Critters

On Tuesday we decided to go for a hike after our long drive the day before; we were all looking forward to exploring the Black Hills of Dakota (sung of so fondly by Doris Day!) With the help of our trusty guide book we chose the Harney Peak Trail in Custer State Park, described as a seven mile, moderate to strenuous round trip, with 1,100 feet of ascent. It starts at the pretty Sylvan Lake which is only seven miles from our hotel in Custer. We packed water and trail mix and off we set. It was great! I found it quite difficult and am told that I did some complaining during the ascent (I don't remember that at all!) but it was well worth it when we got to the top and had stunning views all around us. Harney Peak is the highest point in South Dakota and is allegedly the highest point between the Rockies and the Pyrenees! The Black Hills National Park is beautiful with lots of pine and spruce trees, forest meadows and streams, however its most outstanding feature has to be the amazing granite outcrops among the hills, I have never seen anything quite like them. We saw lots of flowers and fungi along the trail and Davie was so enthusiastic about these that I wondered aloud why he has not chosen to do pure Biology or Botany - he dismissed this with a very definite "I also like Chemistry!" Thank goodness that we brought plenty of water; it was really warm although there was a pleasant breeze at the top. At the top there is a fire tower which is no longer used but you can climb to the top for optimum views. We found a sunny spot to relax for a while and munch on our trail mix. At this point we were joined by some rather cute "critters" - gorgeous wee stripy chipmunks approached us and we shared our nuts and raisins with them. When we arrived back at the trailhead all dusty and sweaty, there was only one thing for it - a swim in Sylvan Lake! Oh boy it felt cold at first! But once my body had become totally numb I quite enjoyed it!

Talking of critters, James was woken during the night by the screeching of car tires on the road outside our hotel. It's a very quiet road, so he knew that something was up. He then heard a loud thud, a car door opening, and a voice saying "Oh DAMN!" When he looked out of the window he saw that the vehicle was a police patrol car, which left the scene shortly thereafter. There was no sign of anything this morning so we presume that it was some poor forest critter, perhaps a mountain goat or a pronghorn, who had met its end. If it had been a buffalo (what we call bison) there would surely have been serious damage to the car, and if it had been a tourist there would definitely have been more fuss.