Vertical Means Up…

Still South Dakota-ing it-

We have been super do-ers

these last few days. Today

was no different. We did some

of the Needles Hwy on our way

to Sylvan Lake. We were planning

to hike the Sunday Gulch Trail. The

information out there is that it’s 2.8

miles. We also heard and read on the

trailhead signs that it was 4 miles with

many up and down. Although they used

words like steep descent. In the end it

was 4 +. It was suggested to us by several

other hikers to do the course backward and

make the steep descent into a steep ascent.

We finally after many starts and stops got started

correctly. Lots of the confusion was because the start

of the trail had a detour-not clearly marked-

It was the lady with a backpack full of rope and the

other persons belt full of clanking carabiners, that

gave me pause. Never the less, we persisted and did

finish the trail. In the end it was a better idea to ascent

with rails then descend with them. I was glad when it was

over – is an understatement. It was also a full body workout.

tomorrow we head back to the Mickelson for a quick 45 miler

hopefully no rain for us… Hubby tells me this part is downhill.

Total outside hours:427