{"id":1735,"date":"2015-09-16T08:10:21","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T14:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=1735"},"modified":"2020-09-21T20:53:03","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T02:53:03","slug":"black-hills-sd-expedition-no-137-harney-peak-little-devils-tower-9-7-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=1735","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 137 – Harney Peak & Little Devils Tower (9-7-15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harney Peak at 7,242 feet is the highest mountain in the Black Hills and\u00a0the entire state of\u00a0South Dakota.\u00a0 Located in the Black Elk Wilderness, it is a very popular hiking destination and can be approached from half a dozen different trailheads.\u00a0 One of the\u00a0shortest (about 3.5 miles one way) and most popular routes is on Trail No. 9 from Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park.\u00a0 Lots of people don’t realize\u00a0how easy it is to add variety to the trip without significantly increasing the distance by making a loop back to Sylvan Lake via trails No. 3 & No. 4\u00a0and including an ascent of\u00a0Little Devil’s Tower along the way\u00a0like Lupe did on this day.<\/em><\/p>\n

After 27 days spent\u00a0on Lupe’s great summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation, Lupe and\u00a0SPHP finally returned home on the afternoon of 9-4-15.\u00a0 However,\u00a0the fun wasn’t set to end quite yet.\u00a0 It was the Friday before Labor Day weekend, which in 2015 came as late as it possibly can with Labor Day falling on September 7th.\u00a0 Lupe’s uncle\u00a0Joe, aunt Andrea and cousin Dusty\u00a0had already arrived at\u00a0her Grandma’s\u00a0house the previous evening.\u00a0 Aunt Mush and uncle David were due to arrive on Sunday the 6th.\u00a0 So Lupe got to go with SPHP over to Grandma’s house every evening from the 4th through the 7th to hang out with Dusty and all the gang, which she really enjoyed.<\/p>\n

The high point of Labor Day weekend, though, was Labor Day itself.\u00a0 On Labor Day,\u00a0uncle Joe and cousin Dusty wanted to go\u00a0with Lupe and SPHP to\u00a0climb Harney Peak<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(7,242 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>, the always popular high point of South Dakota.\u00a0 Of course, Lupe and SPHP were both more than willing to oblige.\u00a0\u00a0So a\u00a0little before 10:00 AM on Labor Day, SPHP\u00a0parked the G6 near Sylvan Lake Lodge<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, and everyone piled out.<\/p>\n

A short trek led down to the cool shady woods\u00a0below Sylvan Lake dam.\u00a0 From there Lupe and the gang followed the lakeside trail up around the N and then E sides of scenic Sylvan Lake.\u00a0 Shortly before reaching the swimming beach (where dogs aren’t allowed), Dusty was ready for a swim.\u00a0 Joe tossed a stick into the lake to give her swim a purpose.\u00a0 Dusty was very pleased to have the opportunity to retrieve the stick.<\/p>\n

\"Dusty<\/a>
Dusty takes a dip in Sylvan Lake while retrieving a stick for Joe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once Dusty was sufficiently cooled off,\u00a0Lupe’s whole troop\u00a0continued on past the swimming beach to Trail No. 9.\u00a0 The trail soon proved to be very busy with Labor Day hikers, the most crowded SPHP has ever seen it.\u00a0 There were quite a few dogs of various descriptions enjoying the trail, too, so Lupe and Dusty had ample opportunities to stop and sniff with interesting new acquaintances.<\/p>\n

Maybe 0.5 mile from Sylvan Lake, there are some rock ledges where Harney first comes into view.\u00a0 Lupe’s little pack\u00a0paused here for a short photo op.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe,<\/a>
Lupe, Joe & Dusty at the rock ledges. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Lupe on the rock ledges with Harney Peak in the background. Photo looks E.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Joe<\/a>
Joe & Dusty with Harney Peak in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trail No. 9 goes all the way to the summit, or at least to the short spur trail that leads to the summit.\u00a0 Lots of people and dogs were coming and going.\u00a0 With all the activity, it didn’t seem like very long before Lupe, Dusty, Joe & SPHP were at the spiral stairway just before reaching the lookout tower at the top.<\/p>\n

The first few times Lupe had been to Harney Peak, she was scared of the metal stairs, because she could look right through the grate down to the rocks below.\u00a0 Back then, SPHP had to carry the nervous dingo over the stairs.\u00a0 Lupe still doesn’t entirely trust these stairs, but with a little encouragement, she navigated them on her own.\u00a0 If they bothered Dusty, she didn’t show it.<\/p>\n

