Three images in this series feature the fire tower at the top of Black Elk Peak, but this is the primary close-up. It features the main entrance that most hikers see on approach, including the stairs that lead to the top. In the foreground, this view also captures the memorial to Valentine McGillycuddy, a topographer and surgeon for the US Boundary Service Commission, whose ashes are interred there. The memorial includes a small sign that reads, “Valentine T. McGillycuddy, Wasicu Wacan, 1849–1939.” Wasicu Wacan is Lakota for “Holy White Man.” --- Find your way to the the tower by starting at the trailhead at Sylvan Lake.
