Training Log Archive: kgeisen

Spent morning driving through Custer SP, then went to Sylvan Lake for boys to swim. Jeff and Jacob walked the trail around the lake, but I wanted to hike up to Harney Peak. No way Jacob would get to swim if they did the peak hike, so we split up. The sign at the trailhead said to expect 4-5 hours, they were guessing 30 minute hike then an hour of swimming. I initially told Jeff I'd turn around after 45 minutes, but I was close enough that I didn't want to turn around and miss the summit and figured Jacob would enjoy extra swimming itme. Of course, it took longer than I expected, but I figured the return trip would be faster. Gorgeous views from top. Stayed a little to take some pictures then hiked back. Hauled ass both ways but felt relatively good. Elapsed time was 2:29, which I was pretty proud of, but it turned out the lake had been closed to swimming because of contamination and a very grumpy husband had been waiting on me for about an hour and a half. Even with that, the hike was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

After a long day of sitting in the car driving around Badlands NP, we finally split from Jeff's family to hike. Halfway down the first trail, Jacob's stomach started acting up and we had to turn around. He basically had stomach issues from the first day til the second last day, which complicated any kind of physical activity. That added to the fact that Jeff's family is pretty sedentary really limited anything beyond driving from place to place and taking pictures at lookouts. By this point I felt like I was in a cage.

Presidential trail at Mt. Rushmore with family. Lots of photo stops.

After Crazy Horse/Mt. Rushmore the family did some shopping in Hill City and I had Jeff drop me at a Mickelson Trail trailhead so I could ride back to our campground. Surface much like the Katy but sneaky. First few miles I felt like I was dying ("obviously I'm not as recovered from Saturday as I thought...this trail is mushy from yesterday's rain...do I have a flat tire?") before thinking to look at elevation on my Garmin. Steady 2% grade for the first 8 miles. While I'd handled that with no problem on Saturday (until it got hot) my legs were over it. Still absolutely beautiful riding, great scenery, and best of all I wasn't sitting in the car.

Hike around Tower Trail at Devil's Tower with family, then hiked partway looking for my SIL and nephew.