Road Trips and Hike Reports

Since we'd both been to South Dakota before, we didn't feel any need to go to Mount Rushmore or Crazy Horse.  For most people, having been to Devil's Tower would fall into that same camp but I absolutely adore Devil's Tower and have been 4 times now.  So we headed out on that long drive first thing Tuesday.  Weather was gorgeous, much cooler than the day before in North Dakota.  We walked the Red Beds Trail which is about 2.8 miles and goes along a much wider and wilder loop than the very short paved trail that winds directly around the base of the rock.  Since the park ranger said parking was limited (it was busier than you might expect for a mid-September Tuesday), we opted to park at the picnic area at the very bottom of the entire area near the Prairie Dog village.  This added a stiff hike up the flanks of the butte before we could join the 2.8 mile loop and since we enjoyed it so much we went a little more than a complete circle on the loop to take the...

We were up very late last night and we had to do laundry at the hotel before we could head out so it was about 80 degrees when we arrived at the trailhead after driving south about 60 miles on US-85.  The sun was very intense and I couldn't find my sunscreen this morning so I used a hand towel from our hiking backpack as a cover for my ears and neck as best as I could.  We bought a big jug of water but should have had a third 'spare' water to supplement our ever present 27 ounce metal bottles.  We had to be very judicious with our water consumption throughout this hike.  Low humidity and a cooling breeze made the temperature and intense sun more comfortable but it was still a little rough for me for the first 2 miles. We chose to start the trail by crossing the scenic road immediately and doing the loop in that direction.  The trail worked its way up into a few of the many buttes found along the 16 mile scenic road that goes through the North Unit of the park. T...