Following our first visit to Wind Cave National Park, we decided we wanted to come back and do a hike. Today the weather forecast was sunny and in the low 80s. A good day for a hike. Once again we had heavy rains last night so decided we would check in at the ranger station for any trail closure information and David needed to pick up a Wind Cave NP ball cap to add to his new collection. The Rangers had no information for the trail we planned to hike but warned us the streams would be full from the recent rains. Seems this part of South Dakota is having a wetter year than normal in that they have already exceeded the average yearly rainfall. We decided to hike the Lookout Point trail that when combined with parts of the Highland Creek and Centennial trail forms a 4.5 mile loop. The Look Out Point trail meanders through highland prairie grass. We choose to wear shorts for this hike since the temperatures were expected to be in the low 80s. We quickly realized this was not the best plan as our bare legs were getting brushed by all the prairie grasses and weeds. But even worse, less than a quarter of a mile from the trailhead we came across our first batch of poison ivy. A noxious three leaf plant (beware thee of leaves of three) whose sap can cause blistering and rashes to exposed skin. Little did we realize we would have to work through more poison ivy than either of us had seen in our lives times a million!! Anywhere there was a shady area there was poison ivy we had to gingerly walk through or around. At times it was only on one side of the trail, which was easy to avoid. Other times it was on both sides and we had to pick our way down the trail twisting and turning to avoid having it touch our bare legs. At one point we had to wade across a stream because the poison ivy was too thick on the trail to get to the bridge. If we had any clue about how much of it we would run into, we would have turned around at the first patch. But, somehow we managed to avoid getting any rashes or blisters. The first two miles of the Lookout Point trail is through tall prairie grass with lots of prairie dog towns with plenty of signs of buffalo.
At first, the warning chirps of the prairie dogs was cute and they were fun to watch. But after a couple of miles of it, those chirps just got to be annoying. There were thousands of those little rodents! We started to hear thunder overhead and the clouds began to thicken. At the two mile mark, Lookout Point trail intersects the Highland Creek trail and the two join up. At this point we started to enter some forested areas and the ever present poison ivy. It also began to drizzle. Between the rain and our sweat, we were soaked.
We came into a large field and found there was a large buffalo bull lounging in the grass and occasionally rolling on its back to wiggle in the dirt. Seeing a massive, 1000lb+ animal, wiggling upside down like a little puppy was a sight to behold. As we walked along the trail, he got up on his feet and stared at us. Being out in the open with this massive beast poised to run you into the ground definitely heightens one’s senses. There was no place to run and hide if he decided he did not like us. Fortunately he just stood there and stared as we worked our way down the trail.
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A half-mile after the Lookout Point trail and Highland Creek come together, the Highland Creek trail splits off and we are hiking on the southernmost portion of the South Dakota Centennial trail. The 110 mile Centennial Trail starts at where we parked and works its way north through the Black Hills to the town of Lead. On this portion of the loop, the poison ivy was thickest. We were only 2 miles from the truck but it seemed like a lot further. The area the trail followed was along side a little creek that we had to cross over multiple times. Beautiful cliffs popped up on either side with forests of Ponderosa Pines and at points the creek ran along the bottom of the cliffs. The water was flowing high and fast due to last nights rain and was surprising cold! If it had not been for the damn poison ivy, it would have been a beautiful portion of the trail. Soon we were back at the truck. We drove the scenic route up through the National park and into Custer State Park before reaching the Wanderer.
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