Every year, my husband, Bob Schulenberg and I take a week and head to the Black Hills over the week of the Independence Day holiday. It is a week of relaxation and hiking. One of our favorite hikes starts at the Calumet Trailhead on Sheridan Lake. It winds around the lake giving us incredible views from far above the water. One year, we saw a group of Turkey Vultures sitting in the trees. These are incredibly big birds, that resemble turkeys a little bit, and you tend to wonder how they are able to fly at all…they are so big. The trail also has Chipmunks, Downy Woodpeckers, and many other birds.
At the far end of the trail, you cross over an earthen dam, to the opposite side of the lake, where there are a 
set of stone stairs and other stone structures. The trail then winds down to a dam and at some point, winds on to points unknown…at least to us. That part of the trail is steep and almost more of a rock-climbing event…not the kind of trail we like to hike. The trail actually splits of at a couple of different points and ends up quite far from the trail we are hiking on. Maybe, someday we will take one of those spurs and see where it takes us. The Black Hills is full of trails that cross each other and even share the same space for a short distance.
Our all-time favorite trail in the Black Hills, however, is the trail to Black Elk Peak (we always knew it as Harney Peak). I won’t go into my thoughts on the name change, because it won’t do any good anyway. The hike to 
Harney Peak was a difficult one. It takes three hours one way, but it was worth every step. The view from the top is absolutely amazing. You can see five states from up there. The chipmunks up there are really friendly, or they like to beg for some of your lunch. Either way, I have had them com right up to me to get a chip and even climb over my leg like it wasn’t attached to a human, supposedly their enemy. We haven’t been able to hike Harney Peak for a number of years now, and I really miss it. Nevertheless, our trips to the Black Hills will always be a treasured time for Bob and me.
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