Harney Peak images

[XcYZ]

Or maybe I should call this how I spent my summer vacation? lol

So, for the longest time, I've wanted to hike to the top of Harney Peak. At 7,242 feet, not only is it the highest point in South Dakota, but it's also the highest point east of the Rockies and west of the Pyrenees in France. The hike is a little over 7 miles round trip, and I wasn't sure that Kaitlyn (age 6) could make it. I decided to try it and see how she is about half way and go from there. She was a trooper though, wanting to see the top. We took little stops about every half mile or so, and the weather was perfect in the mid 60's when we left the trailhead. It's rated as Moderate with a lot of rock and a steady rise in altitude for the 3.5+ mile hike up.

I was surprised with how many people were on top. Including us, there were probably around 30 at the summit overlook.



This was about 1/3 the way up with about 2 miles to go. You can see the stone outlook tower about an inch from the right side of this pic:






This shot is from the same area, you can see the stone outlook tower a few inches from the right border (or just a little left of the tall pine).





Water break:





We're on the back side of the spires:






Creeping up on the summit, we can get a good view of the goal now:





A shot that shows what the trail was like:






Gaining elevation. In the distance, centered in the opening, is a huge rectangular rock formation - that's the back side of Mt. Rushmore.






After 2+ hours of hiking, we're at the base. The last 1/4 mile was the most challenging.





From inside the stone tower, the view was absolutely worth the grind. It's spectacular. In these next 2 shots, I used my wide angle and shot out the windows for a different perspective. This is my first attempt at HDR (normally not a big fan of it). You can see the spires off in the distance and see how far we've come.








From the top, you can really see the brown, dead pine trees. They're being killed off by a beetle whose name I can't remember.







Here's the backside of Mt. Rushmore again, the formation is almost centered in this shot:





The view with the stone outlook tower. It was truly spectacular at the top and was well worth the trip.