(ND-) South Dakota: Harney Peak

The second highpoint on this miniature stint was the higher of the two Dakotas, and claimed highest point east of the Rockies and west of the Pyrenees (more on this preposterous claim further down)... South Dakota's Harney Peak. 

The trail starts near Sylvan lake which is gorgeously located among forest and exposed rock in the black Hills. I didn't get too early of a start but managed to get on the trails by 830 in the basking morning sun. After having spendt the night in Custer, SD, and having visited Mt. Rushmore in the dark the night before which comes highly recommended.

Most aceess trails start in the Custer state park, but also enters a wilderness area. I can recommend taking trail #4 for some varied sight along the more commonly traveled #9 trail. Such as as old stone and shale excavation area seen below.

Most of the trail is nice and gradually rising. The most spectacular part is probably the fact that the trail itself and all surrounding stone glimmers and glitters in the sun as if walking on a mixture of glass, silver and diamonds at times.

 

It is unfortunately very hard to capture the shiny features with a single photography, as the sparkles change from one spot to another when walking creating the mesmerizing effect.

Littered along the trail is lots of plants, flowers, bushes and berries that I feel right at home with coming from Sweden. Among them plentiful bushes of Raspberries, small, but with fantastic flavor.

Along the #4 trail is a spur to Little Devils tower which is seen as depicted from the decent on Trail #9 below. It does indeed resemble devils tower but in much smaller scale.

The hike up to the top of the Little devils tower is mostly class 2 scrambling, on stone slabs or cracks as seen below.

The view afforded form the top however is truly well worth the extra mile it adds to the hike. You get a very clear view of Harney Peak as seen below with the lookout tower seen in the center of the picture.

It also shows that there will be a quite roundabout way to reach the top to follow some of the less exposed areas. Additionally the top of the Little devils tower offers some great views of local stone spires/cathedral formations that would offer some highly varied and exciting rock climbing.

Before getting within direct view of the lookout tower the trails enter the Black Elk Wilderness, make sure to fill in the required tags and deposit one while carrying the other with yourself until exiting the wilderness again. (No fees required, however Custer State park has a entry fee.)

The last streches of the trail crosses under some stone cracks and uses metal stairs to wind upwards towards the lookout tower.

On the top of Harney Peak is a lookout tower and former fire spotting tower. The tower is open to access and offers some improved nice vistas, especially since it is perched quite close to a drop-off towards the north offering a sense of prominence that otherwise is hard to find between all the various peaks and hills in the Black Hills.

On the tower itself there is a memorial plaque that is clearly younger than the tower since it lists part of the locations history. However it is blatantly wrong it it's claim. from the Pyrenees there is a certain number of landmasses such as Africa in which Morocco have loads of higher mountains to the west of the Pyrenees. Likewise the Canary Islands are located in the Atlantic and offers the 3rd highest volcano on a volcanic island after 2 volcanoes on Hawai'i (the state highpoint being one of them). Additionally, Greenland is situated even closer from the east which also exhibit much higher peaks... In fact just going North to Canada the highest point in Nunavut it higher further east of the Rockies, so the first claim isn't even true for north america, even Mexico show multiple higher points to the east of the Rockies (and even higher than the Rockies) (so does several counties in Latin and South America also.)... So not really correct even in the most generous interpretation of any of the statements regarding prominence... "Highest in USA east of the Rockies" could be close to the truth if it weren't for the big Bend national park and mountains in Texas which is further east... Trying to point out some resemblance if prominence north-south is equally futile I'm afraid even when limiting just to american geography... Geography outside of USA can be tricky though, and in this case even american geography was apparently too much  ;)

Nevertheless the breathtaking views, the shimmering Black Hills offers a sensation making it easy to appreciate the sacredness of the area to the native Americans that were unfortunately mostly forced away from the region. Recent evolution of the narrative, and South Dakota even celebrating Native american day instead of Columbus day, will hopefully keep moving the information forward. As well as showcase this beautiful region of South Dakota for current and future generations to enjoy and treasure.

