OTHER Trip Report 09/19/2017

Report Type	Full
Peak(s)	Black Elk Peak - 7231
Date Posted	09/19/2017
Date Climbed	08/26/2017
Author	rob runkle

Black Elk Peak - Highpoint of South Dakota
After hiking Granite Peak for two days prior, and hiking White Butte (the high point of North Dakota) in the morning, I found myself in South Dakota, with plans to hike the high point of South Dakota, Black Elk Peak (aka Harney Peak). As I traveled South, I scouted my driving route, and found that I would be passing close to Mt Rushmore. I had never been to see the stone presidents, so I had to stop and check it out. I stopped at the Mt was about an hour, hiked around the base, then jumped back in the car to finish driving towards Black Elk Peak. Quick visit to Mt Rushmore Mount Rushmore Direct drive time from White Butte to Black Elk Peak was a little over 4 hours. With a side trip to Mt Rushmore I probably added about 1.5 hours. I was surprised that the fee for the parking area (Custer State Park) was now $20. I was expecting something more like $5 or $6 based on my minimal research. I quickly parked, and started hiking. My plan was to take the Sylvan Leak, Trail #9 to the summit and back. This looked to be the most common trail. Estimates that I saw for this hike were around 3-4 hours, and mileage in the 6-7 mile range. I was sure that I could get down before dark, even if my time was at the high end of estimates. My time crunch was really based on trying to get back to Billings as soon as I could. Estimate drive time to Billings from Black Elk Peak was 5.5 hours, and I had a very early flight out the next morning. The trail Sylvan Lake Trail #9 Spires Spires everywhere I was able to run much of the trail. I basically ran all the flat and downhill sections, and some of the mild uphills. I fast walked the steeper sections. The trail was very runnable, within minimal rocks and roots. My legs were still quite sore from hiking 2 days on Granite Peak. But, as I got the blood flowing, I was able to run better than I would have imagined when I started this adventure in the morning. The trail initially goes gently up hill. After a mile or so, it curves around to the right, and gentle down hill for a half mile or so. It crosses a creek, then continues to go back uphill again. The remaining route is uphill, getting steeper as you got closer to the summit. The Summit area is built up with stone stairs, some metal stairs, and ultimately, a stone Fire Watch station at the summit. I have a feeling that this summit might be unreachable without some vertical rock climbing, if it weren't for the built up stairs and access. The fire watch tower was very cool. I reached the summit in just under an hour. I investigated the tower, and the area around the summit. Given more time, it would be fun to spend some time on this summit, investigating and scrambling around the rocks. There was some cool areas that you could scramble, and nothing was fenced off. Steps to the summit Stairs to the summit More stairs More stairs Last pitch of stairs Summit Fire Watch Tower View of the Summit Tower from secret spot Secret spot Looks like some fun scrambling around the summit Selfie at the summit I spent around 10 minutes on the summit, then started back down. I was determined to get back in under 2 hours round trip. I ran even harder on the return trip. Overall return is downhill, so I was able to more run than walk. I should mention at this point, that I saw probably 15-20 people total during my hike. Most of the people that I saw were on or near the summit. Generally speaking, a 5:30 pm start is probably pretty late for most people. I made the descent from the summit in around 43 minutes. Overall round trip, including time on summit was around 1:49. Black Elk Peak was pretty cool. In fact, the whole area was beautiful. And, there are also some very cool things to visit within 4 hours - Mt Rushmore, the Crazy Horse memorial, Devils Tower and Yellowstone was just over 6 hours West. I would definitely want to plan a family trip in this area, to see the cool stuff. At this point, it was around 7:30 pm. I was hoping to at least get to see Devil's Tower on my way back to Billings. It was only slightly out of my way. So, I started driving that direction. The drive to Devil's Tower was about 2 hours. Unfortunately, I lost most of my daylight at around 8:30 pm. When I got to Devil's Tower, I was greeted with an awesome silhouette, by the bright moon, but that was all I would get this trip. My adventures continued along highway I-90, as I encountered a large mull deer in the middle of the highway. In Wyoming, the speed limit was 80 mph. Needless to say, I had zero time to react. It was 11:30 pm, when the deer impacted the right front of my rental car. I have no idea if the deer was able to walk away. The impact caused the front right tire well to rub against the tire, and I actually thought I had a blown out tire. So, I did not apply the brakes, and only let the vehicle coast to a stop on the side of the highway. Luckily, the damage was minimal, I was able to pull the tire well away from the tire and I was able to continue my drive. I ultimately arrived safely back at the hotel at 1:30 am in the morning. I had to get up and go to the airport at 4:30 am. The adventure was worth it. Two more state high points - obscure ones that would be difficult to get without a special trip. My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload): Login required to view this map... Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Black Elk Peak - Highpoint of South Dakota

After hiking Granite Peak for two days prior, and hiking White Butte (the high point of North Dakota) in the morning, I found myself in South Dakota, with plans to hike the high point of South Dakota, Black Elk Peak (aka Harney Peak). As I traveled South, I scouted my driving route, and found that I would be passing close to Mt Rushmore. I had never been to see the stone presidents, so I had to stop and check it out. I stopped at the Mt was about an hour, hiked around the base, then jumped back in the car to finish driving towards Black Elk Peak.

