arthritis now. Getting old is going to place limits on my big adventure.

This night we are staying in a private campground just outside Sylvan lake and the park limits. Custer State Park is so large and beautiful we are thinking of staying here another night.