Inyan Kara is a Black Hills mountain that few people have seen up close. The main reason is that the mountain in the northwest corner of the Black Hills is surrounded by private land. You need to get landowner permission to climb it.
However, it is a worthwhile hike.
When my friend John and I hiked to the top a couple of years ago, the landowner he contacted was very nice. (John baked her a fresh rhubarb pie, which couldn’t have hurt.)
You can see Inyan Kara, elevation 6,348 feet, from Interstate 90 going through Wyoming. It looks like a large, pine-covered flat-topped mesa rising above the high plains. But when we hiked it, I was surprised that it’s much different than it looks from a distance.
Inyan Kara is actually a granite uplift rising from the middle of what appears to be a three-sided crater.The fractured granite columns look a lot like those you see on Devil’s Tower just to the north. (I shot the above photo from the eastern rim of the crater.)
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Inyan Kara, however, is the name carved on its rocky summit. It says: “74 G Custer.” Legend has it that the Lieutenant Colonel himself carved his name there during the 1874 expeditition through the Black Hills.
We do know that Custer ascended Inyan Kara during the 1874 Expedition. I read a complete account of the climb in a journal kept by one of Custer’s men. There was no mention of any name-carving. (My wife, Nancy, looked at the photo and said, “It’s probably the Custer High School Class of 1974.)
Of course, Custer (who didn’t get landowner permission) and his Seventh Cavalry soldiers went on to discover gold in the Black Hills near present-day — which led the U.S. goverment to break the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty that reserved the Black Hills for the Lakota and other native tribes — and perish two years later at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
To me, however, the best part of Inyan Kara is the sweeping view of the high plains and the rest of the Black Hills. You can see Sundance Mountain, Devils Tower and Cement Ridge. I’m sure Custer was as enthralled as I was. Below is a Google Earth view of Inyan Kara.
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Looks like a very cool hike. I like your blog, but why haven’t you posted anything lately?
Vietnam Travel Tips
As you are planning your trip or vacation there are many things that you are going to need to plan for and take care of before your trip starts. You will definitely want to have purchased some type of travel health insurance so that you are covered on your trip in the event of a medical emergency. Travel medical insurance is what is going to protect you if you are taken ill from a virus or from something that you eat. If you have an accident and are injured your travel health insurance will pay to have you taken to safety and for your stay in the hospital.
Most travel medical insurance will offer you several different policies. If your own personal health insurance already offers you some type of coverage when you are on vacation to out of the country you can think about skipping travel health insurance or you may want to purchase some travel medical insurance to supplement your personal health insurance. The most important thing to consider when buying travel health insurance is the length of time that you will be away. If you are going to be gone for a long period of time or will be traveling often you will want to buy an extended coverage policy. Different travel medical insurance policies will cover different types of medial issues. Some of this coverage may include:
* Medical and hospital expenses.
* Dental emergencies
* 24 hour medical emergency care
* Emergency evacuation
* Accidental death
* Lost luggage
* Trip cancellation
When you are purchasing your travel health insurance make sure that your discuss exactly what you are looking for with your travel agent.
Traveling can be as easy or as complicated as you make it. Here are some travel tips and international travel tips to help make your vacation or trip that much easier:
• Local currency. This is one of the most common travel tips that you will hear. Before leaving on your vacation change some of your money into the local currency of the country that you are visiting. This will be one less thing for you to worry about when you arrive at your destination.
• Secure your valuables. Always make sure that your money and traveler’s checks are in safe in your purse or in your hand luggage rather than in your suitcase. Suitcases get lost and stolen and you don’t want to arrive at your destination without and funds.
• Hotel safe. If the hotel in which you are staying has a safe be sure to take advantage of it and leave your money and valuables in the safe.
• Luggage. Never leave your luggage unattended in an airport or outside of the airport while you are waiting for your taxi. Always keep a close eye on your bags.
• Confirmations. After you arrive at your destination take some time to make sure that all your return flight are on time. Making sure that the times you have on your ticket are correct will save you lots of time in the event that there has been a scheduling change that you are unaware of.
When you are traveling a big concern is always what and how much to bring. Here are some travel packing tips for you to take into consideration:
• Pack lightly. This is probably one of the most important travel packing tips that you will get. The less you pack the better since you can always pick up those extras or that forgotten sweater at your travel destination.
• Books on language. If you are traveling to a foreign speaking country you may want to think about taking a long a book that has some common phrases in the language of the country that you are visiting.
• Color combination. If you pack all of your clothes in two matching colors you will able to mix and match all of the clothes that you have packed, creating a variety of outfit choices.
• Raincoat. If you are packing a raincoat find one that will double as a windbreaker so that you aren’t taking too many pieces of outer clothing.
• Jeans. Leave the jeans at home if you can since they weigh more and are harder to carry around. As well they take a longer time to dry if you have to wash some of your clothes and hang them to dry in your hotel room.
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Good indeed, after visiting your blog whoever loves to travel, will definitely plan to go “Inyan Kara ” and the second thing that i liked most is the information about “preparation before plan to go to Inyan kara ” every needed information is given what to do or what not. The post and the comment is appreciable.
A possible as the photo in full size lay out?
Wow! These photo and info about Inyan Kara can really acttract every traveler to visit here.Really this trip will be very nice trip for everyone.