May, 2015 has been a wonderful month for the Black Hills of South Dakota. After a very dry start to the year, May brought snow and rain in abundance. Now everything is greening up, looking beautiful and the lakes and streams are full of water. Lupe, however, has been rather bored much of May. The wet weather prevented her from getting out like she is used to. This day, however, promised to be clear, bright and perfect for a long day in the hills.
SPHP chose Harney Peak (7,242 ft.), the highest mountain in the Black Hills as Lupe’s primary goal for the day, with a side trip to Little Devil’s Tower (6,960 ft.) afterwards. SPHP made this choice for three reasons: (1) it’s always fun to climb the highest mountain around, (2) the 360° views from Harney are hard to beat in the Black Hills, and (3) time may be running out to climb Harney Peak again before the name gets changed to Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls). Lupe cares not one whit about the name of the mountain, she was just excited to be going out on an adventure again.
SPHP parked the G6 at the Willow Creek trailhead (accessed from Hwy 244 about 5 miles NW of Mt. Rushmore near the Palmer Gulch KOA) at 8:51 AM. At 47 °F, it was still a bit cool out, but the skies were almost completely cloudless and a brilliant blue. It would warm up fast. The trail up to Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls) from the Willow Creek trailhead is longer than the most popular route, which starts at Sylvan Lake, but Lupe would encounter far fewer people and there are some great lookout points along the way.
Lupe took the portion of Trail No. 8 that is closest to Hwy 244 to Trail No. 9. She followed Trail No. 9 past Elkhorn Mountain and then all the way up to the summit of Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls). She only saw 3 people and 1 dog (by the name of “Doc”) the entire way until reaching the short spur on Trail No. 9 that goes up to the to the top of Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls).
[Note: SPHP sincerely hopes that (Making of Owls) gets dropped from the official name if Hinhan Kaga is adopted. Nothing says this name was created by a board of bureaucrats as much as an official 5 word name in two different languages including a pair of parenthesis! Tired of typing all that already. Better to let the meaning of Hinhan Kaga go unknown to those who don’t have any interest in googling it, than to adopt such an unwieldy name. SPHP is setting an example and dropping (Making of Owls) here and now.]
However, hordes of people and dogs were coming up the portion of Trail No. 9 that comes up from Sylvan Lake. The last spur of Trail No. 9 to the top of Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga was just plain crowded. Everyone was in good spirits, though, and having a good time. After Lupe reached the lookout tower, Lupe and SPHP went down over to the far end of the massive granite W shoulder of the mountain.
There, Lupe had some Taste of the Wild and water. She tried laying down to rest, but the granite wasn’t very comfy – in fact, not comfy at all. She wanted to chase chipmunks, but SPHP wouldn’t allow that with cliffs all around. Lupe posed for a few pictures and watched chipmunks. The views were magnificent, and SPHP stayed admiring them for some time. SPHP chatted with 3 geology students and took pictures of the 3 of them together when asked. Then, with Little Devil’s Tower still on the itinerary, it was time to move on.
From Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga, Lupe and SPHP went back down the spur trail to the rest of Trail No. 9 and started following it towards Sylvan Lake. Before long Lupe reached the junction with Trail No. 3 and took it. Trail No. 3 led to Trail No. 4 and then to the Little Devil’s Tower trail. Lupe saw only a few people on Trails No. 3 & 4. It was a different story on the Little Devil’s Tower trail. Even a two year old girl was clambering up Little Devil’s Tower. At the summit, Lupe and SPHP were never alone for more than a minute or two, but at least there weren’t so many people as up at Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga.
The views from Little Devil’s Tower are almost as grand as those from Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga. Lupe posed for some more photos. She finished off the rest of the Taste of the Wild. She wanted to chase chipmunks again, but the summit area is considerably smaller than up at Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga, and cliffs were close at hand in almost all directions. Lupe again had to settle for chipmunk watching while SPHP gazed out at the Black Hills.
When it was time to go, Lupe retraced the trail taken to Little Devil’s Tower as far back as Trail No. 9. There Lupe and SPHP took Trail No. 9 heading down towards Sylvan Lake. Lupe followed Trail No. 9 only as far as the intersection with the Lost Cabin Trail No. 2 spur trail for horses. Lupe and SPHP had never been on this spur trail for horses before. No one else was on it. The path looked seldom used by people or horses. It wound through some very scenic large granite formations and offered up pretty nice views of Little Devil’s Tower in places. Most of the way it was close to the upper reaches of Palmer Creek, too. With all the recent rains, Palmer Creek had good flow in it. Lupe could have a drink whenever she wanted.
The spur trail went about a mile before reaching the main Lost Cabin Trail No. 2. Lupe followed the main Trail No. 2 for miles back to a junction with Trail No. 8 a short distance from the Willow Creek trailhead. The sun was already behind the hills by the time Lupe reached the G6 again. It was 8:09 PM and 58 °F. Lupe had been gone for over 11 hours. She had made a huge loop around Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga, plus taken side trips up to the summit of it and Little Devil’s Tower. Although SPHP was feeling the effects of the outing, Lupe was still full of energy. She stood up with her nose out the window of the G6 sniffing the air most of the way home.
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