Category: columns-outdoors

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Splashing in the Devil’s Bathtub

By Lee Schoenbeck

Located between Savoy and Spearfish in the scenic byway of Spearfish Canyon is an unmarked, semi-secret place to enjoy a hike and a refreshing dip in a mountain stream. Ever since climbing behind the falls at Roughlock became verboten, the Devil’s Bathtub has been the best playground in Spearfish Canyon.

WHERE DOES THE DEVIL BATHE?

There are no signs disclosing the secret location of the Devil’s Bathtub. Most people that know about it found out from a local. My law school roommate, a Black Hills State grad, told me about it. I quizzed people on the trail this past week, and all were locals, or were told by locals. It’s kind of supposed to be a secret — at least before the Internet, Google and YouTube. Now, it’s a traffic jam to fun.

To get there, pull off the Spearfish Canyon highway at Cleopatra Place. There isn’t a parking lot, but these days there are a lot of cars along the narrow lane — park there. Hike across the bridge over Spearfish Creek and follow the trail to your right. The tributary to hike comes into Spearfish Creek at that point — DO NOT cross it and follow Spearfish Creek. Assuming you don’t make that mistake, you can’t miss the Bathtub. You definitely can’t miss the fun. The”trail” has a range of options — my crew prefers jumping on rocks and traversing fallen logs, but there is always the option of just walking on the dirt path adjoining the creek.

FALSE FINISH

After about thirty minutes of playing and hiking along the creek you’ll come to an area where the creek has cut a smooth swirl in to the rock. It looks like Mother Nature’s water slide. It’s a fun spot to stop and play on the rocks and in the creek. For the first three or four years, we took our family and friends. With me acting like some kind of an informed Sacagawea, this was where the hike ended. We all had fun sliding on the rocks and enjoying our lunches. One year, to our surprise, hikers came down upon us from farther up the canyon! They informed us that, while the spot we had hiked to was indeed fun, it was about 10 minutes short of the actual bathtub! At that point old”Sacagawea” felt a little stupid, but it did mean we now had new places to explore.

THE REAL BATHTUB

A little further up the canyon along the creek, the real Devil’s Bathtub is swirled out of the rock formations, and it definitely entertains. You can swim in the pool, slide down the chutes, or just lower your bottom into the coldest refreshing, rushing water you can imagine. The walls of the canyon at that point are steep — I mean mountain goat-quality steep — and tree covered. The setting is beautiful.

There are little brown trout in the stream and it’s entertaining to watch them jumping the rocks up the stream, like a fish ladder, until they reached a point just too steep to”climb.”

THE CROWD

When we pulled up, the parking area was filled. When we left, a van driver had his wife get out and navigate a squeeze play into Cleopatra. I quizzed people while we hiked, because we probably saw at least fifty people along the trail and at the bathtub. Almost everybody had a local connection — they knew somebody that knew the secret. A nephew and his wife met up with us there — both Mines grads who had heard of, but not seen, the Devil’s Bathtub. Having them and their sons with us meant the secret was passed on to another generation.

KEEPING SECRETS

Former Governor Bill Janklow used to say”a secret is something that you promise to only tell one person at a time.” So if you’re reading this, you need to promise to keep the secret. But if you know of any other secret or unmarked hiking trails in the Hills, fee free to email me the location. Other than to a few close friends of the outdoors, I’ll keep the secret.


Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.

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Where the Mighty Mo Bends

By Christian Begeman

The Mighty Missouri. You can’t do a landmark series without talking about the great river that cuts our state in half. I never knew the river before the big dams were constructed. My earliest memory of the Missouri is coming down red-top hill on old Highway 20 near where the Grand River joins Lake Oahe just west of Mobridge. It was the biggest body of water I had ever seen. (This held true until I was in high school and saw the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston Island in Texas.) The Missouri is a thing of beauty even in its dammed state. The hills and bluffs on either side provide cover for wildlife and are rugged enough to have never been touched by the farmer’s plow. This means they are havens for prairie wildflowers as well.

