Hail to the Peak (Day 9)

Well, to be honest, we didn’t make it to the peak we were climbing. And we didn’t visit Mount Rushmore either. But I’ll explain the title.

The day started with lousy weather: 38 degrees, and on-and-off downpours all night. We were dry and warm inside the trailer though. Not wanting to hang around on a gray morning, we drove the Custer wildlife loop again. Saw more buffalo and their young, all before having breakfast at one of the lodges here.


Afterwards, we decided to drive on one of the designated scenic drives here. Only one problem: it was so foggy, it was hard enough to see the road, much less the distant scenery. We turned around early and headed back to the trailer for a break.

Needing gas, we drove into Custer. There we had lunch at the Purple Pie Place.

The pies were fantastic. Juliet had strawberry/rhubarb, and I had chocolate. (We couldn’t resist from trying them before taking a picture.) We bought a whole blackberry pie to go.



By this point, the fickle weather was improving to 60 degrees and partly sunny. We decided to try and hike up Little Devil’s Tower. As soon as we started, the weather turned and the rain came. Since we had raingear, we pressed on up. A cloud front passed through, cutting off the view of the surrounding hills.



Still, by this point, we wanted to make it to the top. The trail changed to being a nearly straight up scramble through the rocks, the pathway sometimes narrowing to a slit.

We were one final rock scramble away from the top, and then we heard thunder. At that moment, we simultaneously said “We’re heading down.” Good thing we did, because a few minutes later, M&M sized hail pelted us. It hailed on and off for about ten minutes, partly coating the ground.



We headed down as quickly as we could while being VERY careful not to slip. As usual, it takes a lot less time to go down than to go up - but my knees were quivering from the constant descent.

Today’s good thing: A tie between pie and waterproof/non-cotton hiking gear.

Today’s bad thing: The furnace in the trailer isn’t lighting. (I had checked that out before we left and it worked fine in the driveway.) Not a huge issue: we have warm clothes and bedding, and the insulated trailer is warmer than a tent. Still, if snow hits Yellowstone, members of my family may collect on the betting pool of when we’ll wind up in a hotel. (Not that a hotel would be a horrible idea…)

Tom