Snow was in the forecast. An approaching winter storm was supposed to hit tomorrow and dump half a foot of snow on the Black Hills. The next 10 days weren’t expected to get above freezing. Today was supposed to be nice, though, with highs in the 50’s. Last chance, for a while at least, for Lupe to go on a Black Hills Expedition!
Lupe’s peakbagging goal for Expedition No. 104 was a rather unusual Black Hills mountain – Inyan Kara (6,360 ft.). Inyan Kara is part of a line of forested ridges and hills in eastern Wyoming separated from the main body of the Black Hills in South Dakota by 5-10 miles of grasslands used mostly for ranching. Like Devil’s Tower (5,112 ft.) in NE Wyoming and Bear Butte (4,433 ft.) near Sturgis, South Dakota, Inyan Kara was considered sacred by the Lakota Sioux. General George Armstrong Custer is purported to have visited Inyan Kara on July 23, 1874.
Inyan Kara sits on roughly 2 square miles of the Black Hills National Forest completely surrounded by privately held ranch lands. To even reach the national forest land, Lupe would need permission from the ranchers. Lupe and SPHP had tried once before to get permission, way back on Black Hills Expedition No. 91 on 6-1-14, but had arrived at the ranch headquarters to find no one at home except the dog.
This time Lupe and SPHP were in luck! Lupe arrived at the headquarters of Douglas and Sheila Hunter’s ranch just E of Inyan Kara to find Mr. Hunter and a couple of helpers in his front yard busy loading a vehicle on a trailer. Mr. Hunter’s dog, Bear, was very interested in meeting Lupe, but Lupe just growled.
Despite Lupe’s less than cordial reaction to Bear, Mr. Hunter kindly and readily granted Lupe and SPHP permission to cross his ranch to access Inyan Kara. Mr. Hunter directed SPHP where to park the G6. By 10:15 AM (50°F), Lupe and SPHP were on their way.
Lupe started out going W on a continuation of the dirt road that led to, and also went on by, the Hunter Ranch headquarters. She passed some old outbuildings near a tiny, mucky creek, and soon afterward came to a junction with another road. Lupe and SPHP turned N on this other road, but left it before long to start climbing through the fields directly toward SE-facing cliffs on Inyan Kara. On the way up, Lupe and SPHP ducked under a fence, thereby leaving the Hunter ranch and entering the Black Hills National Forest.
Lupe and SPHP turned N to avoid the cliffs. Lupe still angled slightly up the slope to gain elevation slowly, but steadily. She was approaching the forest on the E side of Inyan Kara. Once in the forest, Lupe and SPHP continued N working gradually up the ridge to the W. When the top of the ridge became visible between the pines, Lupe and SPHP turned W and climbed directly up the steep slope to the crest of the ridge. Lupe could now see the igneous summit of Inyan Kara to the WNW.
Inyan Kara is an interesting mountain. It is shaped rather like a distorted horseshoe, with the opening of the horseshoe NE of the summit and facing N. A long ridge starts rising from the NE end of the horseshoe, and makes a big sweeping curve clear around to the E and then S of the summit, ultimately going clear over to the SW. This long ridge gains elevation rapidly at first, but much more slowly as it progresses SW.
The S and SW portions of the sweeping ridge are quite high. Close to the SW end, there is a significant saddle where some elevation must be lost going NE to approach a shorter, but higher ridge leading to the actual summit. This N ridge is characterized by large igneous rock formations, but is easily climbed. Several smaller saddles must be navigated while heading N along the summit ridge.
The N ridge angles NE shortly before reaching the top of Inyan Kara. The summit and nearby areas form the NW end of the horseshoe. Between the N and S ridges, a deep forested valley comprises the center of the horseshoe.
Lupe had reached the top of the lower sweeping ridge ESE of the summit. The easiest way to reach the top of the mountain was to just follow the ridge as it swept around to the S and then SW. From there, Lupe could traverse the saddle over to the higher N ridge and continue on to Inyan Kara’s summit.
The ridge was all forested and fairly narrow most of the way to the saddle, but it was never narrow enough to be a problem. Deadfall timber sometimes partially blocked the way for SPHP. It was only bad in one small area toward the SSW. As Lupe progressed around the ridge, there were a few places with great views to the SE, S or SW.
Lupe and SPHP followed the S ridge around to the SW. Lupe continued W far enough to make certain she had reached the highest part of the S ridge. She then headed NE down into the saddle on her way to the N ridge leading up to the summit. Lupe could have started NE down into the saddle a bit sooner, and she wouldn’t have lost quite as much elevation. It still didn’t take her long to cross the broad forested saddle to reach the N ridge.
The most interesting part of Lupe’s climb up Inyan Kara started upon reaching the N ridge. There were big rock formations. The rocks were tan or pinkish orange, and had little steps or contours in them. Lupe quickly climbed up to a high point at least as high as any spot along the S ridge. From here, she could see the Inyan Kara summit off to the NNE.
