Saw this bench on the start of our hike today, and it seemed very appropriate.

We foolishly decided to climb Black Elk Peak today, the park service says most hikers can do it in around three to four hours. The Roaming Gnomes broke that record hands down with a roundtrip time of just around 10 hours!!! We hiked a total of just over 7 miles, but had some pretty extreme elevations changes. The biggest issue we faced is that much of the trail is covered with large stones and getting up (or down) them was difficult for two older people with multiple replacement parts and who are carrying too much weight. We decided early on that we weren’t in a race and if we couldn’t complete the full hike, that would be fine. Each vista was a time to sit and enjoy the wilderness and take a breather. We both sort of became like the little engines that could, lots of ‘I think I can…’ and ‘I’ll make it to the next bend’. We didn’t plan properly on how hard the decent would be and burned up way too much energy on the assent. Had plenty of water and food, just didn’t think it plan on 10 hours of supplies.

The peak used to be called ‘Harney Peak’ after General William Selby Harney (Brian’s ancestor) even though he never actually made it there. In 2017 they renamed the peak after the great native spiritual leader ‘Black Elk’. The fire tower is still called Harney Tower.

To get to the top you need to ascend from 6,200 feet to 7,242 over the course of the trail, however most of the trail is either going up or down to get around the landscape. We would go down a hill only to climb it again on the other side of a bend in the trail. I only recall a few level spots, so our total elevation change would be way more than 1000 feet.

Here’s the GPS track of our height for the first half of the hike:It was probably one of the most beautiful hikes we’ve ever taken, with amazing views around every corner. The ground was covered with the rocks from the peak, and Brian enjoyed seeing all the cool minerals.

Needless to say, we’ve learned our lesson and will never tackle this kind of trail again. From now on it’s nice easy hikes and no boulder scrambling!