One winter while I was in college, I was in a small plane flying to Rapid City on a moonlit night. There was snow on the ground so the moonlight made all the contours of the land visible. One of the most interesting sights I saw that evening was the meandering of Big Bend on the Missouri. It is one thing to look at the biggest bend of any river in the United States on a map, but it is quite another to view it in person.

I’ve always been fascinated by this part of the state and just within the last few years discovered the Narrows of the Big Bend area just beyond Lower Brule. In the days of the steamboat freight and fur trading on the river, the boats would stop along the eastern shore of the Missouri and allow their passengers to stretch their legs and walk the mile and half across the Narrows while the boat traversed the full bend of well over 20 miles. I often wonder what kinds of stories or adventures happened on those hikes.

A short walk takes you up onto the bluffs between the bends of the Missouri and allows great views of Lake Sharpe in both directions. Wildflowers and birds abound. I’ve never seen as much blooming yucca anywhere else in the state. I visited three times this spring and early summer to catch as many wildflowers as possible. On my most recent trip, the yucca were in full bloom and I was even able to photograph a yucca moth, which is so closely related to yucca that it is the only insect that pollinates the plants.

Further up the river is another interesting bend to visit. The Mighty Mo seems to bend to the west to meet the Cheyenne River some twenty miles west of Onida. I’ve heard the view looking west from this area called Sunset Point, as one can see for miles down the Cheyenne from the high hills of the Little Bend narrows. The first time I visited this area was a brisk day in November. Lake Oahe was deep blue against the tan and brown bluffs. The view was just as exquisite when I visited again this spring. I tried my luck at Sunset Point, and although the sun sets quite a bit to the northwest this time of year, the scenery was still spectacular.

I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying the fishing and water recreation that the Missouri River system offers South Dakotans, but have just recently realized what a treasure the hills and bluffs that neighbor the mighty lakes are. Hiking the bluffs seem to take me back to an earlier time. With each step, the sounds of civilization seem to get lost behind the hills, leaving just the wildflowers and wind to keep me company — a little bit of heaven on earth for me.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.


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The Winds of Destruction

By Katie Hunhoff

Sharon Weron was riding a horse home from a neighboring farm near Bowdle in 1955 when she got caught in the middle of a tornado. She heard a noise like an oncoming train and her horse began to run in panic.

Sharon doesn’t remember much after that, but neighbors reported that the tornado lifted Sharon and the horse off the ground and she was found in a ditch one thousand feet away. She was remarkably unharmed, except for some bruises and swollen ears, but she didn’t speak for several days. The horse survived, too, and both were fast celebrities. News people came from across the country to write the story. Sharon even became the star of a film that re-enacted her wild ride for a British cable TV channel. “It’s shown every tornado season,” she told South Dakota Magazine a few years ago.

Sharon’s impromptu tornado ride also garnered her the bragging rights for being transported the longest distance by a tornado by the Guinness Book of World Records. That lasted until 2006 when a teenage boy in Missouri was sucked out of a mobile home and propelled over 1,300 feet.

Tornadoes are not far from most South Dakotans’ minds whenever our summer days turn dark. On average there are 28 tornados per year in our state. The most tornadoes reported in a single day happened on June 24, 2003 when 67 funnels blew across our prairies in an eight-hour period. South Dakotans remember the record-breaking day as Tornado Tuesday.

The Fujita scale estimates the strength of a tornado based on damage wreaked by the storm. Most of the tornadoes that day in 2003 were weak, ranking as F0 to F1 on the F0-F5 scale. But one registered as an F4 and demolished Manchester, a tiny Kingsbury County town. Luckily there were no casualties.

Another storm in 1992 hit the tiny town of Chester. Citizens were evacuated for 19 hours after a tornado with winds measuring 113 and 157 mph damaged infrastructure, including a 12,000-gallon ammonia tank. Residents returned home after the gas dissipated.

The devastating May 1998 twister that leveled the town of Spencer and killed six people was one of the deadliest our state has endured. One hundred and fifty people were injured.

A June 17, 1944 Wilmot tornado claimed 8 lives, and injured 43. That storm is not listed on official records but is the deadliest in South Dakota history.

Seven died, all in the same home, on May 27, 1899 near Bijou Hills. A twister struck the Peterson farm, killing the father and six of the eight Peterson children. Neighbors rushed to help and found Mrs. Peterson in a muddy field, confused and injured. At first sight, rescuers thought she was an animal of some sort. Eleven-year-old Earl Peterson was found a half-mile away, alive but pinned in mud by a stick that had pierced through his clothing. Another son, Alvah, survived by seeking shelter in the storm cellar, huddling alongside a huge bull snake.

The editor of the Chamberlain Register wrote that seeing the wagons loaded with coffins on the day of the Peterson funerals “made even the most hardened persons contemplate the uncertainty of life, and the certainty of death” in South Dakota.

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Between the Prairies and the Mountains

By Christian Begeman

Earlier this spring I rode with retired Bureau of Land Management Biologist Chuck Berdan to view and photograph Greater Sage Grouse mating displays. Along the way we started talking about interesting places in South Dakota for a photographer to visit. He told me that I needed to visit the Hogback and Racetrack surrounding the Black Hills in the springtime. This bio-diverse area, located where the plains meet the mountains, is full of wildflowers and wildlife — just what the doctor ordered for an outdoor photographer like me. The problem was that I had not heard about these landforms before. After further explanation by Chuck and some research in a few books about geology, I learned that I have indeed spent a lot of time on the Racetrack and crossed the Hogback numerous times without even realizing it.

When I was a kid, my family lived in Ziebach County. Whenever we drove down to Sturgis to visit my aunt and uncle, I distinctly remember coming into town on Highway 34 and going through steep cliffs just after passing Fort Meade. The hills and ridges that formed those first cliffs is the Hogback. I also remember that the rest of Sturgis was nestled in a somewhat wide valley with red dirt before the hills of the Black Hills really got going. This red valley is the Racetrack.

Chuck told me the Fort Meade Recreation Area was a great place to explore the Hogback. There are basically two areas to explore: the ridge portion south of Sturgis that borders Alkali Creek and the prairie portion to the north of town that goes right up to Bear Butte State Park. This area is steeped in history as well as culture. As you hike the trails, it is easy to picture yourself in the days of the Old West. There are stagecoach tracks visible and cavalry jumps still in place. There is even the grave of Curly Grimes, an outlaw buried where he was shot — on the shoulders of the Hogback just west of the campground.

If you take a larger step back into history and culture of the Native Americans, the place has an even more interesting story to tell. According to Lakota legend, the red valley Racetrack surrounding the Black Hills was created with the blood of animals in a great race. The buffalo won the race and was determined the supreme animal on the plains and sacred to the Lakota.

As for me and my camera, Chuck was absolutely right. The place is full of wildflowers and colorful birds and butterflies. I was surprised that a recreation area so close to a well-known South Dakota town was so unknown. The campsite on Alkali Creek was not even half full on the Saturday that I was there. I did, however, get to meet Sandy, the campground hosts’ three-legged dog. She had lost her 4th leg to a copperhead snakebite in Texas, but this injury didn’t faze her at all as she hiked happily with her owners. My guess is after an ordeal with a copperhead, an occasional encounter with the prairie rattlers that inhabit the Hogback and Racetrack probably wouldn’t scare her a bit … which is more than I can say for myself. Regardless, I plan on going back to the area in the fall to see what it looks like when the leaves of the trees turn. The time between seasons is always beautiful. Fittingly, I’m sure it will be even more so in this place between the prairies and the mountains.


Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.

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Guarded by Ghosts, Revealed by Angels

By Lee Schoenbeck

There are a lot of hiking trails in the Black Hills that take some local knowledge to enjoy. White Rocks is one of them. Former Deadwood resident Tony Tuscano of Texas suggested that the climb to White Rocks was worth the work. He was right. He described it as “the best view of Deadwood … the dominant hill over lower Deadwood.” Tony’s description was enough to get the hike on my bucket list.

Getting by the Ghosts

The directions to White Rocks involve the local cemetery, Mount Moriah. You need to go outside the cemetery proper and follow a trail described as”quite steep” for 750 feet to the grave of Seth Bullock. Up the hill and beyond the grave is a utility trail, and you keep following that to the top.

