More hiking adventures.

A couple of my co-workers, Leah and Steve, have started an informal hiking group on Saturdays.

Deerfield Lake - We hiked THIRTEEN MILES
around the lake

Deerfield Lake Loop:

Our Group

Lunch Break

The first hike I went on with the group was the Deerfield Lake Loop.  There was a group of seven of us on the hike ranging in age from 20 to 64.  My friends know where I was in that line up.  It was a great hike around Deerfield Lake - I would rate it as "moderate".   But, according to our guide book it was a 10-mile loop.  When we got to the 10 mile mark, we were still out in the boonies!!!  Almost three miles later, we could see our cars - on the far side of a barb wire fence and a creek.  The trail went around for about another mile.  Leah and I took one look at each other and crawled under the fence and waded across the creek!  We were done:)  We all learned a lesson on that hike - check the distance in several sources and take lots of water.  I had two liters but still ran out the last mile.

What???  Way over there?  Leah and
I crawled under the fence and waded across
a small stream.  We didn't have
another mile left in us:)

The Trail

Old Baldy Trail, Spearfish Canyon:

The second hike I went on with the group was the Old Baldy Trail in Spearfish Canyon.  This trail leads up to the summit of Old Baldy with a great view of the Northern Black Hills.  We met at the EDR (employee dining room) at 8:00 and headed to Spearfish Canyon (1.5 hours away) for the hike.  This hike was another moderate hike of about a 7-mile loop.  There were 10 of us in the group this time - ranging in age from about 18 to 64.  Do you see a pattern here?  After the hike we went to Roughlock Falls, and dangled our feet in the water before heading back to Keystone.  Some of the young international workers, had never seen a waterfall before.

At the top of Old Baldy