Iron Mountain Man Triathlon, Black Hills NF, 5-20-1989

The Iron Mountain Man Triathlon was one of those events that illustrates the joys, and pitfalls, of being an obsessive record keeper. In the 35 years that have passed, I had completely forgotten about the event, only to come across it in my master trip list, and then reading about it my notebook. A triathlon through the Black Elk Wilderness(?), off trail scrambling up the backside of Harney Peak(!), road biking around Mt Rushmore (Yikes). Who knew such fun times were out there to be had.

But in the Black Hills era, I was just starting to document my adventures. I had no thoughts of guidebooks to be published, or trip reports to be posted. Sometimes trips were listed in my calendar without descriptions, and other times my notebook entries are enticingly brief. The Iron Mountain Man unfortunately is one of the latter. My notes are bare boned, and several sections go by with barely at hint at the route. I have no pictures or other souvenirs from the event, and this was well before the GPS era.

Because the course traversed the Black Elk Wilderness, the event was considered to be noncompetitive. We started at the Rushmore Borglum Story Museum in Keystone, SD with a ten mile road bike ride to the Palmer Creek Trailhead on the west side of the Black Elk Wilderness. We first headed into Mount Rushmore National Memorial, then turned west on SD 244 past Horsethief Lake and the Willow Creek Horse Camp before turning south on the Palmer Creek Road to an aid station at the Lost Cabin Trailhead. Both bike sections were relatively straight forward, and I’m confident of the routes. I didn’t describe the biking at all, but assume that I was riding my old Schwinn Traveler touring bike.

The Lost Cabin Trail (#2) was a loop trail until the early-1980s. This was the first of several changes to the Norbeck Trails in the 1980s, which was followed by the deletion of  Trail 1 between 1983 and 1988 and the elimination of most of Trail 10 in 1991 (according to the BHNF maps). We took the now closed east side of the Lost Cabin Loop. 

The 1983 Harney Peak area trail map.

On the old section of Trail 2 I saw two former Dartmouth geologists Ed and Genet Duke, then at SD Tech, and out hiking with their two kids. The course soon left the old trail and went cross country to the rocks at the base of the northwest side of Harney (now Black Elk) Peak. Here the real fun began. There were two roped pitches, a descent, and another roped pitch on what I called “good scrambling.” The ropes were useful in a few places and generally followed a large crack system (Oh, to have a GPS track of that route…)

At about two miles from the Trailhead, I reached the top of the Black Elk Peak in third place. The rest of the trail section was all running except for brief walking breaks on the short, steep, gravel pitches. I ran with Tim, a doctor from Rapid City, and we managed to keep a good pace. The trail run section followed trails 7, 3, and 16. The Norbeck trails were configured differently back then, but I believe we took the current Trail 7 on Grizzly Bear Creek. There is a similar issue at the east end around Trail 16, but I think we ran up along what now is the Centennial Trail and the Centennial Trail Bypass to the Iron Mountain Picnic Area because my notes indicate that the second bike leg was all downhill. 

The 2024 Black Elk Wilderness trail map.

The last section of the course was the downhill bike ride on the Iron Mountain Road (US 16A) back to Keystone. I assume the race folks had collected out bikes from Palmer Creek and shuttled them to the Iron Mountain Picnic Area for us.

I finished 5 out of 29 in 4:20.  It was easily the most run I’d had in a race setting. The weather was great, and the support crews fantastic. Two of the guys finishing ahead of me were familiar local racers Terry Smith and Gary Haven, and another was Tim, the doctor I’d run with. There were plans to expand the event the next year.

However, 1989 was the only time the event was held. The issue, I suspect, was crossing the Wilderness Area where competitive events are not allowed. I suppose the difference between a noncompetitive event and a race is mostly in the name. This had been a triathlon race in all but name only. But it was a wonderful and unique day in the woods, and it was still a thrill to read about again after being forgotten for so long.

Cedar Butte Hike, Badlands NP, South Unit, 5-13-89

This hike was the product of an aborted backpacking trip (whose planned destination I’ve long forgotten). That morning I’d driven from Lead to the Badlands in uninterrupted rain. Near the town of Scenic I decided to scrap the backpack, and instead check out the South Unit of the Badlands National Park. My first option, the Sheep Mountain Road was to muddy to drive, so I headed down to the White River Visitor Center to get some other ideas. The Visitor Center was closed, but Cedar Butte, just two miles west looked interesting, and the road was in good shape.

This hike is another I plotted on my now lost 1981 1:50K Badlands NP paper map. My rough route description is my only source for this hike. I took no pictures. Basically, I was able to circle counterclockwise all the way around the butte, except for the northeast side , which I cut off by hiking up the east side and back down the north side. The loop was about 5.3 miles around, all of it off trail.

1989 Badlands NP, South Unit, Cedar Butte.

It was only four hundred feet between the valley floor and butte top, but badlands features are notoriously steep, and the rain hadn’t helped the traction. On the east aide I followed up the main drainage, and then stayed left. There is a grassy ramp, and just past, it a tree-lined gully. I followed the trees up to the top of the table.

The top of the butte was so narrow, I could easily zig zag around to alternate the views on either side. On the north side you could probably descend anywhere down into its main drainage, but I took a route on the east side. Once down to the base of the butte I hiked around the west side, then past the south drainage. It looked possible to climb the butte from the south side as well. But the south side route was choked with gumbo, and exploring it would have required a drier day.

With the rain the gumbo was slick, but not yet at the phase where it clings desperately to any surface. I fell twice and would not have been able to carry a pack on the loop. Mostly it was possible to walk on pebbles, siltstones, or on the grasslands. I saw no wildlife, but saw plenty of tracks and scat from deer, but none from bison. Perhaps bison are fenced out of the South Unit?

I did get my first BNP wildflower displays. The tufted evening primrose was a big surprise, often growing alone in massive silt or gumbo. I could also identify some reddish milk vetch. The flowers were taking a beating from the rain. I saw no people, but even discounting the rain I doubted anyone came here. This was a great Plan B, once I realized the rain had made backpacking impossible it had gotten me exploring another new place.

The buttes and tables on the South Unit would make great targets for day hikes, just pick one and go. But this remains my only hike to date in the South Unit. My later trips from Lead would focus on off trail hiking around the Badlands Wall, and later on checking the park trails to produce, and then update, my Black Hills and Badlands hiking guide. A best first option for most people looking to explore the South Unit would be the 2.5 mile trip up to the Sheep Mountain Table from SD 589/Tribal 27, four miles south of Scenic. To repeat this hike, remember that there are several “Cedar Buttes” in the area, and this is the one just two miles west of the White River Visitor Center.