After yesterday’s run in with crowds we got up extra early to head out to Sylvan Lake … the crowned jewel of Custer State Park.
When we arrived there were not that many people there yet so we got a good parking spot and had a very quiet morning to start our hike around Sylvan Lake. The lake was calm and slick as glass with a few groups of people fishing for trout.
On the backside by the dam is where the lakeside trail split and we continued onto the Sunday Gulch Trail. We did our research before heading out and knew to reverse the direction to make for an easier exit as opposed to a hard descent into the gulch on the hand rails.
Total hiking distance is about a four miles. Suggested hiking time is 3 to five hours. We did it in three and a half. The trail is very beautiful with a wide range or terrain. Lake views, rock and boulder scrambling, a tunnel, water crossings, small wild flower meadows, various rock formations and of course the hand rail sections over slick wet boulders on your ascent out of the gulch.
The return to the parking lot was easy once out of the gulch. Now the entire parking lot and anywhere someone could park was taken up with vehicles. We were so glad to have gotten here early. We hiked and were back to basecamp by lunchtime!
Tomorrow brings a travel day. It will be a short one so we can take our time departing here in the morning.
Oh yeah!! Dominoes tournament! I won last night!!! By hundreds of points! Tim refuses to play a game
of dominoes tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment