Well, we were supposed to head out to the Appalachian Trail for vacation, but decided to cancel due to many continuous days of pouring rain from Hurricane Nate.  I can handle some rain while backpacking, but I didn't want to be completely soaked and missing all the views on what's supposed to be a nice vacation.  So we had to head West into the mountains instead.  I know, I know, poor me. 

First stop was the Black Hills in South Dakota for a 3 day/2 night backpacking loop.  We car camped in Custer State Park among the buffalo the first night.  The campground was actually fenced in to stop the buffalo from wandering into your site - they were everywhere.  The forecast was bleak for our first day/night out.  Cold rain and then snow later with lows in the 20s.  I have a very hard time getting warm once I'm cold and also tend to sleep very cold, so I said fuck it and tucked my 1 pound summer quilt in additional to my regular sleeping bag into my backpack before we headed out.  The goal was to hike as long as possible before the precip came, and then settle into the tent for a long night.  The Black Hills were surprisingly much prettier than I had expected.  Water was flowing in the streams and the trails were nice.  The day was gray and cloudy with the sky looking ominous.  We managed about 13 miles before the rain/sleet started at 2:30pm.  Thankfully we had just collected water and found a nice flat spot a little off trail for the tent without too much difficulty.  Had we been in a different location, we would have had to hike for a while through the bullshit falling from the sky to find a spot.  Very lucky.

It started to snow not long after we settled in.  We were plenty warm with my extra quilt draped over us and I mostly read books on my phone (no service out there) and ate snacks to pass the time.  It was an uneventful and long evening in the tent, besides having to get out to pee. The next morning was unpleasant; having to pack up a cold and wet tent isn't very fun.  But at least the sun was out and I knew we would warm up eventually.

If you ever want to get stared at, I recommend walking into Mt. Rushmore among the fat tourists with backpacking gear and wearing shorts while it's 30 degrees.  We hadn't camped very far away and decided to take the detour up to see it and get more water.  And I got to wash my hands in a warm bathroom!  Win-win!  I hadn't been to Mt. Rushmore since I was a kid, so I guess it was kind of cool.  The main destination for the day was to summit Black Elk/Harney Peak, which at 7,244ft is the highest mountain in the U.S. east of the Rockies.  We were avoiding the tourist trail up, and climbed up the back way instead.  The trail was overgrown, plus all the snow from the night before made for a cold and wet hike.  I'm not sure why I always end up on these damn overgrown trails on vacation.  Walking through thorny, wet bushes makes your legs sting like hell.  It was a rough hike up with a heavy backpack. 

After summiting (very pretty, very cold, very icy), we headed back down and discussed our options.  We felt like we had seen what we wanted to see in the park and doing another day wouldn't give us anything new.  Plus camping in the 20s with no fire and sitting outside in all your layers while haltingly wolfing down your dinner isn't very fun to me.  We had nothing to prove, so said fuck it and made a beeline for the car and headed back to the campground.  I got to eat my dinner while sitting next to a fire and enjoying my night after hiking 15 miles.  I guess I'm more of a fair weather backpacker and I'm okay with that.  I don't like prolonged cold.

We jetted out of the Black Hills super early the next morning to go for a hike in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming.  The highway through there might be the prettiest road I've ever been on.  The hike was spectacular too.  Unfortunately we were on a time constraint and didn't make our destination on our hike and had to turn back early.  The trail was mostly snow covered and we spent too much time off track for a while.  But it was still amazingly beautiful.  We'll definitely be back to spend more time there.

The rest of our time was spent in Colorado.  Rocky Mountain National Park is spectacular, as always.  We did a big loop hike there and went to Sky Pond.  We had to climb an iced over waterfall to accomplish that.  Thank god for spikes.  As we were heading up, we ran into some girls who somehow made it up the waterfall, but were stuck at the top and couldn't figure out a safe way down.  We threw them up our spikes and they were able to climb back down to us.  A lot of the park was busy with people, but as with most places, the further you get from the trailhead the less people there are.  We had Sky Pond pretty much all to ourselves.  It was magical.

We attempted to summit a 13er (Mt. Audubon) in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, but fell about 300' short of the summit due to deep snow.  Again, I got nothing to prove.  It was yet another beautiful hike with awe inspiring views.  I am just thankful I handle altitude well.

The last stop was Colorado Springs to visit our friend Tracey, whom you might remember as RunsWithWolves from RWOL.  She's super fun and we were excited to get to hang out with her again.  We were initially going to climb Pike's Peak (14,000ft), but a wind advisory kept us off the mountain.  Later we heard there were 48mph winds and a windchill of 1 degree up top.  Wise decision on our part. Instead we summited Mt. Rosa at 11,500 feet.  We started our hike at 7,500', so it was 4,000' up to the top over a total of 7 miles.  JFC, that was rough.  Guess who moves really slowly at 10,000' while climbing a fucking steep ass grade?  Not Tracey.  LOL.  I went from wearing a winter jacket, winter hat, and big gloves at the top of the mountain to shorts and a t-shirt later in the hike.  This mountain shit is crazy, but I love it.

Pictures:

Black Hills backpacking

This was probably around 5pm when I had to get out of the tent to pee.

The next day, hiking into the snow.

This trail wasn't bad.

On top of Black Elk Peak.

In the Bighorns!

Easy peasy stream crossings

More Bighorns

RMNP

Part of the ice waterfall.

Red arrow is where we're attempting to summit on Mt. Audubon

Heading on up

And up!

Fuck it, these views are good enough.

Much warmer in Colorado Springs!

View of Pike's Peak from Tracey's deck.

 

Please tell the douche bag I said hello.

You mean Prairie-douche bag 

Mandy - nice pictures.  DW and I were on that same road a few weeks ago into MT.  It was her first time seeing Mt and she loved it. We need to go back since we missed out on Glacier NP this year (even though Warden did a great job setting up options for us).

Love the Sky Pond pics. Pretty cool.

Thanks for the beautiful pics, Mandy!I think the Bighorns and the Black Hills (off the tourist track) are some of the West's best secrets. Yes, CO is spectacular, but you only visit that area, I think you  really miss out.

 

Did you take Hwy 16 or Hwy 14 through the Bighorns?  I bet you were further north on 14 while we were down south on 16.

 

And holy crap, that's a long drive for you!

 

You mean Prairie-douche bag 

 

Mandy - nice pictures.  DW and I were on that same road a few weeks ago into MT.  It was her first time seeing Mt and she loved it. We need to go back since we missed out on Glacier NP this year (even though Warden did a great job setting up options for us).

 

Love the Sky Pond pics. Pretty cool.

Yes. I did.

We are planning to go the Big Horns next June.

Well, I'm back from vacation!  We had a wonderful time out West.  A little cold, a little snowy, but that's better than constant rain.  The mountains were beautiful, of course.

 

It seems like you're always coming back from vacation. Not that I object, besides I like the pictures.

 

It seems like you're always coming back from vacation. Not that I object, besides I like the pictures.

Ha!  I guess we usually take two vacations a year.  I sure don't feel like I'm always on vacation.