Upon reaching the lookout tower, everyone first went out\u00a0to the viewing platform next to the tower.\u00a0 SPHP\u00a0held Lupe up above the rock wall so she could see the views.\u00a0 A little later on, after\u00a0SPHP put her down, she suddenly leaped up onto the rock wall so she could see all by herself.\u00a0 SPHP made her get down so she couldn’t fall off.\u00a0\u00a0 Meanwhile, Joe went and climbed the short steep stairs (virtually a ladder)\u00a0up to the top of the lookout tower.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Joe and Dusty on the viewing platform next to the Harney Peak lookout tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This huge granite outcropping extends out to the W of Harney Peak just a little below the summit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe doesn’t like the way the metal grating that forms the floor of the viewing platform feels on her paws, so she was soon\u00a0done at the lookout tower.\u00a0 Lupe, Dusty, Joe & SPHP headed down to the tower’s basement and out to a path leading\u00a0over to the big granite outcropping to the W of the summit.\u00a0\u00a0It was less busy and more\u00a0peaceful over there, although a bit breezy.\u00a0 It was a good place to pause for a snack while admiring the views.<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/a>
Joe & Dusty up on the granite W of Harney’s summit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and Dusty were quite\u00a0enthusiastic about sharing the Cliff bar SPHP brought out of the pack, and the Kind bars\u00a0Joe took out of his pack.\u00a0 Dusty ate some of Lupe’s Taste of the Wild too, with evident relish.\u00a0 She even polished off SPHP’s apple core, although that was a step too far for Lupe.\u00a0 American Dingoes can be picky at times.\u00a0 Both dogs helped lighten SPHP’s pack by slurping up plenty of water to wash it all down with.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the granite W of the Harney Peak lookout tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the granite looking N from Harney Peak. This photo looks W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe & Joe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This<\/a>
This helicopter buzzed by pretty close while giving tours. Lupe got excited. She loves barking at helicopters and airplanes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A trip up to Harney Peak on or near Labor Day is becoming a tradition.\u00a0 On September 2, 2014 (the day after Labor Day), Joe, Dusty, Lupe & SPHP were up here, too.\u00a0 In 2014, Joe had called his son\u00a0Matthew from Harney Peak, since\u00a0it was Matt’s\u00a0birthday.\u00a0 This time he called his mother, Audrey, in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

\"Yes,<\/a>
Yes, there is cell phone reception! Joe calls his mother, Audrey, in Wisconsin from the top of South Dakota with Labor Day greetings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Joe<\/a>
Joe chats with mom in Wisconsin while Dusty listens in to hear if he says anything about dog treats on Harney Peak becoming a Labor Day tradition.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Cathedral Spires (L) and Little Devil’s Tower (R) from Harney Peak. Photo looks S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With snacking, sight-seeing and social obligations completed, it was time to head back down from Harney Peak over the spiral stairway, which Lupe again navigated successfully, back to Trail No. 9.\u00a0 Quite near the bottom of the stairs were some horses that had brought people up the trail.\u00a0 Lupe was a good Carolina Dog and did not bark at them, although it was tempting.\u00a0 Dusty paid no attention to the horses.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The undisturbed horses Lupe didn’t bark at.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maybe 10 minutes or so down from Harney’s summit, there is a rock ledge with a great view to the S of Peak 6735<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Lupe graciously posed for a couple of\u00a0photos from here.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A rather cheerful looking American Dingo with Peak 6735 in the background. Peak 6735 lies SSE of Harney Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>Rather than head straight back down Trail No. 9 all the way to Sylvan Lake, Joe and Dusty were willing to explore the\u00a0trails over to the Cathedral Spires<\/a><\/span><\/strong> (6,840 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> and possibly climb Little Devils Tower<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(6,960 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, which neither of them had done before.\u00a0 This had the advantage of showing them some new territory while making a loop back to Sylvan Lake.\u00a0 So Lupe and her troop took Trail No. 3 where it met up with Trail No. 9.<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/a>
Joe and Dusty on the way to the Cathedral Spires and Little Devils Tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Getting<\/a>
Getting closer. Now along Trail No. 4. Little Devils Tower is at the far right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A relatively short trek on Trail No. 3 led to Trail No. 4, which\u00a0passes to the\u00a0N of the Cathedral Spires over to a little saddle between the Cathedral Spires and Little Devils Tower.\u00a0 Trail No. 4 goes over this pass heading S where there are some close up views of the Cathedral Spires.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Cathedral Spires from Trail No. 4 after crossing to the S of the saddle between them and Little Devils Tower.\u00a0 Photo looks S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cathedral<\/a>
Cathedral Spires. This photo looks SE from Trail No. 4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It isn’t far from the saddle to a spur trail that goes perhaps 0.25 mile to Little Devils Tower.\u00a0 Most of the spur trail is an easy hike along a scenic ridge.\u00a0 There is one relatively short section of annoyingly steep trail with a lot of loose rock on it, but it soon ends at a little saddle between big granite rocks.<\/p>\n

