In early May, I ran the Black Elk loop in the Black Elk Wilderness in the Black Hills of North Dakota with Ian and Clemmie as part of The Fifty. The Black Hills are one of the lowest profile adventurelands in the Intermountain West. They’ve got everything — high plains, sweet caves, granite climbing, hot springs, limestone climbing, motorcycles, particle physics experiments, you name it! And great trail running on horse trails and singletrack.
All photos by Ian.
The run starts with a little detour to Mount Rushmore. Optional, but probably a better way to see it than driving there. Start early, and you can enter before it opens and avoid the tourist hordes.
Lincoln remains my favorite president. It was a true honor to visit this landmark with my favorite Scot on Earth.
Dreamy, cushy singletrack. Near here, we ran into a couple of backpackers hiking the Centennial Trail from South to North. They were old, old friends and very friendly — in their late 50’s/early 60’s. I love seeing people out enjoying nature with good friends.
The Black Elk Loop is pretty much all runnable. It’s really, really good running.
The tower on the top of Black Elk Peak. High point of North Dakota. This is where we learned about the nearby particle physics experiment. Clemmie and I just knew Momo would be most jealous.
Per Ian’s request.
Atop one of the domes. Here we met and ran a little ways a baptist missionary who lived in Papua New Guinea, who was visiting his daughter in Rapid City. By the sound of it, he could only get home by several airplane and helicopter flights. Interactions like this are a good reminder that there are a lot of ways in the world.
Legend says there is good climbing in the Cathedral Spires. Ominous.