The Outdoors is My Cathedral - Thursday, June 18, 2020

I'm not a morning person so it takes something special to get me out of the 5th wheel before 9:00 a.m. Knowing that the Cathedral Spires Trailhead parking area on the Needles Highway fills up early, we wanted to get there quickly this morning. When we arrived about 8:45 a.m., there were two parking spots left that would fit our Ford F350. All the parking spots were gone by 8:55 a.m. This trail is in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

"Why?" you ask.

"Because this is a divinely beautiful spot," I answer. 

Just sitting in the truck looking out, this is the view.

Cathedral Spires.

This walk is rated the same as the Sunday Gulch Trail. Reviews were mixed as to the difficulty level of this hike. I'll tell you my opinion later after we've hiked the trail.

Trailhead sign.

This sign says the trail is "strenuous" due to a steep section over boulders. Length: 2.3 miles round trip. Time: 1-2 hours. Climb: 500 feet. We hiked it in an hour and 15 minutes. 

Cautionary tips: Wear suitable shoes for rugged terrain. Take AT LEAST one quart of water per person. No restrooms along the trail. Take extra clothes, it will likely be windy and cooler in the higher elevations of the trail [it was, but it felt good on a warm summer day]. Thunderstorms containing hail, strong winds, lightning and rain are frequent during summer months. Pack out trash. There are several stream crossings along this trail. [We did not see any stream crossings.]

The start of this trail goes up and down and then levels out. Flora includes thick green ferns, tall, lush grasses, and high-elevation trees such as Ponderosa pine. The trail surface is mostly dirt or sand with some rocks and roots. But the spires are the scene stealers. Look straight ahead, there are dramatic spites reaching for the sky; look to the side, find your whole view filled with a wall of spires; look behind you and see for miles out across the granite-filled Black Hills. 

Gradual incline here with some rocks.
Don't forget to look at the view!

Again, a relatively flat trail with a view!

Don't forget to look to the side as well.

Rock gardens.

About the middle portion of the trail, the climb gets steeper, but there are stairs. So far, this hike is very do-able.

Steps to help you get higher.

A wall of spires.

The rock formation on the left
reminds me of a whale spyhopping.

On the way up, be sure to turn
around to see the views.

We continued our climb up the trail. At some points, we had to go over some boulders, but people had put rocks in you could use to help you get up the boulders. Bob was right there to lend a helping hand and haul me up if needed. I also had one hiking pole with me that helped with balance stabilization.

Wild iris.

Bob on the trail. It's a gradual climb here.

Bob providing a perspective of the scenery.

Again, a flat part of the trail.

Where Cathedral Spires and Little
Devil's Tower Trials meet.

Many jagged spires.

Here, we are on the final gradual ascent to the end of the trail. It is cooler at this elevation and was quite windy on the day we did the hike.

Majestic!

A rock formation at the end of the trail.
It looks like Bigfoot or Chewbacca with a child.

A beautiful frame for the spires.

We made it to the top! I told Bob this trail difficulty was like kindergarten compared to the Sunday Gulch Trail. It was so much easier!!! You can see we're smiling. Now, we just go back the way we came up. And it's 80% downhill back to the car!!

Woo hoo! Big happy smile. 

No problem with this hike!

One of the complaints we read in the reviews about this trail is that the end of the trail is anti-climactic with no long-range views. I don't know where those people were looking or if they came up here at night, but there ARE views from the top of the trail.

Bob at the top of the trail.

You can see the view behind him.

When you turn around, you have this view!

Heading back down the trail. This is
where it was windy and cooler.

The rock formation below reminded me of a tawny frogmouth bird we saw at a preserve in Australia. Or, you could say it looks a little like an eagle.

A "bouldery" area going down.

In the next photo, if you look carefully at the center bottom, you can see how much farther down the trail Bob is than I am. This is one of the steeper drops.

The ferns are so thick and tall!

Lush green grasses.

Almost done. Now it's just a
short distance back to the car.

My spirit has been refreshed in this outdoor cathedral. It's just one of the many amazing places we've been in the past few days.

In the afternoon, I did six loads of laundry. Now we're all set for another week!

Tomorrow, we drive to Devil's Tower and stay at the KOA at the entrance to the park. Bob has never been there, so I'm excited to show him around. We plan to do the 11k Volksmarch.

That's all for today.