A left turn at the saddle reveals a narrow crevasse in the granite.\u00a0 This crevasse is marked by a painted blue diamond.\u00a0 Blue and white diamonds mark the rest of the way up to the summit of Little Devils Tower.\u00a0\u00a0 This involves some scrambling up the granite, but even relatively small children can do it with a bit of help.\u00a0 The rough granite provides good footing and there isn’t much exposure most of the way.\u00a0 Naturally Lupe, Joe, Dusty and SPHP all made it to the top of Little Devils Tower.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe looks SE from Little Devils Tower toward the Cathedral Spires.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NNE back at Harney Peak from Little Devils Tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NW from Little Devils Tower toward Gap Lode Peak<\/a> (6,560 ft.)<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(most distant large rock outcropping at center of photo)\u00a0and St. Elmo Peak<\/a><\/span><\/strong> (6,458 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> (smallish looking peak at left center beyond the dark rock hump).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a>From Little Devils Tower, it was just a matter of following the spur trail back to Trail No. 4 and then continuing SW on down the valley.\u00a0 Trail No. 4 led to the Little Devils Tower trailhead on Hwy 89 (Needles Highway – the Cathedral Spires are also called the Needles).\u00a0 The trail continues though, another 0.5 mile or so, and leads back to the picnic ground on Sylvan Lake.\u00a0 Once back at Sylvan Lake, Dusty was ready for another swim with just a little encouragement from Joe and another stick.\"Joe<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dusty’s 2nd swim of the day and another stick rescued.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Joe and Dusty were engaged with sticks and water, Lupe and SPHP were up on the rocks taking a few pics of the lake.<\/p>\n

\"Sylvan<\/a>
Sylvan Lake. Photo looks NNW. That pretty Carolina Dog looks mighty familiar!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The swimming beach at Sylvan Lake. Photo looks SE. There used to be a lot more trees and shade near the beach, but sadly pine bark beetles have killed them. Looks like there is another dead one now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Looking S at a large rock off shore from the swimming beach. Sylvan Lake is a popular place to swim in late summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By about 4:30 PM, Lupe, Dusty, Joe & SPHP\u00a0were all back at the G6.\u00a0 It had been a great day spent together, but\u00a0was now\u00a0time\u00a0to head back to Grandma’s house for a lasagna dinner.\u00a0 Of course, Lupe had some!\u00a0 Carolina Dogs like Italian food!<\/p>\n

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 137 was Lupe’s 6th time up Harney Peak and 4th time up Little Devils Tower.\u00a0 It was Joe’s 3rd time and Dusty’s 2nd time up Harney, and their 1st time up Little Devils Tower.\u00a0 For SPHP, we just don’t know anymore.<\/em><\/p>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next Black Hills Expedition<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prior Black Hills Expedition<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s Black Hills Expeditions Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span> or Master Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harney Peak at 7,242 feet is the highest mountain in the Black Hills and\u00a0the entire state of\u00a0South Dakota.\u00a0 Located in the Black Elk Wilderness, it is a very popular hiking destination and can be approached from half a dozen different trailheads.\u00a0 One of the\u00a0shortest (about 3.5 miles one way) and most popular routes is on … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 137 – Harney Peak & Little Devils Tower (9-7-15)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[105,9,106,146,158,451,157,104,304,269],"class_list":["post-1735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-hills","tag-american-dingo","tag-black-hills-expeditions","tag-carolina-dog","tag-dusty","tag-harney-peak","tag-joe","tag-little-devils-tower","tag-lupe","tag-south-dakota","tag-sylvan-lake"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/P1070200.jpg?fit=1651%2C1238&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1735"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28265,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1735\/revisions\/28265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}