Friday, August 23, 2013

The Needles

Climbing at the Needles Climbing at the Needles

 

After our trip to the big city we went back to climbing.  We drove the Needles Highway through Custer State Park and stopped to check out some climbs that were very run out with only one bolt for protection in 40 feet.  We didn’t want to risk falling off of them so we continued on to another climbing area.  There were some amazing rock formations and the Needles Highway was very scenic with a couple of 8.5 foot wide rock tunnels to drive through, definitely worth the drive.

 

Bands of crystals ran through the granite rock at the South Seas climbing area we did a few.  It was sharp on the fingers but made great holds.  On the last climb I started to feel my hip so we called it a day and headed to Sylvan Lake to swim then into Custer for lunch.  We enjoyed tacos from the taco truck in town then said goodbye to South Dakota and started driving home.