The ladies at the cemetery toll booth (you know you are amongst famous ghosts when people pay to get admitted) were helpful. The first volunteered, as she shook her head, that it was”really steep” to get to White Rocks. The other lady assured us that it was”a great view.” Both were exceptionally correct.

The Top is Right Above You

A strange thing about that trail is that you can see the white rocks as soon as you leave the cemetery, and they look about two miles away — straight up. There were a few people on top that we could barely distinguish, which makes you brace for a very long hike. But it’s a lot more like climbing a ladder. It is steep, but not long, which must create an optical illusion — or maybe I was passing out from a lack of oxygen.

Standing With the Angels

The hike is probably only twenty minutes each way, but worth it. When you climb up on the top of the rocks — which truly are white — you have a commanding view of Deadwood and the region. The devastation of the Grizzly Gulch fire remains immediately behind you. The logs are laying side by side along the humps of the lower mountains in a pattern that looks like fur on an animal’s back. The ladies at the booth said we could see four states, but until they do a better job of spray painting those state lines, who am I to say?

No Mountain Goats, But….

I was zoomed by some kind of a bird, saw turkey vultures circling (maybe looking for fallen hikers) and one family that climbed the rocks like mountain goats, but no dangerous wildlife. After we got down and had the mandatory engine-fueling ice cream, the lady serving us claimed a mountain lion lived up there! But she hadn’t been there for four years — I bet the ghosts got him.

Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.


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Rediscovering the Spirit of Exploration

By Christian Begeman


On a sweltering August day in 1804, Lewis and Clark led a small group of men from their camp near the Missouri River on a nine mile hike northward into the prairie. Their destination was Spirit Mound, the last hill on the extreme end of Turkey Ridge in southeast South Dakota. In the early 1800s, the names Turkey Ridge and South Dakota were yet to be, however, the Spirit Mound was well known among the Plains Indians in the region. Strange stories about the inhabitants of the hill enticed the explorers to make the journey.

Clark’s journal records,”… and by the different nations of Indians in this quarter is suppose to be the residence of Deavels. That they are in human form with remarkable large heads, and about 18 inches high, that they are very watchful and are arm’d with sharp arrows with which they can kill at a great distance; they are said to kill all persons who are so hardy as to attempt to approach the hill; they state that tradition informs them that many Indians have suffered by these little people. So much do the Maha [Omaha], Soues [Sioux], Ottoes [Otoes] and other neighboring nations believe this fable, that no consideration is sufficient to induce them to approach the hill. (DeVoto 1997, 22).

The expedition did not find the little devils of the legends but they did see a vast array of wildlife and beauty as they gazed in all directions from the top of the hill. Today, Spirit Mound is one of the few remaining physical features on the Upper Missouri River that is readily identifiable as a place Lewis and Clark visited and recorded. Nowadays it is surrounded by fertile farmland and bordered by SD Highway 19 to the east. At the southeast corner of the park, there is a trailhead to the summit with interpretive signs along the way describing not only the historical facts surrounding the mound, but also the recent efforts to restore the prairie at the base of the hill to what it once was.

Clark’s journal went on to reason that one of the factors that may have contributed to the stories surrounding Spirit Mound was that there always seemed to be a large assemblage of birds about the hill. That is still true today. From red-wing blackbirds to dickcissels and warblers to meadowlarks, the place is full of birdsong, especially in the evening.

Spirit Mound is located along one of the main highways of migrating Monarch butterflies. Every year as summer wanes, Jody Moats, a biologist with Adams Nature Preserve, conducts butterfly tagging expeditions in the small tree patch located just below the southeast shoulder of the hill. The butterflies gather to roost just before sunset. Those that are caught are gently tagged on the wing in order to study their journey as well as survival rates. Their final destination is Mexico, where it stays just warm enough in the winter for them to survive and start the whole migration over again.

