Black Elk Wilderness Area
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Wanting to get some elevation in Winter, we chose the Black Elk Wilderness Area in South Dakota with a desire to summit Harney Peak. After driving from Chicago, we parked the vehicle in the Mount Rushmore National Monument garage. One of our group was reading a climbing book and left it on the seat of the car. Rangers tried to determine if our group was attempting Winter climbing in the area, as that was forbidden.
On that first day, I believe we went south on the Centennial Trail and then went northwest on the Grizzly Bear Creek Trail. We camped in a clearing that appeared to have mountain lion trails through there. We were careful with our food.
The second we attempted Harney Peak. We left our tent and material in our camp and made the push for Harney Peak. We reached the peak and tower mid-afternoon. As you would expect, it was much colder and windier on the peak. It really does have spectacular views of the surrounding Black Hills region. After an hour, we headed back to our camp.
The third day, we pushed back toward our car. We headed north on Horsethief Lake Trail and then east along the Centennial Trail. That night we camped along the ridge. While it was nice being higher up, it was a much colder night. We had a cold evening under the stars before going to bed.
The fourth day, we hiked the short distance back to the Mount Rushmore National Monument parking. We then heard about the park rangers calling our spouses to find out if we were climbing.