{"id":917,"date":"2015-06-03T09:19:55","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T15:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=917"},"modified":"2020-09-21T20:31:46","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T02:31:46","slug":"harney-peak-or-hinhan-kaga-making-of-owls-little-devils-tower-5-30-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=917","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 131 – Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls) & Little Devil’s Tower (5-30-15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

May, 2015 has been a wonderful month for the Black Hills of South Dakota.\u00a0 After a very dry start to the year, May brought snow and rain in abundance.\u00a0 Now everything is greening up, looking beautiful\u00a0and the\u00a0lakes and\u00a0streams\u00a0are full of water.\u00a0 Lupe, however, has been rather bored much of May.\u00a0 The wet weather prevented her from getting out like she is used to.\u00a0 This day, however, promised to be clear, bright and perfect for a long day in the hills.<\/p>\n

SPHP chose Harney Peak<\/a> (7,242 ft.)<\/span><\/strong><\/span>, the highest mountain in the Black Hills as Lupe’s primary goal for the day, with a side trip to Little Devil’s Tower<\/a><\/span> (6,960 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> afterwards.\u00a0 SPHP made this choice for three reasons: (1) it’s always fun to climb the highest mountain around, (2) the 360\u00b0 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\u00a0gets changed to Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls)<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Lupe cares not one whit about the name of the mountain, she was just excited to be going out on an adventure again.<\/p>\n

SPHP parked the G6 at the Willow Creek trailhead (accessed from Hwy 244\u00a0about 5\u00a0miles NW of Mt. Rushmore\u00a0near the Palmer Gulch KOA<\/a><\/span><\/strong>) at 8:51 AM.\u00a0 At 47 \u00b0F, it was still a bit cool out, but the skies were almost completely cloudless and a brilliant blue.\u00a0 It would warm up fast.\u00a0 The\u00a0trail up to Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls)\u00a0from 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Lupe near Willow Creek Trail No. 8 approaching Elkhorn Mountain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe took the portion of Trail No. 8 that is closest to Hwy 244 to Trail No. 9.\u00a0\u00a0She followed Trail No. 9\u00a0past Elkhorn Mountain and then all the way up to the summit of Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls).\u00a0 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).<\/p>\n

\"Harney<\/a>
Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls) from near Trail No. 9 which ultimately leads to the summit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"As<\/a>
As Trail No. 9 rises to about the level of Elkhorn Mountain, there are lots of lookout points like this one along the way. This photo looks S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[Note:\u00a0 SPHP sincerely hopes that (Making of Owls) gets dropped from the official name if Hinhan Kaga is adopted.\u00a0 Nothing says this name was created by a board of bureaucrats as much as an official\u00a05 word name in two different languages including a pair of parenthesis!\u00a0 Tired of typing all that already.\u00a0 Better to let the meaning of Hinhan Kaga\u00a0go unknown to those who don’t have any interest in googling it, than to adopt such an unwieldy name.\u00a0 SPHP is setting an example and dropping (Making of Owls) here and now.]<\/p>\n

\"Peakbagger<\/a>
Peakbagger fans, that’s Peak 6735 in the distance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SE now. The square block of rock on the left in the distance is the back side of Mt. Rushmore<\/a><\/span> (5,725 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> .\u00a0 (Not the rock at the very left, but the larger one beyond and a bit to the right.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Now<\/a>
Now looking W.\u00a0 Gap Lode Peak<\/a><\/span> (6,560 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> is shown in the center of the right half of this shot. The closer, higher stuff on the left\u00a0is part of the N slope of Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe in the flat rocks area. These photos are all from the portion of the Harney Peak Trail No. 9 that is NE of Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga. This is a longer approach to the summit than taking this same Trail No. 9 from the W at Sylvan Lake, which is\u00a0the shorter and most popular route.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe still in the flat rocks area. This photo is looking WSW towards Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Peak<\/a>
Peak 6735 from a bit higher now.\u00a0 Lupe enjoyed drinking out of the water holes in the granite.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Gaining elevation, Lupe is now getting close to the No. 9 spur trail to the summit. Looking ESE from here. The back side of Mt. Rushmore is visible again.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, hordes of people and dogs were coming up the portion of Trail No. 9 that\u00a0comes up from Sylvan Lake.\u00a0 The last spur of Trail No. 9 to the top of Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga was just plain crowded.\u00a0 Everyone was in good spirits, though, and having a good time.\u00a0 After Lupe reached the lookout tower, Lupe and SPHP went down over to the far end of the\u00a0massive\u00a0granite W shoulder of the mountain.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga lookout tower at the summit. Lupe has already been there by now. Lupe’s 5th successful climb of the mountain!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The little reservoir on Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A happy Carolina dog or American Dingo on Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking S towards Cathedral Spires (L) and Little Devil’s Tower (R) which all look like part of the same ridge in this shot from Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga.\u00a0 Little Devil’s Tower is where Lupe was headed next passing close by the Cathedral Spires on the way.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There, Lupe had some Taste of the Wild and water.\u00a0 She\u00a0tried laying down to rest, but the granite wasn’t very comfy –\u00a0in fact, not comfy at all.\u00a0 She wanted to chase chipmunks, but SPHP wouldn’t allow that with cliffs all around.\u00a0\u00a0Lupe posed for a few pictures and watched chipmunks.\u00a0 The views were magnificent, and SPHP stayed admiring them for some time.\u00a0 SPHP chatted with 3 geology students and took pictures of the\u00a03 of them together\u00a0when asked.\u00a0 Then, with Little Devil’s Tower still on the itinerary,\u00a0it was time to move on.<\/p>\n

