Custer to Crazy Horse 8/3

Today I had originally planned to run the portion of the Centennial Trail that goes from the Big Pine Trail head on Rt 244 ( how appropriate for a sunday run ) to a spur that gets you close to Mt Rushmore . But after talking with Emily of the Black Hills Running Club we decided that might be a more of a run walk,  so I opted for the Mickelson Trail from Custer up to the Crazy Horse Memorial . It would get the 12 miles I was hoping for and be ez enough that I could actually run all of it !

Named for Lt Col George Armstrong …Custer is a neat little town surrounded by cliffs and Ponderosa Pine. Still some Aspen down here but more Birch . One of the largest caves in the world ( nope … not me ) ,  a buffalo roundup , and some Flintstone thing I know nothing about …. but Fred and Wilma must have slept here or something. Whats not to like !

Running up to Crazy Horse from Custer you get to see some of the great granite formations that mark the Black Elk Wilderness . The" Needles" … and Harney Peak are part of this very old uplift (?)…. with all kinds of wild shale and slate rings running through it . Harney is the highest point east of the Rockies and apparently isn't that difficult to climb …… let you know tomorrow !

ops …. this just in . Re: Flintstones ….. Bedrock is located just east of Custer

More of my favorite high country meadows

whats left of the train tracks

Great Granite