The First Three Days

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Wednesday July 13th
Traveled to a farm for the DRA BOD meeting. Took a long stop at Oacoma to check out the flooding and take a little hike. Night at the farm house was great, the homeowner had a bunch of beds for her grandkids so we were all put up in a very nice fashion. When I got there she offered me iced tea and chicken, but when I refused the chicken, a rice krispy bar was forced on me instead. I love Midwesterners.

Thursday July 14th
Woke up to coffee and a homemade breakfast – wonderous, again. DRA BOD meeting this morning. It ended up being kind of sad- it was my last meeting on the board. And they actually applauded when I told them I was going to grad school – unexpected and humbling! It made me realize how much DRA has been in my life, and I’m going to be sad to leave them! At least it ended in the best possible way, a face-to-face meeting and a potluck!
Anyhow! That’s not the exciting stuff. After the meeting I ended up going to Rapid City to finish up my paper for submission and was there until around 9pm. I had a reservation at Custer, and I’m thinking, well that’s only like, a half hour away. Maybe. Definitely not if you get lost.
Since I was in a hurry to get to the campsite, I just used the GPS and punched in the entrance I thought was near where I was going. Long story short, it was not, and I ended up taking the needles highway around 10 pm. This is a good time to bring up the fact that I’m afraid of heights. The drive was harrowing; I drove with my hands clenched on the steering wheel, sweating profusely, eyes hurting from not blinking for fear I’d miss a person, animal, or a curve that would send me hurtling off the edge of the cliff. Also, in the back of my mind is the fact that they only hold the reservation until 10 and I’m thinking that someone is waiting there for me not to show up. (Illogical, I know, but this is how I think). In the end, I got there around 10:30. No one was waiting there. No one took my spot. I could tell there was a creek nearby because I could hear it, but it wasn’t until the morning that I was able to see the nice campground I was in 😊

Friday, July 15th
Harney Peak Day.
The night before I had looked up to see that the hike to Harney peak was actually 6 miles long. And I was a little cautious about going. But in the end, I packed up and got ready to go. 6 mile hike, a lot up hill, so of course I packed granola bars, trail mix and around 64 oz of water. As I started on the trail, I saw people going up carrying one bottle of water. Pfft! ONE bottle of water?? This isn’t a walk in the park people! (Ok, it kind of is, but you know what I mean) But of course, one’s athletic ability was far more important than how prepared they were for a 6 mile hike, and many of the unprepared people passed me up on the hike. But at least I had snacks.
After the hike, I collapsed next to Slyvan lake and took a nap. I felt like I deserved it. Then I took the wildlife loop in the afternoon for another low key activity after the morning’s hike. Saw some pronghorn sheep, buffalo and of course the burros. Spent the evening fishing on the lake and it turned out to be a perfect night. (Didn’t catch anything, but watched a turtle eat my worm and watched cute little crayfish scuttle about.)

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