We left Rapid City after sunrise with the temperature hovering at 18. Grabbed a quick breakfast to go at McDonald's and drove toward Sturgis. This picture gives you a small sense of the open space around Bear Butte. It is easily understood why this is a sacred spot for Native Americans and you will see examples of how important this location remains in later pictures.
Just beginning the hike to the top. Trail is 2 miles one way with an elevation gain of 1000'. It is considered a "moderate" difficult trail.
Looking back as you climb on the trail, Bear Butte Lake. There is a nice campground beside the lake, open year around.
I thought this picture shows the rate of climb on the trail very well. 
Vick is heading up this long slow climb.
Right after taking this shot, two deer moved through above us. I could not get the camera set for a picture before they vanished down the other side.
View toward Wyoming.
View back down to our parking lot. 
This is the view looking toward Wyoming from the top. There are amazing 360 degree views from the top.
Looking more toward Montana and North Dakota in this picture from the top.
The stairs to begin your trip back down.
Always amazed by the variety of rocks in Sodak.
Trip to the top took us about 2 hours with all my stops for pictures, climb side trails to look out over the plains, etc. The trip down took less than an hour and one half primarily because Vick has had some knee issues on previous downhill hikes so we took it slow.
We did meet Taffy Howard, South Dakota State Representative. What an amazing person, she was also hiking the trail and spent several minutes visiting with us. We tried to stress following Illinois politics so you know what not to do with state government.
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