[youtube 4oq7jpM9u2o]

I’m a little bummed out that I didn’t get to hike Harney Peak this year, so I thought I’d check YouTube for a little vicarious consolation prize. I found it in the video I linked here. It’s a compilation of photographs and original flute music by Bob Child, who used to be a Black Hills weather forecaster before he left the broadcasting biz to take up flute-making and music full-time.

There are some really fantastic shots in there. The view from the top of Harney Peak, the highest point in North America between the Rocky Mountains and Pico Duarte in Hispanola, is really incredible. I love the carpet of green forest that cascades down the mountain and throughout Custer State Park, and the fingers of granite mountains that pop above it here and there. It’s very distinctive. I can’t think of another forest in the world that looks quite this way.

The pairing with the American Indian flute music makes this a nice, quick video to watch if you’re missing peak climbing weather (pun unintended, but appreciated) like I am. But who knows? NOAA says it’s supposed to be 70 in Custer on Wednesday, so there are still plenty of warm days left this year. I may squeeze in my hike yet.