The rest of the way to the summit was a bit tricky. It involved some exploration and occasional back-tracking to find the easiest route. In general, it proved best to stay to the NW side of the N ridge until getting quite close to the summit, since there were places that ended in cliffs to the SE.
The top of Inyan Kara is an open rocky ridge from which there are grand views in most directions. Although it hadn’t been windy on the way up, there was a steady, cold wind out of the SW when Lupe reached the summit. With the darkly overcast sky and stiff breeze, it was beginning to look like the forecast snow storm might well be on its way. Lupe wasn’t going to get to enjoy the views for very long.
Right away, SPHP noticed a USGS benchmark out in the open just 10 or 12 feet E of the summit. SPHP was disappointed that it didn’t even say Inyan Kara on it. While SPHP was looking at the USGS benchmark, Lupe was sniffing curiously around a big juniper bush just 8 feet N of the summit. Upon investigation, stuffed inside the bush SPHP found a broken Tupperware container inside a couple of Ziploc bags. It was all held in place inside the bush by several rocks placed on top.
Inside the broken Tupperware container was a pen and notebook that serves as a registry log. There were also other papers relating to a wedding, a funeral service and other events that had been held on top of Inyan Kara. The registry went back to 2008 and contained quite a few names. Some of the individuals had climbed Inyan Kara multiple times, with one claiming to have made 6 ascents.
SPHP would have liked to spend more time reading the registry, but the wind made reading for very long unpleasant. It was difficult to hold the pages open and still without tearing them. SPHP entered Lupe’s name in the registry log, before putting it all back together and stuffing everything securely in the bush.
Despite the wind, Lupe and SPHP lingered up on Inyan Kara for a while to enjoy the views. Lupe had water and Taste of the Wild, and then huddled inside SPHP’s jacket to stay warm. SPHP ate an apple and a big carrot. For the Black Hills, the views were tremendous. Far below and all around Inyan Kara was open ranch land, dotted here and there with forested hills and ridges.
On the N horizon, Lupe could see Missouri Buttes (5,374 ft.), Devil’s Tower, and Warren Peaks (6,650 ft.). Cement Ridge (6,674 ft.) was off to the NE. Terry Peak (7,064 ft.) and the main body of the Black Hills were in view to the E. Sweetwater Mountain was SSE. Very far to the W are the Bighorn Mountains, which are easily seen from Inyan Kara on a clear day when the light is right. However, SPHP could only barely make out one small portion of the southern Bighorns on this overcast day.
When it was time to go, Lupe and SPHP took the same route back along the N ridge going SSW and then down into the saddle area between the N and S ridges. Instead of going on to retrace Lupe’s route along the S ridge, Lupe and SPHP ventured E down into the steep, deep forested valley between the ridges – the middle of the Inyan Kara horseshoe.
Lupe followed the valley all the way down to its exit onto the prairie NE of the Inyan Kara summit (the open end of the horseshoe). There was no trail at all in the upper portion of the valley, and only a faint one in the lower part, until Lupe reached a jeep trail near a couple of old rusting water tanks near the valley’s N end.
The trek down through the central valley proved to take much more time than the S ridge route. Except at the upper and lower ends, the valley is V-shaped nearly all the way. Even the very bottom was steep, rough ground. In places it was choked with deadfall timber killed by pine bark beetles, making the going very slow.
The valley did provide Lupe complete protection from the cold wind. About the only other advantage was a tiny intermittent trickle of a stream where Lupe could get a drink. Not much of an advantage when SPHP was porting water anyway. While the valley was fun to explore once, Lupe and SPHP definitely recommend the S ridge route instead for the splendid views, shorter hike, and easier terrain!
Once Lupe emerged from Inyan Kara’s horseshoe, she followed the jeep trail around the E side of the mountain. There were forests near the E ridge, but most of the time Lupe was out on the open range. The jeep trail led right back to the Hunter ranch headquarters.
Lupe arrived at the G6 at 4:24 PM (51°F). No one was around except Bear, who was standing on the front porch. Bear whined when he saw Lupe. Bear still wanted to play, but the tired Carolina Dog showed no interest, dashing the lonely ranch dog’s hopes.
Inyan Kara Mountain is about 4 miles W of Hwy 585 in NE Wyoming between Sundance and Four Corners. Turn W on County Road No. 198 about 15 miles S of Sundance. Follow it about 1.5 miles W. A sharp turn N on a dirt road eventually leads 2.5 miles NW to a fork in the road. The Douglas and Sheila Hunter ranch headquarters is a short distance down the right fork. Courtesy and respect for the landowner’s rights will go a long way toward securing permission to access Inyan Kara.
For more information on the interesting history of Inyan Kara, click here.
Links:
Next Black Hills Expedition Prior Black Hills Expedition
Black Hills, WY Expedition No. 257 – Inyan Kara (11-7-20)
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