\"Heading<\/a>
Soon after starting back down Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga on Trail No. 9 towards Sylvan Lake is this view of Peak 6735 to the S.\u00a0 Crazy SPHP wanted to climb\u00a0Peak 6735<\/strong><\/span><\/a>\u00a0this day too, but there wasn’t time.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP have been there once before though.\u00a0 There is no trail, but there are\u00a0a million beetle-killed pine trees to climb over, under, around or through to get there.\u00a0 Very time consuming!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Approaching<\/a>
Approaching the Cathedral Spires<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(6,840 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>. SPHP forgets if this is part of Trail No. 3 or No. 4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"American<\/a>
American Dingo Lupe spotted near Cathedral Spires! Little Devil’s Tower is the big rock farthest to the right still a little way off.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe above Trail No. 4 near its junction with the Cathedral Spires Trail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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.\u00a0 Before long\u00a0Lupe reached the junction with Trail No. 3 and took it.\u00a0 Trail No. 3 led to Trail No. 4 and then to the Little Devil’s Tower trail.\u00a0\u00a0Lupe saw only a few people\u00a0on Trails No. 3 & 4.\u00a0 It was a different story on\u00a0the Little Devil’s Tower trail.\u00a0 Even a two year old girl was clambering up Little Devil’s Tower.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe's<\/a>
Lupe’s 3rd successful summit of Little Devil’s Tower. This photo looks N back at Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga, where she had just come from.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cathedral<\/a>
Cathedral Spires from Little Devil’s Tower. The last bit of climb up Little Devil’s Tower is a rock scramble that isn’t too hard. A two year old girl was making her way up the mountain with help over the tough spots.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota as seen looking NW from Little Devil’s Tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"One<\/a>
Pretty girl\u00a0Loopster up on Little Devil’s Tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The views from Little Devil’s Tower are almost as grand as those from Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga.\u00a0 Lupe posed for some more photos.\u00a0 She finished off the rest of the Taste of the Wild.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Lupe again had to settle for chipmunk watching while SPHP gazed out\u00a0at the Black Hills.<\/p>\n

When it was time to go, Lupe retraced the trail taken to Little Devil’s Tower as far back as Trail No. 9.\u00a0 There Lupe and SPHP took Trail No. 9 heading down towards Sylvan Lake.\u00a0 Lupe\u00a0followed Trail No. 9\u00a0only\u00a0as far as the intersection with the Lost Cabin Trail No. 2 spur trail for horses.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP had never been on this spur trail for horses before.\u00a0 No one else was on it.\u00a0 The path looked seldom used by people or horses.\u00a0 It wound through some very scenic large granite formations and offered up pretty nice views of Little Devil’s Tower in places.\u00a0 Most of the way it was close to the upper reaches of Palmer Creek, too.\u00a0 With all the recent rains, Palmer Creek had good flow in it.\u00a0 Lupe could have a drink whenever she wanted.<\/p>\n

\"\"
On her way back now to the G6. Lupe on Trail No. 9 not far from the junction with the Lost Cabin Trail No. 2 horse spur. Little Devil’s Tower in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Little<\/a>
Little Devil’s Tower is at the left. This view was taken from the Lost Cabin Trail No. 2 horse spur.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe wading in Palmer Creek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u00a0with Trail No. 8 a short distance from the Willow Creek trailhead.\u00a0\u00a0The sun\u00a0was already behind the hills by the time Lupe reached the G6 again.\u00a0\u00a0It was 8:09 PM and 58 \u00b0F.\u00a0 Lupe had been\u00a0gone for over 11 hours.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Although SPHP was feeling the effects of the outing, Lupe was still full of energy.\u00a0 She stood up with her nose out the window of the G6 sniffing the air most of the way home.<\/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 Prior Black Hills Expedition<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s Black Hills Expeditions Adventure Index<\/a><\/span><\/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":"

May, 2015 has been a wonderful month for the Black Hills of South Dakota.\u00a0 After a very dry start to the year, May brought snow and rain in abundance.\u00a0 Now everything is greening up, looking beautiful\u00a0and the\u00a0lakes and\u00a0streams\u00a0are full of water.\u00a0 Lupe, however, has been rather bored much of May.\u00a0 The wet weather prevented her … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 131 – Harney Peak or Hinhan Kaga (Making of Owls) & Little Devil’s Tower (5-30-15)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":934,"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":[105,9,106,162,158,159,160,157,104,304],"class_list":["post-917","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-cathedral-spires","tag-harney-peak","tag-hinhan-kaga","tag-hinhan-kaga-making-of-owls","tag-little-devils-tower","tag-lupe","tag-south-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/P1060290.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\/917","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=917"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28263,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917\/revisions\/28263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}