7/15/09 - Custer State Park, SD







We drove back down the Needles Highway and took pictures. The road gets its name from a rock formation that looks like the eye of a needle. Then we hiked from Sylvan Lake to the top of Harney Peak, the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains at 7,242 feet. The round trip hike was 7 miles. At the top there is an old stone fire lookout built by the CCC in the 1930’s. We had a picnic lunch up there. At 1 AM a hailstorm woke us up. The hail was about marble size but fortunately did not dent the Pathfinder.