Direct drive time from White Butte to Black Elk Peak was a little over 4 hours. With a side trip to Mt Rushmore I probably added about 1.5 hours. I was surprised that the fee for the parking area (Custer State Park) was now $20. I was expecting something more like $5 or $6 based on my minimal research. I quickly parked, and started hiking. My plan was to take the Sylvan Leak, Trail #9 to the summit and back. This looked to be the most common trail. Estimates that I saw for this hike were around 3-4 hours, and mileage in the 6-7 mile range. I was sure that I could get down before dark, even if my time was at the high end of estimates. My time crunch was really based on trying to get back to Billings as soon as I could. Estimate drive time to Billings from Black Elk Peak was 5.5 hours, and I had a very early flight out the next morning.

I was able to run much of the trail. I basically ran all the flat and downhill sections, and some of the mild uphills. I fast walked the steeper sections. The trail was very runnable, within minimal rocks and roots. My legs were still quite sore from hiking 2 days on Granite Peak. But, as I got the blood flowing, I was able to run better than I would have imagined when I started this adventure in the morning. The trail initially goes gently up hill. After a mile or so, it curves around to the right, and gentle down hill for a half mile or so. It crosses a creek, then continues to go back uphill again. The remaining route is uphill, getting steeper as you got closer to the summit. The Summit area is built up with stone stairs, some metal stairs, and ultimately, a stone Fire Watch station at the summit. I have a feeling that this summit might be unreachable without some vertical rock climbing, if it weren't for the built up stairs and access. The fire watch tower was very cool. I reached the summit in just under an hour. I investigated the tower, and the area around the summit. Given more time, it would be fun to spend some time on this summit, investigating and scrambling around the rocks. There was some cool areas that you could scramble, and nothing was fenced off.

View of the Summit Tower from secret spot

Looks like some fun scrambling around the summit

I spent around 10 minutes on the summit, then started back down. I was determined to get back in under 2 hours round trip. I ran even harder on the return trip. Overall return is downhill, so I was able to more run than walk. I should mention at this point, that I saw probably 15-20 people total during my hike. Most of the people that I saw were on or near the summit. Generally speaking, a 5:30 pm start is probably pretty late for most people. I made the descent from the summit in around 43 minutes. Overall round trip, including time on summit was around 1:49. Black Elk Peak was pretty cool. In fact, the whole area was beautiful. And, there are also some very cool things to visit within 4 hours - Mt Rushmore, the Crazy Horse memorial, Devils Tower and Yellowstone was just over 6 hours West. I would definitely want to plan a family trip in this area, to see the cool stuff.

At this point, it was around 7:30 pm. I was hoping to at least get to see Devil's Tower on my way back to Billings. It was only slightly out of my way. So, I started driving that direction. The drive to Devil's Tower was about 2 hours. Unfortunately, I lost most of my daylight at around 8:30 pm. When I got to Devil's Tower, I was greeted with an awesome silhouette, by the bright moon, but that was all I would get this trip. My adventures continued along highway I-90, as I encountered a large mull deer in the middle of the highway. In Wyoming, the speed limit was 80 mph. Needless to say, I had zero time to react. It was 11:30 pm, when the deer impacted the right front of my rental car. I have no idea if the deer was able to walk away. The impact caused the front right tire well to rub against the tire, and I actually thought I had a blown out tire. So, I did not apply the brakes, and only let the vehicle coast to a stop on the side of the highway.
Luckily, the damage was minimal, I was able to pull the tire well away from the tire and I was able to continue my drive. I ultimately arrived safely back at the hotel at 1:30 am in the morning. I had to get up and go to the airport at 4:30 am. The adventure was worth it. Two more state high points - obscure ones that would be difficult to get without a special trip.

My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):

Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):

Comments or Questions

nyker	Nice! 9/19/2017 8:14pm That's a fun hike to a cool tower. I did it the day of the lunar eclipse in Sept 2015. Did you climb up Crazy Horse? I think it's only open once or twice a year, but its a cool hike up.
rob runkle	Cool Peak 9/20/2017 5:55am Yeah.. It really was a cool peak. I could spend hours at the summit, checking things out. Did not get to see Crazy Horse. I will have to check climb dates in the future, if we plan a trip that way...

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