Mountain Bluebird
Custer State Park, SD

Argh, I was awaken several times last night to torrential downpour and the drip-drip of water in my newly sealed tent. 🙁  I guess I will brainstorm about how to fix this today as I’m out and about. Yesterday was a great day. I started out early on the wildlife drive. At 0545 in the morning, I only saw 3 other cars for the entire two hours I spent on the road. The highlight of the 18 mile drive this morning was a Mountain Bluebird. The little male swooped from the fence into the grass and came back up with a huge caterpillar. He repeatedly beat the caterpillar on top of the fencepost to kill it and then flew off to a bird house further down the fence line. The whole spectacle lasted a few minutes, but the pictures turned out amazing. add pictures

Northern Flicker
Custer State Park, SD

Prairie Dog
Custer State Park, SD

After finishing the wildlife drive we headed to Hell’s Canyon (trail 32) in Jewel Cave National Monument. The 5.6 mile loop trail is considered moderate, and I’d second that rating. When we arrived a large group was gathering for a wildflower hike with a naturalist society. I spoke with a few of them and they were very curious about Ari. We set out on a clockwise route just before 10am. The hike of the canyon floor was partially shaded and required one creek crossing and some off-trail navigation around a downed tree. I briefly lost the trail when it U-turned at the end of the canyon floor but realized my mistake quickly and got back on track with only a short detour. The scaling of the canyon wall was the most strenuous portion of the trail, but once on top there was little to no shade, making this portion a lot more taxing. The views of the canyon were amazing and I was lucky to have another great day of good weather and a gentle breeze.

I found a small cave to relax in as I was getting very tired and running low on water, so Ari and I put down our gear for a little rest. As I was contemplating life I was rudely interrupted by a rather large liquid thud just two feet from where I was sitting. Looking up, there were small swallow nests and they were pooping! Haha. Ari and I headed on and to my surprise I ran into the group from the parking lot! Dismayed that I’d been hiking for over 2 hours and worried that I might not have enough water to last me another 2, I asked the tour leader how much I had left; he replied about a mile, mile and a half. Thank goodness!!

We finished VERY tired and I was out of water. I think the other group had it right, a counter-clockwise route would have had all of the elevation gain at the beginning and downhill for the last 3-4 miles rather than my clockwise route. I should have worked harder to find a topographic map. Oh well, lesson learned.

Hell Canyon

Hell Canyon trail seen from the cliff face, where I started from!

Hell Canyon Trail, 5.6 mile loop

Pros: Beautiful scenery, good bird life although not abundant

Cons: Uneven trail with rocky terrain and walking along the cliff side is not for those faint of heart or afraid of heights.

Recommendations: Wear pants as many of the knee-high plants have thorns. Also, as of my writing there is a downed tree across the path along the canyon floor. It will require some climbing or walking 20-30 ft off trail to go around the tree.

I ended the day with Bison burger at Blue Bell Lodge and a quick run of the wildlife loop for some scenery shots before heading to the lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore National Monument. The ceremony itself was a little underwhelming and the lighting on the mountain is not very bright, but its an experience, I am glad I went. Since my parking pass is good to the end of the year, I’ll visit again tomorrow or later in the week.

Custer State Park, SD