It can be noted that the weather can shift quickly in the region, and the heat during good weather can dehydrate you quickly, so make sure to bring an adequate amount of liquids, especially of doing a few of the side spurs, and taking any of the longer approaches (trail #4 highly recommended).

Stats:
State: South Dakota
High point: Harney Peak 
Elevation: 7 242 ft (2 207m)
Date: August 9, 2014
Total elevation to date: 259 033 ft (78 953 m)
Access: Hike, class 1
Difficulty rating (of 10): 4
Potential Difficulties: Inclement weather

North Dakota: White Butte (-SD)

Not to belittle the Dakotas, but I had yet have any specific reason to travel anywhere near the Dakotas so both the North and South Dakota highpoints were left on my list for quite a while. But finally I had a chance to travel and see the Dakotas, and during Sturgis Bike week nonetheless!

The trip went to North Dakotaäs White Butte first. It is a nice location on midland/highland plains. The highpoint itself is a 30-60 minute hike one+way depending on how close you can get with a car on the gravel/two-track roads (high clearance and luck with limited mud pits required for close approach by vehicle). On the picture below the high point is the left peak above grass and a small tree-clearing.

The approaching hike is full of interesting geological formations form rain and erosion, but also the cause of massive mud areas if unlucky with recent rains. In my case it was close to bone dry however.

There is also local deposits of volcanic rocks near the base of the hill, well worth botanizing for the various colors and formations seen. The general area is also prime for fossilized bones, and the "T-rex capital of the world" is not far away in South Dakota. Obsidian can also be found in the area.

Other interesting rock formations include remnants of circular meter-wide harder rock that case interesting tower formations in connection to softer stone eroding around them, They also have very interesting circular patterns indicating their origin/formation.

The highpoint itself is reached within 30 minutes from the base of the hill, and is marked with a USGS marker and a box for signing a highpoint ledger.

Although not having a particular high prominence the views form the White Butte is very impressive and stretch for long distances in fortunate weather, like I had that day. The grassy areas are prone to rattle snakes, but I saw and heard none, but bringing a snake bite kit feels like a cheap added insurance well worth bringing.

Stats:
State: North Dakota
High point: White Butte
Elevation: 3 506 ft (1 087 m)
Date: August 8, 2014
Total elevation to date: 251 791 ft (76 746 m)
Access: Hike, class 1
Difficulty rating (of 10): 2
Potential Difficulties: Mud, Rattlesnakes

(OK-) Texas: Guadalupe Peak

While still in New Mexico on work I also had the chance to swing by Texas on a "calm" day. Guadalupe peak is a gorgeous mountain with an impressive prominence in an otherwise calm area over looking salt flats and having sight such as Carlsbad Caverns nearby.

The hike up the mountain is a nice, albeit dry, hike on a well maintained trail. The hike is short and decently steep for a good workout and a quick progress up the Mountain to reach early vistas of the surroundings. Brian W. joined me for the hike to the top of Texas.

The trailhead is conveniently located near a major road so access is real easy and part of the road can be sene in the photo above. Much of the trail had very prominent rock crystals visible in large crystaline peices. Which were osme of the most clear rock crystals I've ever seen out hiking.

On the top there is a small monument. The shear prominence of the peak will often lead to high winds as the weather tries to nagigate the topography. Thus one cools down very quick while enjoying the top for a few minutes.

In the background from Guadalupe peak one can see the peak "El Capitain" which is a nice peak with a very significant drop-off to the south. So not for the faint of heart when it comes to vertigo.

Eve the hike up Guadalupe peak  offers some nice safe exposure as the trail hugs the mountian side and pass a small bridge along a cliff. seen in the photo below.

The area offers mostly desert-like vegetation with cacti, and wild flowers that can clad the whole mountain and surrounding valley with beautiful colors year around.

Delicious Prickly Pears can be found high up the mountain and further down the valley we were treated to sights of the threatened Texas madrone, which is characterized by its bright red berries and distinctive orange bark.

All in all we were treated to blue skies, quite good visibility and a nice cooling breeze on the hike up. A visit to Guadalupe Peak is recommended for Texans and non-Texans alike and offers a different side of Texas, while still keeping true to the Big and Impressive motto...