Wildflowers also abound along the hiking trail to the summit. I’ve hiked the mound numerous times in high summer and always find beautiful colors along the way. From maximilian sunflowers to bright orange butterfly milkweed, it is a great place to take out a macro lens and explore. When you think about it, exploration is what places like this are all about. If you are like me, it is hard not to wonder what the landscape really looked like when Lewis and Clark climbed the hill. Time may have changed the view, but as I wander the hiking trail along the hillside, I can’t help but think that the spirit of exploration still lives on at Spirit Mound.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.


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Can Golf This Fun Be Legal?

By Lee Schoenbeck

Heading west towards Spearfish at interstate speeds is a tough way to take the full measure of South Dakota’s newest and most fun golf course: Elkhorn Ridge. The course opened its first 9 holes in 2009, which probably wasn’t the best market timing for the residential development that accompanies it. But the golf layout, nestled into the elevations on the east side of a ridge on historic Frawley Ranch in Centennial Valley, four miles east of Spearfish, is South Dakota’s best.

A GOLF PATH UNDER THE INTERSTATE?

From the blue tees the course plays 3254 yards, an average length, and sports a 125 slope, a tougher than average layout. You know you’re someplace unique when the cart path from the driving range and modern clubhouse takes you to the first tee box through a tunnel under the interstate! Lest you fear the trip, the carts are equipped with modern GPS, so the yards to and from trouble are clearly spelled out. And when you decide to look for your ball in one of the residential yards or corrals near the course, the cart slows to a crawl and tells you to get back to the business at hand.

HOLES 2 THROUGH 5 ARE THE BEST ANYWHERE

The fun really begins on the #2 tee box. The hole is a dogleg left up the ridge, but with two special twists. The landing”target” for your first shot is about 210 yards ahead — and above you! The hole rises over 120 feet in elevation to the target. If that long uphill poke isn’t enough of a challenge, be careful not to hit too far or too left, as there is a ravine. 210 yards — good shot; 211 yards — bottom of ravine. The second shot (if that whole first thing worked out) is through a cut in the brush and across a ravine to a green cut into the mountainside.

At this point sea-level folks may need to get the Dramamine out, as you are going further up the mountain to the #3 tee box. At #3 you have a par 3 to a landing pad on top of the next hill, 200 yards away. Note the rattlesnake habitat warning signs as you approach the green — there are more ways to get stung here than a bad bunker shot.

#4 is from an elevated tee down to a lush green fairway 230 yards below, and then a second shot up to the green. The gentleness of 4, nestled in the trees along the side of the mountain, is a set-up for the magnificent par 5 that follows — from the top of the world. The cart path shows an arrow straight up, and it understates the climb. From the tee box, you feel like you can see seven zip codes. It takes binoculars (seriously) to really pick out the green structure, far off in the allegedly 500 yard distance. (They must measure from the base of the mountain — it looks like a half mile from the top.) The signature elk print sand traps line both sides of the fairway, way down below. More imaginative minds interpret them differently — a few years ago, my youngest exclaimed,”Those look like bear butt prints, Dad!” Whatever animal or anatomy, they are an impressive sight to see and frame the fairway perfectly.

FINISHING HOLES ARE MERE MORTALS — ALMOST

As your ears pop on the descent back to mere mortal golf, the course still has a few surprises. On the par three #6 you can see the imposing water along the left side, but not the pond wrapping around to the back — an unfortunate ball-washing for the more aggressive swinger. #7’s sand feature is one of South Dakota’s largest, and is pretty much unavoidable.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

The pro, South Dakota native J.R. Hamblet, warned about the elevation. The 285 feet of elevation change on the course is more than the uninitiated will first appreciate, and playing it is trickier than most are used to. Ok, I’ll give him that elevation greater than a step-ladder challenges we flat-lander South Dakotans, but that’s not the main secret to know. The real local knowledge is that you have to play the course more than once. There are so many blind shots, hidden gulleys, tricky traps, and other things that hate my bogeyness, you just can’t figure it out the first time around. I lost count of how many blind shots I had to trust to the hope of hitting somewhere near the barber pole marker visible over a rise out in a fairway.

MORE TO COME

This fall Elkhorn Ridge is going to start construction on another nine holes in, over and around a canyon on the south side of the interstate. If their first effort is any indication, South Dakota golfers have some great fun ahead of them on an exciting and affordable golf track.

Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.


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Spring Journal for 2013

By Christian Begeman

It is amazing how different things can be in just one year’s time. Last spring came about as early as any I can remember. I found and photographed my first pasque flower of the season on March 14 on the edge of Lake Vermillion Recreation Area. This time around, cold weather didn’t want to leave the area. I didn’t find my first pasque until May 5, nearly two months later than last year. Here’s a journal showing some of the photos I took while impatiently waiting for spring to arrive.

April 11

An ice storm that started on the 9th plunged Sioux Falls and the surrounding area into a cold mess. Thousands of people had no electricity due to downed tree branches. I guess the local wildlife had it pretty tough, too. After work, I saw a somewhat bewildered and cold rooster pheasant wandering in ice-covered corn stubble on the northwest edge of town.

April 13

Overnight, another snowfall covered eastern South Dakota. The sun finally broke through for the first time in days as I drove up to Moody County to find something interesting to photograph. On the Minnesota border, I found Salem United Methodist Church surrounded by untouched snow under a gorgeous sky. In a small creek nearby, a blue heron waded along the snowy banks.

April 20

Another weather system brought low overcast skies to the area. The area lakes were now pretty much ice free even though snow still lingered on the ground. North of Humboldt, I watched hundreds of waterfowl including many white pelicans happily fishing at a small lake. Later in the day I drove down to Union County and photographed St. Paul Lutheran Church against the low clouds. This historic church will celebrate 150 years of existence later this year.

April 22

I don’t remember seeing as many gulls in the area as I have this year. At dusk, south of Clear Lake in northwest Minnehaha County, I took a quick shot of a pulsating mass of black-headed gulls flocking as I slowly drove by.

April 24

Flurries mixed with rain and sleet moved through the area all day. The cold, wet wind smelled like spring, but still felt like winter. This lone deer watched me on a hill near Hartford, South Dakota.

May 4

The back edge of a large rain system settled in over the area. I drove north and west at sunset to an abandoned barn in northwest Minnehaha County I discovered on an earlier trip. The setting sun painted the clouds in fantastic colors just after sunset.

May 5

The weather warmed a bit, but low clouds continued to linger over the area. After church on Sunday, I caught a bit of cabin fever and drove out to check a known pasque patch in McCook County. I couldn’t find any. To the west, it looked like clear sky under low clouds at the horizon line so I decided to check a place I know in Hanson County. I wasn’t disappointed. The flowers were pretty new and not fully grown, but they were the first pasque find of the season and I couldn’t resist getting the camera out to snap their portraits.

May 7

Spring must finally be here. The smell of rain is again on the noticeably warmer air. The sound of red-winged black birds mixed with meadowlarks floated along with me as I drove the country roads, and another perfect South Dakota sunset settled in behind a prairie windmill and small, leaning outbuilding just east of Hartford, South Dakota.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog.



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Muddy Fun Run

By Rebecca Johnson

The first annual Lewis & Clark Adventure Race was held west of Yankton this past Saturday. It’s an obstacle-style 5k held on the Lewis & Clark Scout Camp.

I love running 5k races but when I first heard about this one I was not interested. Potential obstacles like climbing over a wall, belly crawling through mud under electrified wire and jumping into ice water sounded horrible. I prefer to stay relatively clean and dry on my runs. I don’t even like outdoor swimming unless it’s over 90 degrees. Why would I intentionally jump into ice water? Well, a friend invited me to run and I realized I didn’t want to miss out on this extreme experience with her.

I got an e-newsletter a week before the race showing a weight-lifting plan to help you get ready for obstacle-course racing. It hadn’t occurred to me to do any training besides running and by then it was too late! What was I getting myself into? By the time Saturday morning rolled around I was anxious to see what torture awaited me.

The race was challenging, but really quite fun. The course was mostly hilly trail-running with a small camp of obstacles in the middle and a few more toward the end. The mud was cold, and even smelly, but I had a blast. And I felt a sense of accomplishment from completing obstacles like carrying a big piece of driftwood, climbing a rope ladder and sliding down a fireman’s pole. Oh, and the wire wasn’t really electrified. There was just a sign saying”Danger: High Voltage” to scare you. What a relief!

