Lincoln man measures one of the tallest mountains in South Dakota, makes startling discovery

Lincoln man Jerry Penry is making headlines in South Dakota after discovering that, for over 100 years, the two highest peaks in the state had been measured inaccurately.

Penry is a professional surveyor, and one of his favorite hobbies, is climbing mountains to measure exactly how tall they are.

He’s particularly fascinated with the Black Hills in South Dakota, and makes sure to visit every year.

Three years ago he led an expedition to the highest spot, commonly known as Harney peak.

“It was a curiosity and we didn’t know how close we were going to hit it, whether we’d be higher or lower, and so when we came back with the final measurements it was quite an eye opening experience,” said Penry.

Penry and his team had to carry all of this equipment to the very top.

It was there in 2016, when they conducted the first precise survey in history.

“We spent two days surveying Harney peak and doing very precise measurements with GPS and also conventional surveying with a level and rod,” said Penry.

The peak was last measured all the way back in the 1890’s.

During that time, surveyors were unable to climb to the peak, because it was too dangerous.

“Through historic research, we found out that it’s never been accurately surveyed,” said Penry.

Penry says he left his equipment out for four to five hours to make sure the measurements were down to the millimeter in precision.

When their findings came back, they were able to know, once and for all, that the previous height was in fact, incorrect.

“We actually found out that the published elevation that they were always using for Harney peak of about 7,244 feet was actually about 12 feet too high,” said Penry.

Penry made news again this week as he and his team set out on another expedition.

This time targeting the Odakoda mountains where the second highest peak in South Dakota is located.

He determined that Odakoda’s reported height was also incorrect.

Both peaks are much shorter than what was previously thought.

Penry says he has plans to continue his work in the near future.

“Now it’s just motivation to keep going, we’re going to measure Bear mountain next and then Green mountain after that. There are, I believe, ten peaks in the black hills that are over 7,000 feet, so eventually we’ll probably just do all of them,” said Penry.

Despite all of the evidence gathered by Penry, no changes have been made to accurately reflect the height of the Harney and Odakoda peaks.

Penry feels his survey was sufficient.

He’s says at this point, the old elevation is recorded on so many maps and documents that it would be difficult to change.

If you’d like to see his work for yourself, visit www.penryfamily.com/harneypeak/survey.