Hiking to Devil's Bathtub

Yesterday we headed up to Spearfish Canyon to hike up to Devil's Bathtub. This is goal #11 for me. It was a hot day, but it was cool and shady through the canyon, and the water felt nice on our hot feet.


Crossing the stream

We followed a stream bed up a canyon. We had to cross the stream several times - Sydney was the first to soak her shoes! The girls had a fun time being the leader on the path, as there were several paths to choose from, all leading up the creek.


Through the canyon

On this part of the trail the stream is not flowing on a rocky stream bed, but is instead flowing over solid rock along the bottom of a canyon.


On a cliff

We climbed across some little cliffs - thank goodness for Hannah and Sydney who helped hand the kids down, and also gave me a boost up!


In the Devil's Bathtub

We made it to the Devil's Bathtub! A few big rocks have fallen in the past few years and the bathtub is getting filled up with more rubble, so it is not as deep as it was. But it was still impressive. We seemed to be all alone as we were hiking, so I was suprised to see several people at the bathtub, and more people passed us and headed higher up the canyon.


kissing an owie

John loved throwing rocks and sticks into the river. He did not love slipping in and getting all wet!


Me and Nathan

Nathan brought his gold panning stuff and had fun digging and swirling as he hiked up the river. But no gold today.


Han and Dad

We headed back down the river, stopping to snack of wild rasberries. What a fun day!


Heading Home

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ps - saturday's run: 5 miles
this week: 16 miles
july: 67 miles

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On our way up to Spearfish we stopped by the side of the road to watch the helicoptors flying close, dipping down to fill their buckets with water, flying away, then returning for a refill. I don't know why I didn't think to take a picture - it was really impressive when we saw that they were not filling up in a big pond but in big metal bucket. Apparently the fire is mostly contained now, and here is the most recent update:

Sat. July 29th

Size: approximately 3,000 acres

Containment: 80%

Estimated Containment: Sunday, July 30 at 6 p.m. (1800 MST)

Resources on the Fire: 366 fire personnel

Structures: Firefighters saved 500 homes in the Piedmont area. It was a hard fight with extremely dangerous firefighting conditions. Unfortunately seven homes were lost.