The Cliffs, Below Harney Peak, Sylvan Lake, S.D.
One way of climbing Harney
The view is nothing short of wonderful on a clear day, but is not as good when the clouds float below us or when the air is filled with mist. We go on up to the lookout station and register. Of course, we must ask the ranger our share of foolish questions. We would not be human if we did not display our ignorance up here. We just naturally feel that we must ask some kind of a question to commemorate the fact that we are up here.
We are now on the highest point in the Black Hills. Not only this, it is the highest point in the state and greater still, the highest point in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. We are 7,244 feet above sea level and about a thousand feet above Sylvan Lake. This little house away up on the top of a rock looks pretty frail beside the boulders upon which it stands. One would think that a breeze would blow it over the precipice hundreds of feet straight down. The house, though, is pretty well established, with heavy steel cables firmly rooting it to its place. Even at that, they’d better not hire a forest ranger up there who walks in his sleep.
Airplane View of Harney Peak Rise Photo
Looking Down the Gorge below Sylvan Lake