Stats:
State: Texas
High point: Guadalupe Peak
Elevation:  8 749 ft (2667 m)
Date: October 14th, 2012
Total elevation to date: 248 285 ft (75 677 m)
Access: hike, class 1, moderately strenuous
Difficulty rating (of 10): 4
Potential Difficulties: strong winds, high temperatures, dehydration

Oklahoma: Black Mesa (-TX)

Oklahoma's highpoint Black mesa is indeed the top of a mesa as the name indicates, although fittingly enough it is also one of the largest mesas in all of US. The trek is about 4.2 miles one-way along a well signed path that starts below the mesa and after about 2 miles turn up to the plateau. 

The lanscape along the path shows many interesting rock formations and smaller table-top mountains such as the one seen below.

Once you reach the top of the plateau the only minor obstacle is that it is deceptively flat so figuring out where the high point really lies is not too easy. Just following the trail though you get to the marker for the highpoint eventually.

I went with Brian and we decided to try to bushwhack a bit on the way back to save a few minutes (or half a mile), that is kind of risky though due to the abundance of cacti, especially dried out dead cacti which easily pierce shoes with the needles. We made it back in one piece though, but the time saved was probably quite negligible.

A USGS marker pointing out it is unlawful to molest (?!?) marks the elevation and highest spot in the state of the Sooners.

Stats:
State: Oklahoma
Elevation: 4 973 ft (1 515.8 m)
High point: Black Mesa
Date: October 13th, 2012
Total elevation to date: 239536  ft (73 011 m)
Access: hike, class 1
Difficulty rating (of 10): 3
Potential Difficulties: getting lost on top of the mesa. Cactus needles...

ME: Katahdin

Maine's Katahdin is a nice 5000+ft mountain which is relatively isolated with over 4 000ft prominence. Katahdin also marks the northern end of the Appalachian trail. I chose to hike up the Abol slide trail, although there are many different options for reaching the peak which is Baxter peak, including among them hiking on knife's edge which I avoided in a decision that would prove to be quite lucky.

The trial started with some minor nuisances of mosquitoes and mild rain, which lasted the first hour or two of hiking after starting around 730 in the morning. The rist mile or so is fairly slow inclination change in forest along small streams, actually the trail itself was a minor stream in sections.

Once the trail turns upwards there is a rockslide to follow for about 3000 elevation ft in not much more than a mile. The slide have a mix of gravel and larger rocks, which is quite straightforward to hike and scramble on and which doesn't move too much even in the wed slippery conditions.

Parts of the trail involve some semi-tricky class 2 scrambling, had it been dry it would probably have been mostly pleasant, but the wet made for a challenge especially on the way down later... As the elevation increased the clouds started sweeping in around the trail and the top of the mountain, but for a while there was some very nice views of the surrounding lakes and nature.

Once you reach the top of the slide the trickiest part is over, but a completely other set of challenges might present themselves, inmy case it was a very very reduced view as can be seen in the pictures below. That in combination with extremely heavy wind gusts on hte edge of the tabletop on the mountain. 

The Abol trail intersected with the appalachian tral and that leads to the Baxter peak in about 1 mile distance but with a very mild inclination of only a couple of hundred feet in tundralike nature.

After about 3 hours of hiking I reached the top which is marked with a sign, and a plaque. On the sign one can see the quite intimidating distance marked as over 2000 miles to the southern terminus of the Appalachian trail. After a couple of oreos and other snacks I was about ready to head down and leave the clouds...

First a look at one of the other trails leaving up to the top, the infamous knifes edge. In the wet conditions with very strong temporary gusts I would not be surprised to see that trail being closed for the day for safety reasons.

Katahdin marks 40 states climbed which means I am officially "over the hill" so now it's just "downhill"f from here to complete the rest...

Stats:
State: Maine
High point: Katahdin
Elevation 5268 ft (1 605.7 m)
Date: June 24th, 2012
Total elevation to date: 208 236 ft (63 470 m)
Access: hike
Difficulty rating (of 10): 6
Potential Difficulties: slippery, high winds, mosquitoes

Oregon: Mount Hood

Oregon's Mount Hood, showed itself from a truly amazing side the last 2 days.It's not the highest volcano in the range and you can in fact see Mt Rainier from it which towers over an additional 3000ft. Nevertheless it's a very nice climb early in the season before too much ice and snow starts melting making conditions hazardous.

