We went to Hill City, which is a really neat little town. We ate at interesting and delicious restaurants. Everything from high class casino restaurant in Deadwood to Roscos diner in Sturgis and the Branding Iron at the Nemo Guest Ranch.
And the Sturgis Coffee Company was the best place I've ever gotten a cup of coffee or an iced tea.
We saw Mt. Rushmore and Mt. Crazy Horse.
Carolyn and I at the starting line. 5:30 a.m., on less than 4 hours of sleep.
We drove to all the aid stations on Friday to have an idea of where we were going so we wouldn't get lost on Saturday. Steve took a little jaunt up the trail. It was so beautiful there.
And in true adventure woman fashion, I had time to climb the mountain. Steve went with me this time. When we came to the barbed wire fence he didn't think we should keep climbing, but he gave in to me and we kept going up. We crossed the trail the runners were on about 20 feet above the fence, so we knew we weren't trespassing so we felt a little better and continued up.
We had to deal with very slippery footing because the pine trees had lost their needles and they were dead and all over the ground. You couldn't use the downed trees for footing because they had been down for so long they were completely dead and when you stepped on them they turned to dust under your feet.
We were about halfway up when Steve told me he wasn't sure we could get all the way to the ridge line. I was hot, sweaty and out of breath, but I told him we were going to the top. I don't get to do many things that are exciting and hard and make me feel a great feeling of accomplishment. I was getting to the ridge. So he climbed in front of me, told me where to put my feet, what route was best and what rock was loose and not to climb on. I really did listen and look, and yet still grabbed that rock and fell on the mountain. It earned me this.
When we reached the top, this was our view. It took 80 minutes to climb up and then get back down, to give you an idea of how high it was. I was so happy Steve climbed with me and got to see this.
This is a bluff that we went out on and looked down the moutain.
I took this standing at the car. It's so different then what I'm used to seeing. God is really quite an artist.
It was an interesting experience. Steve was dressed and geared up and ready to start running at the 50 mile mark. He was so excited to get out on the course. Mark however, had run an extremely challenging course in 90 degree weather and at mile 50 he dropped out of the race. We had been at the aid stations with my new friend Al from Ontario whose wife, Linda was running the race and Dan, who's girlfriend Stephanie was running the race.
Linda is a real powerhouse. Steve asked her if she would like a pacer for the last 50 miles. She said sure. Since they were driving home to Ontario when she finished the race, Al asked since I was going to be there for Steve would I crew Linda and let him get some sleep. I said yes, and then Dan was planning to run with Stephanie and had no one to drive his car, so Steve had a runner, I had two runners to crew and a car, so all was good.
And then everything went wrong. Stephanie pulled out at mile 57. I got asked to take Annoying Bob back to the start line also because he had dropped as well. (Bob was only annoying because I was tired and cranky). So we drove back to Dan's hotel and the start line and dropped them off and then I went back to the woods to check on Steve and Linda. Missed them at the Nemo aid station, but picked up their stuff and went to the next one.
I expected them in about 2 hours, around 3:40 a.m. At 4:00 they weren't there, and as time went on toward the 5:00 cut off, I got nervous and then worried and then downright scared. I talked to the aid station volunteers who had no idea what the plan was for lost runners. I was the only one of the volunteers or crew members that looked healthy enough to trek up the trail and look for them, but then I figured that there would just be one more lost person in the woods. I drove to the next aid stations looking for the race director, trying to find out who would go after them.
I found no one who knew anything. Now I'm frantic, imagining Linda going over the bluff, Steve trying to save her and both rolling to the bottom, a pack of mountain lions eating them, a broken leg, rattlesnake nests (I had 4 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours, I was beyond myself). As I was pulling back in I saw her red shirt and Steve's green shirt. The trail was not marked well and after 70 miles and in the dark, it was even more confusing. They ran an extra 7 miles and missed the cutoff time and Linda's race was over and Steve still had 29 miles of trail he wanted to see.
I was immensely relieved, thanked God for bringing them out of the trail.
We went sightseeing Sunday afternoon in Custer National Park. Loved the buffalo.
Monday flew home. So happy to be home. I loved the trip, the experience, the people and the adventure. Looking forward to the next one. But SO SO happy to be home.
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