Custer State Park Hikes, Custer, SD, continued

July 2-3, 2017

Cathedral Spires Trail

The Cathedral Spires Trail leads into the Needles formations: spires, towers and pillars of granite.  The hike is a strenuous 1.5 miles each way, but much of the trail is shaded and the landscape is stunning.

We are often amazed at geology:  Huge chunks of rock columns have fallen away. Rocks balance precariously.  Minerals and faults decorate massive formations. 

That’s a mountain goat at the top of the mountain in the picture above and zoomed in in the picture below.  We saw a couple of nannies and a kid, but they were not cooperative for the camera.

Stockade Lake Trail

The Stockade Lake Trail winds a mile and a half into the Ponderosa Pines above Stockade Lake.

The pointy rocks in the distance?  The Cathedral Spires where we hiked in the morning.

And, our third trail is logged!

Little Devil’s Tower Trail

This one-mile trail earned its strenuous rating with rock scrambles at the top of Little Devil’s Tower.  Here is a shot of the top from another hike. It does resemble Devil’s Tower!

The hike up was what we’d come to expect:  Lots of interesting and beautiful rock formations, a little meadow, and wonderful vistas.

The hiker before us had left his pack and walking stick at the bottom of this squeeze.  He was smart because the steep rocks from here to the top required more agility than equipment.

For Jane, this was the hard part.

She let Dave proceed to the top.  Those Alpine Search and Rescue skills from high school stayed with him and served him well!

Even from the lesser peak the views of the Cathedral Spires and the path we’d taken the day before were perfect.

Jane worried about getting down this scramble [too much imagination], but found that thinking about it was worse than doing it.