{"id":4671,"date":"2017-07-24T08:10:17","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T14:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=4671"},"modified":"2020-12-05T11:21:36","modified_gmt":"2020-12-05T18:21:36","slug":"black-hills-wy-expedition-no-104-inyan-kara-mountain-11-9-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=4671","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, WY Expedition No. 104 – Inyan Kara Mountain (11-9-14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Snow was in the forecast.\u00a0 An approaching winter storm was supposed to hit tomorrow and dump half a foot of snow on the Black Hills.\u00a0\u00a0The next 10 days weren’t expected to get above freezing.\u00a0 Today was supposed to be nice, though, with highs in the 50’s.\u00a0 Last chance, for a while at least, for Lupe to go on a Black Hills Expedition!<\/p>\n

Lupe’s peakbagging goal for Expedition No. 104 was a rather unusual Black Hills mountain – Inyan Kara<\/a><\/span> (6,360 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Inyan Kara is part of a line of forested ridges and hills in eastern Wyoming separated from the main body of the Black Hills in South Dakota by 5-10 miles of grasslands used mostly for ranching.\u00a0 Like Devil’s Tower<\/a><\/span> (5,112 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> in NE Wyoming and Bear Butte<\/a><\/span> (4,433 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0near Sturgis, South Dakota, Inyan Kara was considered sacred by the Lakota Sioux.\u00a0 General George Armstrong Custer is purported to have visited Inyan Kara on July 23, 1874.<\/p>\n

Inyan Kara\u00a0sits on roughly 2\u00a0square miles\u00a0of the\u00a0Black Hills National Forest completely surrounded by privately held ranch lands.\u00a0\u00a0To even reach the national forest land, Lupe would need permission from the ranchers.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP had tried once before to get permission, way back on Black Hills Expedition No. 91 on 6-1-14, but had arrived at the ranch headquarters to find no one at home except the dog.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe SE of Inyan Kara Mountain. Would she get permission from the local ranchers to cross their property to reach it?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Inyan<\/a>
Inyan Kara from the SE. Although Inyan Kara is on roughly 2 square miles of Black Hills National Forest, the mountain is surrounded by privately held ranchlands.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The road to the headquarters of Douglas and Sheila Hunter’s ranch E of the mountain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This time Lupe\u00a0and SPHP were\u00a0in luck!\u00a0 Lupe arrived at the\u00a0headquarters of Douglas and Sheila Hunter’s ranch just\u00a0E of Inyan Kara to find Mr. Hunter and a couple of helpers in his front yard busy loading a vehicle on a trailer.\u00a0 Mr. Hunter’s dog, Bear, was very interested in meeting Lupe, but Lupe just growled.<\/p>\n

Despite Lupe’s less than cordial reaction to Bear, Mr. Hunter kindly and readily granted Lupe and SPHP permission to cross his ranch to access Inyan Kara.\u00a0 Mr. Hunter directed SPHP where to park the G6.\u00a0 By 10:15 AM (50\u00b0F), Lupe and SPHP were on their way.<\/p>\n

Lupe started out going W on a continuation of the dirt road that led to, and also went on by, the Hunter Ranch headquarters.\u00a0 She passed some old outbuildings near a tiny, mucky creek, and soon afterward came to a junction with another road.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP turned N on this other road, but left it before long to start climbing through the fields directly toward SE-facing cliffs on Inyan Kara.\u00a0 On the way up, Lupe and SPHP ducked under a fence, thereby leaving the Hunter ranch and entering the Black Hills National Forest.<\/p>\n

Lupe and SPHP turned N\u00a0to avoid\u00a0the cliffs.\u00a0 Lupe still angled slightly\u00a0up the slope\u00a0to gain\u00a0elevation slowly, but steadily.\u00a0 She was approaching the forest on the E side of Inyan Kara.\u00a0 Once in the forest,\u00a0Lupe and SPHP continued N working gradually up the ridge to the W.\u00a0 When the top of the ridge became visible between the pines, Lupe and SPHP turned W and climbed directly up the steep slope to the crest of the ridge.\u00a0 Lupe could now see the igneous summit of Inyan Kara to the WNW.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe reaches the crest of the ridge. The summit of Inyan Kara is seen beyond her to the WNW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The summit of Inyan Kara is\u00a0comprised of\u00a0igneous rock.\u00a0 Magma\u00a0was forced up into overlaying sedimentary rock layers, but never erupted.\u00a0 Instead, it cooled and solidified. The sedimentary rocks at the top have since eroded away. Vertical columns can be seen on the mountainside. A more famous and clearer example of similar geology can be found at Devil’s Tower, about 27 miles NW of Sundance, WY.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>Inyan Kara is an interesting mountain.\u00a0 It is shaped\u00a0rather like a distorted horseshoe, with the opening of the horseshoe NE of the summit and facing N.\u00a0 A long ridge\u00a0starts rising from the NE end of the horseshoe, and makes a big sweeping curve\u00a0clear around to the E and then S of the summit, ultimately going clear over to the\u00a0SW.\u00a0 This long ridge gains elevation\u00a0rapidly at first,\u00a0but much more slowly as it\u00a0progresses SW.<\/p>\n

The S and SW portions of the\u00a0sweeping ridge\u00a0are quite high.\u00a0 Close to the\u00a0SW end, there is a significant saddle where some elevation must be lost going NE to approach a shorter, but higher ridge leading to the actual summit.\u00a0 This N ridge is characterized by\u00a0large igneous rock formations, but is easily climbed.\u00a0 Several smaller saddles must be navigated\u00a0while heading N along the summit ridge.<\/p>\n

The N ridge\u00a0angles NE shortly before reaching the\u00a0top of Inyan Kara.\u00a0 The summit and nearby areas\u00a0form the\u00a0NW end of the horseshoe.\u00a0 Between the\u00a0N and S\u00a0ridges, a deep forested valley\u00a0comprises the center of the horseshoe.<\/p>\n

Lupe had reached the top of the lower sweeping ridge ESE of the summit.\u00a0 The easiest way to reach the\u00a0top of the mountain\u00a0was to just follow the ridge as it swept around to the S and then SW.\u00a0 From there, Lupe could traverse the saddle over to the higher N ridge and continue on to Inyan Kara’s summit.<\/p>\n

The ridge was all forested and fairly narrow\u00a0most\u00a0of the way to the saddle, but it was never narrow enough to be a problem.\u00a0 Deadfall timber sometimes partially blocked the way for SPHP.\u00a0 It was only bad in one small area toward the SSW.\u00a0 As Lupe progressed around the ridge, there were a few places with great views to the SE, S or SW.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the S ridge of Inyan Kara. Photo looks SSE. The high ridge on the horizon seen above her head in this photo is the Sweetwater Mountain<\/strong><\/a><\/span> (6,440 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> high point.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NNE at the Inyan Kara summit ridge from the lower S ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SSW from the S ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and SPHP followed the S ridge around to the SW.\u00a0 Lupe continued W far enough to make certain she had reached the highest part of the S ridge.\u00a0 She then headed NE down into the saddle on her way to the N ridge leading up to the summit.\u00a0 Lupe could have started NE down into the saddle a bit sooner, and she wouldn’t have lost quite as much elevation.\u00a0 It still didn’t take her long to cross the broad forested saddle to reach the N ridge.<\/p>\n

The most interesting part of Lupe’s climb up Inyan Kara started upon reaching the N ridge.\u00a0 There were big rock formations.\u00a0 The rocks were tan or pinkish orange, and had little steps or contours in them.\u00a0 Lupe quickly climbed up to a high point at least as high as any spot along the S ridge.\u00a0 From here, she could see the Inyan Kara summit off to the NNE.<\/p>\n

The rest of the way to the summit was a bit tricky.\u00a0 It involved some exploration and occasional back-tracking to find the easiest route.\u00a0 In general, it proved best to stay to the NW side of the N ridge until getting quite close to the summit,\u00a0since there were places that ended in cliffs to the SE.<\/p>\n

The top of Inyan Kara is an open rocky ridge from which there are grand views in most directions.\u00a0 Although it hadn’t been windy on the way up, there was a steady, cold wind out of the SW when Lupe reached the summit.\u00a0 With the darkly overcast sky and stiff breeze, it was beginning to look like the forecast snow storm might well be on its way.\u00a0 Lupe wasn’t going to get to enjoy the views for very long.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe reaches the top of Inyan Kara! She didn’t like the strong, cold breeze coming from behind her. The dark sky did look like the expected snow storm might be on its way. Photo looks SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SSE from the Inyan Kara summit toward Sweetwater Mountain, the high ridge on the far horizon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NW from Inyan Kara. The circular USGS benchmark is on the ground in front of Lupe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Right away, SPHP noticed a USGS benchmark out in the open just 10 or 12 feet E of the summit.\u00a0SPHP was disappointed that it didn’t even say Inyan Kara on it.\u00a0 While SPHP was looking at the USGS benchmark, Lupe was sniffing curiously around a big juniper bush just 8 feet N of the summit. Upon investigation,\u00a0stuffed inside the bush SPHP found a broken Tupperware container inside a couple of Ziploc bags.\u00a0 It was all held in place inside the bush by several rocks placed on top.<\/p>\n

\"USGS<\/a>
USGS benchmark on Inyan Kara.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/a>
Lupe not enjoying the wind by the juniper bush. The registry log was hidden inside this bush 8 feet N of the summit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inside the broken Tupperware container was a pen and notebook that serves as a registry log.\u00a0 There were also other papers relating to a wedding, a funeral service and other events that had been held on top of Inyan Kara.\u00a0 The registry went back to 2008 and contained quite a few names.\u00a0 Some of the individuals had climbed Inyan Kara multiple times, with one claiming to have made 6 ascents.<\/p>\n

SPHP would have liked to spend more time reading the registry, but the wind made reading for very long unpleasant.\u00a0 It was difficult to hold the pages open and still\u00a0without tearing them.\u00a0\u00a0SPHP entered\u00a0Lupe’s name\u00a0in the registry log, before putting it all back together and stuffing\u00a0everything\u00a0securely in the bush.<\/p>\n

