Mon Petit Voyage: South Dakota-The Black Hills

At last, we reached the Black Hills of western South Dakota. Home of Mount Rushmore and a plethora of climbing. We arrived at Wrinkled Rock Campground (A mere mile from those iconic faces) late in the afternoon. After setting up camp on a wonderful tent platform, we strapped on the crash pads and walked two minutes to The Trash Can Boulders located right next to the Wrinkled Rock Parking area. The climbing was unique and painful.The rock is a coarse igneous granite called pegmatite or crystalline granite, that is characterized by well-formed crystals (usually your only holds). After familiarizing ourselves with the rock, our muscles and finger tips began to give out.

The next morning we were greeted by our old friend, thunder storms. So we went and did some sight seeing at Custer State Park, located just south of Mount Rushmore. The park is well manicured and appeals to the common tourist: buffalo safari tours, roadside burro petting, three lodges, and a hefty $15 entrance fee. The northern portion of the park was more our style, huge granite spires rise from the earth just begging to be climbed. The Needles Eye being the most noteworthy. After thousands of years of erosion, a hole had been formed in one of the spires creating one of the most unique features I have ever seen(And yes, you can climb it).

Wyoming traffic jam

Can't Roller skate in a Buffalo Herd

The rare forest Bison

The Needles Eye

After another night of torrential down pours we were forced to take another "rest day". After milling around at the library and indulging in some wonderful local coffee we went on a recon mission in search of the Old Baldy boulders. After several wrong turns, we finally located the area we were after. Even though they were soaking wet, they still looked amazing! We continued up the trail and eventually to the summit of Old Baldy, just our luck the entire mountain was socked in with fog. None the less we made the best of a rainy day.

The sign said so

"The Prow" (V10)

Summit pic at Old Baldy

We awoke the next morning to sunny skies and dry rock. After a quick breakfast we made our way to the South Seas area only a few minutes from camp. The jumble of rocks and corridors made finding climbs very confusing (no thanks to mountain project either). The first climb of the day was Second Hand Rose Arete (5.6) which Gabrielle led, it was 155' of pure enjoyment. Followed by one of the longest(34 meters) and funnest rappels I have ever done. We then made our way around the corner to the classic two pitch climb,Waves (5.8). The summit had spectacular views of the surrounding hills. After climbing a few more routes at The Cavity area we made our way back to camp for a quick snack then more bouldering at the Trash Can area.

Gabrielle leading up "Second Hand Rose Arete"

Gabrielle on the sweet rappel

Summit pic after climbing "Waves"

The surrounding hills

We sadly had to say goodbye to the Black Hills and move onto our next destination: Cody, Wyoming. Along the way we were able to stop at Devils Tower. A 867' foot tower located in Northwest Wyoming. We unfortunately arrived in June which there is a Voluntary Closure: Climbers are asked to respect the voluntary closure for the month of June to respect Devil's Tower's importance as a cultural resource. So all we could do was gawk at this amazing piece of rock.