Iron Creek Trail

This past weekend offered the perfect opportunity to escape outside. With our good friend and fellow explorer, Matt Kinsey, visiting and sunshine in the forecast, we were set to hit the trail.

On Sunday, Matt, Eli, and myself headed for Spearfish Canyon. We were going find Anderson Ponds, but I realized that there was some great trails just within reach. One of them being Little Spearfish Falls. Instead of driving by, we pulled in and enjoyed what would be the introduction to our outing. I wrote a bit about this at iEscape Outdoors in "The Overlooked Trail." The trail, though short, was beautiful and worth our attention.

Once back in the car, we headed north towards the Iron Creek trailhead. In the parking lot, it was apparent we'd hit the jackpot- the only car in the lot. The camera was grabbed, babies were back-packed, and Wu Bear was released. We were on our way!

The trail winds through a steep walled, creek carved canyon for over two miles. It was easy going with a slight gain in elevation. Previous visitors had left remnants of their adventures: hiking, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing.

We walked for about an hour, chatting back and forth, and eventually fell silent. Eli fell asleep on my back and it seemed like the time to just breathe and think about how lucky I am. I was finally out on the trail, under the sun, with my happy, asleep son on my back and a good friend to take it all in with.

Eventually, we reached a point where the trail was blocked by boulders, as it was at the trailhead, and it opened up before us. Unsure of where the trail continued to, we decided to head back.

The walking was easy with the elevation change in our favor but the weight of Eli was getting to my back. Our pace was slow as we worked our way towards the car.

I don't think any of us wanted to get off the trail.