Quest for #1 (and #2)

Those of you who know me probably think that I am talking about I am on a quest for #1 refers to my quest for the biggest buck in the forest. And I am, but that is not what this post is about. 

This post involves our quest to conquer the #1 peak in South Dakota.  As some of you may recall, we are hoping to hike the highest 100 peaks in the state. That has been put on the back burner since we left for Alaska in April, then the farm, but now that we are all home for a while, it is time to get back to business! 

Black Elk Peak, formerly known as Harney Peak, is the highest peak east of the Rocky's and west of the Pyrenees mountains of Europe. Barb and I have been up here once before in the early 90's when we rode our horses up to the top while on vacation in the area. 

First order of business was to convince Forrest and Somer to go with us. That was the easiest part. Next up was Lily, a little more difficult. Somer gave us a little insight into how to convince Lil's; never, ever use the word "hike", instead replace it with "walk". She was a little more skeptical than the other two asking questions like, "Where is it?" "How far is it?". Using vague answers, we were able to get her to agree to go on a "walk" with us. 

The morning of our hike/walk we had to decide which route to take. There are several to choose from. We decided on the Cathedral Spires trail, not necessarily the easiest, but it is the shortest in distance. After parking, donning our packs filled with snacks and waters and grabbing our hiking, I mean walking sticks, away we went! Now, if you ever come to the Custer area, the Cathedral Spires area is a must see, even if you only drive through, there is no drive like in the world!

Walking through the spires is incredible, over the next 4 hours (including rest time), we hiked and hiked and hiked. The terrain was a combination of up and down, mostly up. Lily was really a trooper, she asked a few times, "How much further it?" or "Is this it?" Our answer was always the same "It's just around the next corner". But she had fun feeding nuts to the chipmunks on the trail, fighting with her dad and basically being a kid on the trail. 

At one point, I could see our destination across a valley on the opposite mountain, so I grabbed Somer and said "Don't tell Lily, but that is our destination". Somer said something like "All the way over there? I wish you would not have told me that either!".

See the red circle in the each of these pictures? (Click on them to make them bigger) That is our destination! Both Lily and Somer made the comment that they thought this was going to be an easy hike since they were going with a couple of old people!

Carrying on, up we went, taking rest breaks every 1/4 mile or so. Little by little, step, by step, we were getting closer.

Even though it was a little over 2 miles to the peak, it was a rough 2 miles with over 1,100' in elevation gain. 

Forrest took this video just as we were reaching the top.

Finally, 2 hours later, we made it to our destination!

 The views up there were incredible. Looking Northwest we could see Bear Butte over 50 miles away.  The bonus of this hike is that you knock off two peaks in one hike as the 2nd highest peak (McGillicuddy Peak) is just 800' west of the Lookout Tower. 

We took a 30-minute breather up top to have lunch and enjoy the view. 

Then it was time to head back down on the same trail. 

What took us two hours on the way up, took us a little over an hour on the way down. Lily and I were battling to see who was in the lead on the way down. If I was leading, she would wait for an opportunity and bolt past me running down the trail. Then I would do the same. This ended up in an all-out race with both of us running down the trail. Probably not a smart move on my end. What I envisioned as graceful parkour type moves down the rocks, Barb described as an old man in an uncontrolled stumble down the mountain on the verge of catastrophe. 

We changed leads a half a dozen times on the way down until she got tired of toying with me and just kept running resulting in a 100-yard lead. Anytime I would get close she would just sprint out ahead again. 

Lily and I arrived back at the jeep huffing and puffing 15 minutes ahead of everyone else.

3 hours 30 minutes actual hiking 4.2 miles, averaging 1.3 mph. Great scenery, great exercise and memories that will last a lifetime.