Climbing In the Black Hills

Monday morning we woke up early and headed into town to check out the local gear store for some guide books and local beta. We walked in the store and the people there really helped us out. They showed us all the right guide books and also gave us suggestions on some good places to go. We headed out of there and headed for the Mt. Rushmore climbing area, South Seas to be exact. We found the parking no problem, but the routes were a little more difficult to find. The most recent guide book for the area was printed in 1995. Nothing like trying to find some routes, with 25 year old info and hand drawn sketches of rock. We did our best and had a great time climbing all day. We met up with some locals in the afternoon and they showed us some of the area classics. Jodi led a tough 5.9 with a little scary part at the second bolt. (ground fall potential). The highlight for me was leading "Ankles Away" (5.10) on the "X Marks The Spot" Pillar. This is a mixed route which had to be lead on gear for the first 20 feet, make a spicy move, then you clip 2 bolts on your way to the anchors. Side Note: As I'm making the spicy move above my gear, a bat flies out of a crack in which I have my foot in. It flew into my leg and then flew away. Scared the @#$% out of me, almost ripped. Below are some pictures of me at the summit of "X Marks The Spot"

By now it was 5pm and we had decided to call it a day. Once we got back to the car we realized we were really close (2 miles) from Mt. Rushmore. We headed up there to take a look at the monument before dinner. As we rounded the corner to the parking lot, there stood Mt. Rushmore high up on the mountain side. What an amazing sight to see. We parked the car and headed up to the grand view platform. Below are some photos we shot while up there.


After visiting the monument for about an hour we headed back to camp to cook dinner and get some sleep.

Tuesday morning we woke up early again with the goal of climbing all day and exploring new areas. We first headed over to the Mt. Rushmore climbing area called Monster. This was right down the road from where we were climbing yesterday. The reason we chose this area was because I have seen pictures of a classic climb there called "Gossamer" (5.8) This route takes gear for the first 15-20 feet or so, then 4 bolts to the anchors. It is super exposed on a razor sharp edge all the way up. We had to try it. We hiked in to the Monster area, and found the route we were looking for. We had the whole place to ourselves, which made it even better. It was quite chilly that morning and a pretty strong breeze. We really like that kind of weather, so we couldn't be any happier. I tied in and placed 2 pieces of gear before my first bolt. Kind of heady, because the first move or so you are traversing, and ground below falls away. So as you make your first move, it feels like you are already 20 feet of the deck. After I placed my 2 pieces of gear, #6 nut and #10 nut, I headed for the bolts. Clipped the first one, and then starting looking for the next ones. I only counted 2 more before the anchors. This is one short of the 4 they said in the book. It really didn't bother me, it just made a section a little more run-out, but doable without hitting the deck. Clipped the last bolt and headed for the chains which is almost straight left, and run out. Would have been one heck of a fall/swing if I didn't make it, but I did. Clipped into the anchors and sat back into my harness. At that moment I realized the climb I just finished was probably one of the best pitches of rock climbing I have ever done. It certainly wasn't the hardest or longest, but it sure was the most enjoyable. It really felt like you were out there being adventurous and having fun. Below are some pictures of me at the top of "Gossamer"

Below is a picture of the scenery which was all around us. Amazing!!!

