We woke up around 6:15, Joe and I took showers. They were actually pretty nice showers. Got everything packed up and headed out for 8am mass at St. Rose of Lima in Hill City, South Dakota. Right when we pulled up (right outside the cracked-open church windows) Katy had a screaming fit about fruit snacks. I’m sure everyone inside heard her. At least we didn’t get any sideways glances when we went inside.
We then drove down the Needles Highway, just south of town. Originally the plan was to carve famous western figures into the spires along this highway, but it was determined that the rock ‘needles’ were too weak and unpredictable to work with, as well as western figures not having the national draw that other figures may have. And when this project was scrapped, Mount Rushmore was designed and eventually completed. Pretty interesting!
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| Look at all those switchbacks! |
Then we got to Sylvan Lake, the starting point for our hike up to Black Elk Peak (formerly Harney Peak), the highest natural point in South Dakota. Not sure why the name change. Even though we were only staying for several hours, we had to pay the $20 park entry fee, which is good for 7 days (still valid, if we hurry back…) We were off on the start of one of the longest hikes we’ve ever attempted by 10:05 am. Total round trip distance is over 6 miles. Online we read most hikers said to allow 3-4 hours. We planned on about six hours with our young crew. There was a forecast of rain in the afternoon, so we were really hoping to get back before then.
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| none of the “smile nice” photos turned out, so here’s the one where we said “now make a silly face!” |
While it would be super easy for me to only post happy photos and make it seem like taking a super long and steep climbing hike with kids is all sunshine and roses, the truth is that at 10:13 am (less than ten minutes after we started) Joey said he didn’t want to go on the hike anymore, set down his backpack, and stalled for an annoying amount of time before we finally convinced him to walk with us.
After about half an hour, we decided to take our first rest stop and had snacks. When we go on hikes the kids all carry their own pack. They all have high quality backpacks sized appropriately for them. They were a little pricey, but definitely worth it. We purchased these three years ago before we took our Europe trip and they are still going strong. We also use them as luggage, school bags, as well as hiking packs. Here’s what the kids each carried on this hike:
- Water Bottle
- Lunch and snacks
- Long sleeve shirt or jacket
- Hat
- Whistle (to blow in an emergency)
- Head Scarf
- Head Lamp
If any of them should accidentally get separated, at least we know they have some basic necessities. Also they can help themselves to food or water whenever they need it. Joe carried extra water for everyone in his pack, and I carried a first aid kit.
We resumed hiking about 10:45 am. This is also when we realized that the tree stump Joey sat on was covered in sap and his back side was very sticky. Also it was a brand new pair of jeans, since right before we left on this trip we realized he was somehow suddenly too tall for every other pair of pants he owned and had to go buy him a couple new pairs. Oh well.
At about 10:55 am we came upon an incredible vista view. The weather was amazing so far and we were hoping we could beat the rain. There was a momentary scare when Joey bent over and his water bottle fell out of his pack and started rolling down the cliff. Luckily it didn’t fall very far and Dad was quick to grab it.
We got back on the trail and kept climbing, up and up and up. We could see what looked like a tower far off in the distance (unfortunately did not snap a photo), and wondered if that was where we were headed. It seemed logical, because it was the highest thing we could see, but on the other hand it seemed impossibly far away, so we thought maybe there was another tower. Spoiler: there is no other tower.
Joey alternated between complaining that he was too tired and sore to walk another step, and spotting boulders off to the sides of the trail and scampering up the sides of them.
At about 11:30am we came upon a mountain stream, and Joey took this opportunity to use the Life Straw we had just got him for his birthday. He said the water was delicious.
We soldiered on.
The kids came up with this performance while we were hiking and insisted I record it.
We also had another rest stop and snacks at this point, and it was just before noon. There were lots of people hiking the trail on this gorgeous Sunday morning. All of them were passing us. We were taking lots of rest stops, snack stops, whining stops, and multiple potty breaks for Katy who suddenly likes to pee in the woods. But we kept at it!