I had signed up for a summit program with Timberline Mountain guides, in total we were 9 guys of varying background and spread across the country. there were also 2 guides for the first day but 3 for the actual climb. The first day involved briefing and a couple of hours of snow-climbing school, including self-arrests, crampon techniques and roped travel. a lot of fun and a very toasty day felling like 70's in the sun.

The video shows Mt Hood from approximately the Timberline Lodge (~ 6000 ft - 1800 m). quite a part of the main trail going up the mountain can be seen. For a  more detailed description of part of our route the picture below shows that in red.

The "day" started at 1230am with assembly and by 1am we had left in a snowcat carrying us up to the top of the ski lifts. We hiked a short stretch to get our warmth back, truth be told though the temperature was quite agreeable, it had been colder last morning, but the bottom temperatures was supposed to come along at 5-6 in the morning. Layering worked fine, and although I feared wind making it worse and thus directly started with my hard shell jacket on, that was not an issue during any of the climb. Like I mentioned above we were truly blessed with weather. There wasn't much one could make out in the darkness until the moon had risen high enough to shed some light on the mountain side.

The route went nicely smooth up about 2000 ft up to the Hogsback, we were among the first people on the mountain that night. On the Hogsback one of the group climbers had to call it quits unfortunately, me and Andy set of a bit earlier with one of the guides to make it back to the last climber as soon as possible for starting the descent. the last 800 ft got gradually more steep, and roping up and using ice axes became necessary, and eventually climbing on all for for a shorter stretch, with about 40 or so percent inclination. once up though the old chute there is only a few hundred yards to the actual summit where the sun was starting to rise. The "captain morgan" look came to good use on the wind free summit. Which was reached about 4.50am.

Quickly more and more light started shining, in the picture below taken just before we started the decent one can see the Columbia river snaking along to the north east.

The picture below was taken just before descending as the first team down the old chute for the day, the people can be seen collecting on the summit watching the sunrise. I never really had any problem with the altitude which I've had a couple of times previously, but this was one very enjoyable hike.

Going down one could see the lemming train of people slowly ascending the mountain. Here is any posing who was leading us down as the bottom=most guy of the rope. The Hogsback can be seen as stretching  diagonally upwards towards the right corner having a lot of people sitting along it.

Close to the hogsback one can find a couple of evidences that it is a volcano one is climbing on. In fact already after 10-20 minutes of climbing the familiar sulfur stench similar to the HS of rotten eggs started smelling, and the picture below show one of the vents where this type of gas emminates from.

Having the sun behind the mountain for a short while showed the truly remarkable silhouette of  Mt Hood as it cast it shadow initial almost all the way to the pacific. In the Photo below it had started retreating and become more well-defined.

A couple of the guides posing close to the top of the ski lifts where we started, unfortunately on the way down that only meant about halfway down. A good motivator for finishing the last stretch though was that we had been making good time and were there at 7.20 already and that meant we could enjoy the Lodge's breakfast buffet if nothing unexpected happened.

the final stretch doing down to the lodge can be seen below. We followed the snowcat's tracks which is what most of those ascending from the lodge had done on the way up also. A majority of the group had brought snowboards and skied down once we reached the top of the ski run.

Finally down at 8.30am (7h total hiking time), and could freshen up some, return renal boots and gear and then chat with the others in the group before having a very nice "Breakfast Buffet", We had been up close to 10h already so the concept of breakfast was not entirely straight forward. But nonetheless amazingly satisfying...

Stats:
State: Oregon
High point: Mount Hood
Elevation: 11 239 ft (3425.6 m)
Date: May 5th, 2012
Total elevation to date: 202 968 ft (61 865 m)
Access: ice/snow hike, snowcat
Difficulty rating (of 10): 4
Potential Difficulties: Too warm (falling ice, slushy snow), too cold (ice blankets which are near impossible to climb), inclement weather, sharp tools...