level. Yes, South Dakota has hills! The total vertical gain for the entire trail in the direction I ran was 4,000 feet of formitable climbs and 2,000 feet of quad busting decent.

The initial climb up from the Deer Creek Trailhead to the junction of Centennial Trail #89 quickly woke me up. After I left the shared trail section I had to negotiate some downed trees but was rewarded with a ridgeline view of two mule deer to my left prancing and two white tailed deer to my right running. The steepest descent of my day was down 1,000 feet to Pactola Resevoir before mile 3!

Kudos to the Black Hikls National Forrest Service for marking the trail appropriately! The deer footprints are very fitting.

After a creek crossing by JennyGulch and another little climb I was rewarded with amazing views of Pactola to the east with birds flying overhead and chirping encouraging me along through the meadow. At the edge of Silver City the trail joins the paved road into the tiny town for a short bit before traveling down a dirt road along Rapid Creek.

This section is flat following an old road and railroad bed. There are about 3 concrete bridges circa 1965, 1962, and 1961 over Rapid Creek after the parking lot for the walk-in fishing access. Schist Canyon walls towered above me as I continued upstream crossing a couple wooden pedestrian bridges. This three mile stretch is known for cross country skiing in winter. Every so often the sun would shine down over the