About 12:20pm I overheard another group of hikers joking that there would be “beer and brats at the top!” I just knew they had to be from Wisconsin, and it turns out they were from Milwaukee! Unfortunately it was right around this time that dense clouds and fog rolled in and we completely lost the view.
The trail also got very steep and rugged during the final ascent to the top.
Finally, WE MADE IT!!! It was just before 1:00pm, so the climb up took us about 3 hours. We all sat down and ate lunch. I kept hoping the clouds would blow over for a bit so we could enjoy a bit of a view after all our hard work, but it was not meant to be. We’ll have to come back and climb it again I guess! The good news is that at least there was a really cool castle up at the top to explore.
We started heading down at about 1:30pm. It was actually kind of cool walking through the foggy forest, and also the temperature was perfect - not too hot and not too cold.
I decided to start trying to photograph all the different mountain flowers I could find on the way down, and here they are.
It was so good to get our family out on a long hike in the woods. It’s been way too long, and we all really needed this time to get connected again. I’m not going to pretend there hasn’t been bickering and complaining on this trip, but there has been lots of happy moments and that makes it all worth it.
We got back on the trail about 2:45pm and reached the spot where we had incredible vista views on the way up at about 3:15pm. Only now it was not much cloudier, and looking like it might rain. We took another well earned rest for about 15 minutes.
Happily, we made it back down to the van before the rain hit! Total hiking time was between 5.5 and 6 hours, so our estimate turned out to be pretty good. And if you are reading this and contemplating this hike with kids as young as 4 years old, go for it! Katy walked the ENTIRE way on her own!
We were all exhausted and the kids enjoyed some treats that we had kept in the van for the end of the hike. Bathroom breaks, getting organized and back in the van, and we were headed for our next stop - Devils Tower. There was a tremendous rain storm with very strong winds that we were driving through - thank goodness we weren’t on the mountain when that happened! We crossed the state line into Wyoming about 5:20pm, and the odometer said we had now traveled 46 miles.
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| I tried to take a photo of the "Welcome to Wyoming" sign and this is how it turned out. |
Unfortunately the park ranger in charge of the Junior Ranger badges today was especially strict, and said there was NO WAY anyone could possibly earn a badge in the ten minutes before closing. This was a big contrast from the Mount Rushmore ranger, who told us that he just looks for a name filled in and a few of the pages done. The Devils Tower ranger said that we could finish the booklets and mail them in later if we wanted to get badges, so we’ll see if that ever happens. Nevertheless, we had an amazing time exploring Devils Tower in the next two hours, with the kids insisting on climbing around the boulder field until it was dark out. Keep in mind this was AFTER we hiked up and down a mountain for over six miles, and then spent a couple hours in the car. They are so full of energy!
The kids pretty much all fell asleep in the van instantly after we started driving away from Devils Tower. Our next stop was Yellowstone, at least another 7 hour drive. We knew we had to try to get there early to get a camp site since we weren’t able to get reservations and needed to secure a first-come-first-served spot. Fortunately most of the spots in Yellowstone are FCFS, so we felt we had pretty good odds. Still, it was going to be a little nerve wracking. We decided to try to get a few hours in tonight, and then pull over for a rest, and drive the rest of the way in the morning.
We drove (or I should say Joe drove) for a little over an hour and stopped to get gas in a town called Gillette. Joe got some Taco Bell and Caffeine and powered through for another couple of hours before deciding it was time to take a rest, at about midnight. We found a “rest stop” in the middle of Wyoming, but it was really just a pull off on the side of the highway. No bathrooms or even any buildings or lights at all. Just us, alone, in the middle of nowhere, with very strong winds whipping across the open fields. One of our family could not hold it and had to pee in the middle of the road in Wyoming - I’ll let you guess at who. But we managed to rig up our boondocking setup once again and crash into bed for a few hours before finishing our drive to Yellowstone in the morning. Total miles traveled today: 207.
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