If you’re considering doing a mud run or adventure race, gather a group of friends and go for it! The race probably isn’t as hard as you think and you’ll have an amazing time with stories to tell.

Here are some upcoming obstacle-style races around the state —

Black Hills Mud Run — Sturgis, June 1 & September 14

Dakota Mud Run — Hot Springs, July 6

MudChug — Sioux Falls, August 3

South Dakota Mudathlon — Sioux Falls, August 24

Rumble on the Ranch — Watertown, September 7

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Hiking Crow Peak Trail

By Lee Schoenbeck

Driving into Spearfish from the north this past week, my wife and I noticed a big mountain towering over Spearfish to the west. It looked like a pan of heated Jiffy Pop popcorn about to pop, so we had to check it out. We’re trying to hike most the trails in the Hills, so it looked like an opportunity.

WHAT IS IT

Crow Peak owes its shape to the magma that formed it many years ago by creeping up through fissures in the limestone and cooling. It is the product of the same geological action that formed its neighbors to the west, Devils Tower, and to the east, Bear Butte.

HOW DO WE GET THERE? GOOD QUESTION!

How can a mountain be so hard to find? Here’s a hint: take Higgins Gulch Road.

The Forest Service map tells you to take Utah Street west out of Spearfish to Road #214. There are at least three reasons why that map will not get you to Crow Peak.

First, there are no road signs. None. Nada. These people obviously got no promotional advice from the Hustead family at Wall Drug. The only sign concerning Crow Peak Trail is behind the first row of trees when you are starting your hike up the trail. You can’t even see it from the parking lot at the trailhead.

Second, according to GPS and the corresponding road signs,”Utah Street” is actually Hillsview Road. There surely is an interesting local explanation for that one.

Finally, according to the Forest Service map, there is no Road #214 anywhere near Crow Peak! The real road that you want to find, while driving west out of Spearfish on Hillsview Road, is Higgins Gulch Road.

So, how does one actually find Crow Peak, then? The obvious and most dependable way for an informed South Dakotan to do so is to call Spearfish native and Black Hills State University grad Jason Glodt on your cell phone and let him talk you through the route. Bernie won’t let me publish Jason’s cell phone number here, so just email me if you are planning the trip and I’ll send it to you. The trail is worth the trip (and the call, if you need it).

COME FOR THE EXERCISE, CATCH YOUR BREATH WITH THE VIEW

The Crow Peak trail is 3.2 miles up, and unless you can fly, another 3.2 back down. Smokers need to hang close to the parking lot on this one — it is a work out. It’s rated”difficult” according to the trail system map. For perspective, the popular and strenuous hike from Sylvan Lake to the fire tower at Harney Peak is rated an easier stroll.

The trail circles the peak as it rises from 4200 to 5600 feet. The hikers enjoy — through very deep breaths — vistas of Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota landmarks. The ski runs at Terry Peak are crystal clear to the southeast. Bear Butte is obvious as it looms to the east. Spearfish and its valley are at your feet.

ALWAYS IN GOOD COMPANY

We saw seven groups on the trail, and it looked like all but one would make it to the top. As you would expect with any South Dakota place, you meet friendly folks on the trail. While having lunch on the Peak we met Jesse Wolff and his buddy who had hiked up just behind us. Their effort was a little more strenuous, as very young Michael had tagged along in a backpack on his father’s back. Michael was fun to watch on top. While the adults were discussing the view, the mine you can clearly see, and the beauty of the Hills, Michael was pretty much focused on the charms of the Cheerios his astute father had packed in.

ENJOY THE STROLL DOWN

On the way down you breathe a lot easier. Hiking down the mountain finally gave us a chance to enjoy the scenery. We were surprised to see the abundance of our state flower, the pasque, in bloom about us along the trail. We didn’t see any mountain lions, but I would’ve been prepared. I had assured my wife that if one came upon us, I would swiftly run for help. She didn’t seem reassured, and I noticed that she decided to wear her running shoes too — instead of the boots I bought her!

Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.