Despite the wind, Lupe and SPHP lingered up\u00a0on Inyan Kara for a while to enjoy the views. \u00a0Lupe had water and Taste of the Wild, and then huddled inside\u00a0SPHP’s jacket to stay warm.\u00a0 SPHP ate\u00a0an apple and a big carrot.\u00a0 For the\u00a0Black Hills, the views were tremendous.\u00a0 Far below and all around Inyan Kara was open ranch land, dotted here and there with forested hills and ridges.<\/p>\n

On the N horizon, Lupe could see Missouri Buttes<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(5,374 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>, Devil’s Tower, and Warren Peaks<\/a><\/span> (6,650 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Cement Ridge<\/strong><\/a><\/span>\u00a0(6,674 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> was off\u00a0to the NE.\u00a0 Terry Peak<\/strong><\/a><\/span> (7,064 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> and the main body of the Black Hills\u00a0were in view\u00a0to the E.\u00a0 Sweetwater Mountain\u00a0was SSE.\u00a0 Very far to the W are the Bighorn Mountains, which are easily seen from Inyan Kara on a clear day when the light is right.\u00a0 However,\u00a0SPHP could only barely make out one small portion of the southern Bighorns on this overcast day.<\/p>\n

When it was time to go, Lupe and SPHP took the same route back along the N ridge\u00a0going SSW\u00a0and then down\u00a0into the saddle area between the N and S ridges.\u00a0 Instead of going on to\u00a0retrace Lupe’s route along\u00a0the S ridge, Lupe and SPHP ventured E down into the steep, deep forested valley between the ridges – the middle of the Inyan Kara horseshoe.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on her way down Inyan Kara. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe followed the valley all the way down\u00a0to its exit onto\u00a0the prairie\u00a0NE of the Inyan Kara summit (the open end of the horseshoe).\u00a0 There was no trail at all in the upper portion of the valley, and only a faint one in the lower part, until\u00a0Lupe reached a jeep trail\u00a0near a couple of old rusting water tanks near the valley’s N end.<\/p>\n

The trek\u00a0down through the central valley\u00a0proved to\u00a0take much more time\u00a0than the S ridge route.\u00a0 Except at the upper and lower ends, the valley is V-shaped nearly all the way. \u00a0Even the very\u00a0bottom was steep, rough ground.\u00a0\u00a0In places it was choked\u00a0with deadfall timber killed by pine bark beetles, making the going very slow.<\/p>\n

The valley did provide Lupe complete protection from the cold\u00a0wind.\u00a0 About the only other advantage was a tiny intermittent trickle of a stream where Lupe could get a drink.\u00a0 Not much of an advantage when SPHP was porting water anyway.\u00a0 While the valley was fun to explore once, Lupe and SPHP definitely recommend the S ridge route instead for the splendid views, shorter hike, and easier terrain!<\/p>\n

Once Lupe emerged from Inyan Kara’s horseshoe, she followed the jeep trail around the E side of the mountain.\u00a0 There were forests near the E ridge, but most of the time Lupe was out on the open range.\u00a0 The jeep trail led right back to the Hunter ranch headquarters.<\/p>\n

Lupe arrived at the G6 at 4:24 PM (51\u00b0F).\u00a0 No one was around except Bear, who was standing on the front porch.\u00a0 Bear whined when he saw Lupe.\u00a0\u00a0Bear still wanted to play, but\u00a0the tired Carolina Dog\u00a0showed no interest, dashing the lonely ranch dog’s hopes.<\/p>\n

\"Sunset<\/a>
Sunset leaving the Hunter ranch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inyan Kara Mountain is about 4 miles W of Hwy 585 in NE Wyoming between Sundance and Four Corners.\u00a0 Turn W on County Road No. 198 about 15 miles S of Sundance.\u00a0 Follow it about 1.5 miles W.\u00a0 A sharp turn N on a dirt road eventually leads 2.5 miles\u00a0NW to a fork in the road.\u00a0 The Douglas and Sheila Hunter ranch headquarters is a short distance down the right fork.\u00a0\u00a0Courtesy and\u00a0respect for the landowner’s rights will go a long way toward securing permission to access Inyan Kara.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more information on the\u00a0interesting\u00a0history of Inyan Kara, click here<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/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\u00a0 Prior Black Hills Expedition<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Black Hills, WY Expedition No. 257 – Inyan Kara (11-7-20)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/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><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Snow was in the forecast.\u00a0 An approaching winter storm was supposed to hit tomorrow and dump half a foot of snow on the Black Hills.\u00a0\u00a0The next 10 days weren’t expected to get above freezing.\u00a0 Today was supposed to be nice, though, with highs in the 50’s.\u00a0 Last chance, for a while at least, for Lupe … Continue reading Black Hills, WY Expedition No. 104 – Inyan Kara Mountain (11-9-14)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4665,"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":[105,9,106,571,104,275],"class_list":["post-4671","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-inyan-kara-mountain","tag-lupe","tag-wyoming"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050654.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\/4671","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=4671"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30216,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions\/30216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}