Harney Peak

In May 2009, our family was on a month-long vacation touring the northwest in our camper. We traveled through the Dakotas, into Montana, Washington and Oregon, then as far south as Utah before turning east toward home. Part of our plan was to visit Harney Peak, the highest point between the Rockies and the European Pyrenees mountains, and take a short day climb to the summit.

The most popular route to the top is the Sylvan Lake trail, a 3.5 mile climb with 1,100 feet of elevation gain, followed by another 3.5 miles back to the trailhead. The route itself is heavily traveled and not very difficult. The only real problem we had was with the government. Some crackpot had erected a sign in the middle of the trail - about a mile up the mountain - that you had to have certain state papers or else face a fine, prison, and the usual load of government threats. I never was sure if we filled out all the right papers or not, so we did our best and continued up the mountain, keeping a wary eye out for gunmen as we traveled. Although we were a bit anxious, thankfully we never saw any bureaucrats and our day went smoothly.

Near the summit you have to climb stone stairs through this neat little triangular passage

The route itself was beautiful and the rocky nature of the ground made for fewer trees and a better line of sight for visibility. The weather was great the whole time. No snow, rain or fog. There was nothing remotely dangerous about the trail, except for the possibility of being trampled near the top. It seems that everyone likes to hang out at the summit, where a really cool old lookout tower was built during the Great Depression as a government make-work welfare program. Not surprisingly, it was soon abandoned and now houses scores of hikers and mountaineers who enjoy sunning on the flat rocks, taking scenic photos from the tower balcony, or just sitting in the shade and having lunch. It was particularly enjoyable to read the graffitti on the walls left by those who had been there before us.

We spent about half an hour at the top, doing our usual routine by spreading out our ponchos on the ground and having lunch. There was a pretty big crowd at the summit tower - probably 30-40 people. But there is also sufficient space for people to spread out and get a bit of solitude.

With only 1,100 feet of elevation gain you could barely notice a shortage of oxygen at the top. Starting higher on a mountain prevents the oxygen shortage from being pronounced. If we had started 2,000 feet lower, it would have been pretty obvious. This, plus good weather, lack of snow and a short climb makes the mountain accessible to a lot of people and tends to draw crowds at the top.

Our trip down was uneventful. The climb was really enjoyable and spectacularly beautiful. Since there are no monster mountains in the Dakotas, I was sure this would be our only chance to climb in this area and didn't want to miss it. There are plenty of relatively big mountains out west and the Appalachians are close to home, but the opportunity to climb in the Black Hill of South Dakota was something I didn't want to miss. It's gorgeous out there. South Dakota is a beautiful state. No wonder the Indians didn't want to lose it.

We continued with our vacation and spent considerable time in the old frontier town of Deadwood, doing the tourist thing and catching all the sites associated with Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, but climing Harney Peak was definitely the most enjoyable outdoor activity we had in the Dakotas.