I'm excited about this one. My parents took me here when I was 8 years old and yes, I am old enough to remember, so it counts among the 49 that I have visited. It was one of our favorite family vacations. However, it is the only state that I have visited as a child but NOT as an adult. Too many other races have been on my radar and better fit my schedule.
This trip will require 2 days off work. I'll get into Rapid City at mid-afternoon on Thursday 10/1 after a connection in Chicago but I figure it will already be after 3:00 by the time I get my rental car. What I do after that is still to be determined. I'll definitely head north to Spearfish, which is only about an hour away. Do I spend the night there and just relax or do I head west into Wyoming? Devils Tower Monument is only an hour further down the road and there appears to be a very nice park called Keyhole that's just 30 minutes farther. Knowing me, I'll probably opt for the latter. I figure I'll have to spend the night in Wyoming. There is no way that I can catch both the park and the tower before sunset.
The next morning, you can bet that I will be up with the sun and quickly on the move. I'll head back east to Spearfish with a possible short detour to Montana. I want to get a picture of as many Welcome signs as I can. From Spearfish, 14-A looks to be a very scenic road through the Black Hills. I can see Bridal Veil Falls and especially if I started in Wyoming, it may be almost lunch by the time I get to Deadwood. From there, it will be 385 down towards Keystone. Again, how much I do there is to be determined. My gut tells me to hit Badlands NP just about 2 hours or so before sunset and stay there until the sun goes down. This is a MUST see. I may spend the bulk of my Friday afternoon at Badlands and catch the Custer attractions on Saturday. I can be flexible depending on the weather forecast.
Of course, the number one attraction in the Custer area is Mount Rushmore. Also on my radar are Sylvan Lake, Black Elk Peak and Needles Highway. Wind Cave may have to be skipped. I can't see everything and I usually don't find caves to be overly exciting. Black Elk Peak is the highest point (7244 ft) east of the Rocky Mountains and there is an epic hiking trail to the top of it. Unfortunately, that will probably also have be skipped. It's a strenuous trail of 7.6 miles round trip and takes 4 hours. I don't have that kind of time and don't want to jeopardize my race.
Race day is Sunday at Crazy Horse. It's a point to point high altitude downhill course (roughly 6,000 ft down to 5,000). Tahoe at 7,000 was ROUGH but I actually found Teton at 6,000 to be not so bad. Neither was Denver at 5,280. Most runners say that their times are slightly better on this course than a normal rolling course located at near sea level. As for the weather conditions, I expect a chilly morning. Probably in the 30s at elevation but it warms up nicely in the afternoon. Average highs this time of year are still in the mid 60s with a good probability of sunshine. Should be a good trip. My flight back leaves just before 4:30. With an 8 AM start, I should have no trouble making it to the airport in plenty of time but won't be able to catch any sights that I may have missed.
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