After we finished that climb we headed over to the "Marker" area, which is right next to the "Monster" area. We found a really cool climb there which we both did. We thought maybe in the 5.10ish range. What drew us to this was that it looked like a quality line and it was long. (9 bolts) It looked fairly new and figured why not. Again most of the climbs we climbed were not even in the guidebook. It was actually kind of nice just picking out lines based on appearance and cool factor. After the Marker area, we decide to head over to one of the other areas the locals were talking about, "The Chopping Block". We drove down the road and parked were we did the day before. Hiked across the street and was presented with a plethora of climbs. We spent all afternoon just climbing left to right on the wall. Picking off climbs one by one. Again we had the whole place to ourselves and really enjoyed it. By about 5pm or so our fingers and feet were toast. We packed it up and headed back to the car. Since we still had some day light left we decided to drive the "Needles Highway", to soak up some scenery. If you have not driven this road before, DO IT. What a very cool drive. So we took the Needles highway into Custer State Park and followed it all the way into the town of Custer. We pulled off along the way to snap pictures and admire all of the stone. One place in particular we really liked was the "Needles Eye", which you can climb. This rock formation was mind blowing. Super intimidating, super exposed, everything about it is super. It also goes at 5.8-5.9 trad (with a bolt or two). A little over our heads right now, because I'm just breaking into the whole "Trad" thing. If you do tons of Trad, this is the pitch for you. (Jamie: Have Chuck belay you on this. He will be more scared watching you, than you would be climbing it) Some day, when I'm a better Trad climber, I'll be back to do this climb. Below is a picture of Jodi in front of the "Needles Eye"

After riding on the Needles Highway we headed into the town of Custer to grab a bite to eat. We found a really good restaurant in town, and had a relaxing dinner. After dinner we headed back to the camp site and turned in for the night.

Wednesday was going to be a rest day, from climbing. We would hardly call what we did that day "resting". We did sleep in a little (8:30am) ate some breakfast and starting thinking of the activities we wanted to do. Jodi suggested we look up South Dakota's "High Point" (highest point in the state) We found that it was located right down the street from where we were camping. That was going to be the majority of the day right there. First, we really wanted to head back to see Mt. Rushmore one more time. We were reading that the President's "moods" change due to the time of day, because of the shadows. We also wanted to get some more pictures of us in front of the monument. Once there, we found a trail to another lookout closer to the monument. We headed down there and took some more pictures. After our loop around the park we headed out and toward Harney's Peak. Below is another picture of Mt. Rushmore.

In order to get to Harney's Peak, you have to get on Needles Highway and enter Custer State Park. We parked at the Sylvan Lake Parking lot and located the trail head. We read that the hike would take about 4-5 hours and an elevation gain of 1,500 feet over 3 miles. We were really excited and raced for the summit. It took us about 2 hours or so to get up to the top of Harney's Peak. The views were breathtaking. After having a snack, and some time to rest our legs we headed back down the mountain and back to the car. Below is a picture at the top of Harney's Peak. The stone Fire Building at the top was really cool.

Once we got back to the car, we decided to take a quick hike around Sylvan Lake. The hike took us about an hour or so and really enjoyed it. The hike was relatively flat which was a nice change from all the hills heading up to Harney's Peak. We checked out some climbing areas around the lake, and also some bouldering spots. There were lots of people there swimming and having picnics. Below is a picture of Jodi and I hanging out by the lake.

After the lake we still had a couple of hours until we needed to head back for dinner, so we headed over to the Crazy Horse Monument. It took us about 20 minutes to get over there, but once there it was amazing. The scale of this monument will blow you away. 4 times the size of Mt. Rushmore when completed. We headed into the visitor center for a quick video history of the monument, in which Jodi and I learned a lot. After the video, we took a bus ride to the base of Crazy Horse, were the guide answered all questions we had. This monument is still a work in progress and its estimated completion date will be sometime in the next 40 years. So maybe when Jodi and I are in our 70's we can go back and see the finish product. We really enjoyed the story behind the monument and left there feeling privileged. Below are some pictures of the "Crazy Horse" Monument.

After the Crazy Horse monument tour we headed into Custer to get some groceries for dinner. Tonight is going to be TACO NIGHT!! It might not sound exciting, but it was for us. Brought taco stuff back to camp, cooked them up, and chowed them down. Hung out for a bit, Jodi did a load of laundry, and then hit the sack. Thursday we are heading up to Spearfish Canyon to crank on some Limestone!!!

Side Note: The rock in the Black Hills is so much different then what we are used to back home. This has a lot of granite, quartz crystals, mica, and shist. It really tears your hands up, and your shoes. So far we have found most of the routes to be very delicate and balancy. Also, a lot of the routes have some pretty good run-out sections. We found these past few nights to be more mentally tired than physically.