9/25/22
I was in the area after hiking across the Slim Buttes in NW-SD. I had noticed this route and wanted to give it a try.
I did the loop clockwise. I started at the sign list of FR117 at the South end where the 2 track starts. This is trail3062. I did the entire run. I pushed pretty hard and felt good even after running/hiking over 40 miles the 2 days previously. I am not sure what happened with my watch. I hit the run button and waited quite a while and figured it had connected to GPS. I took off and ran the first 2 miles at a good pace as they had some up hill. Then the next 3 miles we’re mostly down hill so I was able to make up time. When you hit FSR117 you have 3.7 miles to go and it has more up hill than I thought.
I pushed myself very hard the next miles and felt myself getting over heated but was able to keep a good pace. I did carry about 10oz of water and took in no nutrients. I only saw some cattle in the trail and a camp where a hunter was parked.
I hit stop on the watch at 1:08:16 and kept about an 8:05 pace. There was an issue with my watch the first couple of miles and it did not track my path but there is only one path to take. I stayed on the 2 track road. I ran the full route and I started and stopped the watch at the post. The Garmin app tracks all the miles and so did Strava.
It is unfortunate I had the issue with the watch but the time is accurate. See the video of the run. It is a really cool area and I hope to get back to explore more someday.