Lupe continued her peakbagging along the E edge of the limestone plateau country in the western Black Hills on Expedition No. 133, but somewhat farther N than on Expedition No. 132. It was 9:57 AM and 69°F under mostly clear skies when SPHP parked the G6 at the first pullout along Castle Creek beyond the intersection of Deerfield and South Rochford roads. Lupe immediately crossed the road and started heading NE up through forests and meadows toward the S end of South Castle Rock.
South Castle Rock (6,840 ft.) was Lupe’s first peakbagging goal of the day and the one that would require the most elevation gain since Lupe started from down by Castle Creek. The other four peakbagging points were all at similar elevations along the E edge of the limestone plateau country. Some elevation had to be lost between each of the peaks, but not nearly as much as Lupe would gain just getting to South Castle Rock.
Lupe had done essentially this same peakbagging trek once before on Expedition No. 90 on 5-24-14, so SPHP knew pretty much what to expect. The best views from South Castle Rock are not at the summit, but from the limestone cliffs at the SE end of the mountain. Lupe stopped here first for some photos. There were beautiful views of the E edge of the limestone plateau country to the S and Reynolds Prairie to the E. Parts of Deerfield Lake were visible too. Heading N through the forest, Lupe also got her picture taken on the highest boulder at a false summit a short distance S of the true summit.
The true summit of South Castle Rock is on top of a large section of limestone sitting mostly 10-20 feet above the surrounding area. The best way up and down is from the SW. The whole area is forested, including the summit. Due to the trees, there really aren’t any great views from the summit of South Castle Rock. SPHP did take one photo of Lupe on the summit with nearby Castle Rock in the background. Castle Rock (6,783 ft.) and South Castle Rock are all basically part of the same mountain. South Castle Rock is actually the highest point on the mountain. Lupe lost a little elevation on the way to Castle Rock.
The summit of Castle Rock is with 100 feet of the E end of the ridge. The summit is forested, but there are some good views near the edges of the ridge. Lupe posed for a few photos, including one looking N towards her next two objectives, Nipple Butte (6,800 ft.) and Flag Mountain. After the photo session, Lupe headed back W along the Castle Rock ridge. When she got to the main N/S ridge line coming from South Castle Rock, she turned N onto a ridge SPHP dubbed “Skinny Ridge”.
Skinny Ridge heads N from the main portion of Castle Rock. It is not all that skinny until it reaches its N end, but is skinnier than the main E/W ridge of Castle Rock. Skinny Ridge is actually broad and flat. There will be some really great views of the huge valley to the W of Castle Rock from Skinny Ridge someday when the dead pine trees along the ridge finally fall over. On Lupe’s prior adventure here on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 90, SPHP had learned that following Skinny Ridge to the N eventually leads to a dead end with cliffs on all sides. The easiest way around Skinny Ridge is to descend to the E near the start (S end) of the ridge.
So Lupe headed N on the way to Nipple Butte below and to the E of Skinny Ridge. Lupe started encountering some large yellow flowers in this area that were attracting bumblebees. There was a fair amount of deadfall timber in this area, but it wasn’t too bad. When Lupe got past the N end of Skinny Ridge, she went on up to the saddle between Castle Rock and Nipple Butte. She gained some elevation approaching Nipple Butte from the S. The easiest route to the summit, however, is on the WNW slope. Lupe swung around to the W side of the mountain before making the final ascent.
A short steep scramble is required to get up to the summit of Nipple Butte. No equipment at all is required to reach the top. The platform at the top of Nipple Butte is not very large. There was a small area Lupe and SPHP could walk around on, but cliffs were never more than a few feet away. The cliffs aren’t all that tall, but they are still cliffs. One limestone boulder at the very top with orange lichens growing on it is presumably the nipple of Nipple Butte. There aren’t any trees up on top of Nipple Butte, so there were great views in every direction.
Lupe and SPHP stayed on Nipple Butte for a while to enjoy the scenes. Lupe had some Taste of the Wild and SPHP had an apple. When it was time to leave, Lupe was a bit concerned about how to get down. SPHP had lifted her up a 6 foot wall of rock so she could get up on top, but Lupe wouldn’t let SPHP help her down. Lupe finally took an alternate route down through some bushes that worked just fine. After a trek down the NW slope of Nipple Butte, Lupe came to a little side road leading to USFS Road No. 189. There was a great mud puddle along the side road and Lupe made use of it.
From the mud puddle, Lupe followed the side road to USFS Road No. 189, which she simply crossed heading N. Lupe climbed up the ridge continuing N through the forest towards Flag Mountain (6,937 ft.). When she drew near the access road, she turned more to the NNE to stay in the forest. (One can drive to the summit of Flag Mountain via an access road off USFS Road No. 189.) Very near the top, Lupe got on the access road for the final stretch.
Flag Mountain features great views to the N, E and S, plus the remains of the foundation of an old lookout tower. From Flag Mountain, Lupe could get her first glimpse of Peak 6962 and Whitetail Peak to the N. Peak 6962 was Lupe’s 5th and final peakbagging goal of the day. White Tail Peak (6,962 ft.) is also along the E edge of the limestone plateau country, but it was just too far away to be included in Expedition No. 133’s day hike.
From Flag Mountain, Lupe headed W along the ridges. She crossed the access road to Flag Mountain, but did not follow it. Lupe and SPHP just went through the forest trying to stay on the high ground, while circling around the W end of the canyon between Flag Mountain and Peak 6962. This involved some up and down as various high and low points along the way were reached. Lupe did follow a very short section of USFS Road No. 189 just before heading N and then NE along the ridge to Peak 6962.
SPHP considers Peak 6962 the most annoying peakbagging mountain in the Black Hills. It really shouldn’t be annoying at all. It is up at the edge of the limestone plateau high country that SPHP finds so appealing. The terrain undulates a bit, but there really isn’t much elevation gain or loss along the ridge extending out to the SW from the summit. This ridge is only a little over a mile long from USFS Road No. 189. There ought to be great views from Peak 6962 looking E and N towards Whitetail Peak. What should be a pleasant easy stroll through the forest along a high ridge with some views to a summit with great views isn’t that way at all.
The main culprit is the mountain pine beetle, which has decimated the forest in the area of Peak 6962. SPHP remembered that Lupe’s last trek to Peak 6962 back on Expedition No. 90 on 5-24-14 featured an annoying amount of deadfall timber. Over a year’s time gone by had only made matters worse, as more dead trees have fallen. It was a very slow march along the ridge on the way to Peak 6962 through all the deadfall timber. Lupe could sometimes use the fallen tree trunks as highways, but the prevailing NW winds had pushed most of the trees over at a 90° angle to the direction Lupe and SPHP needed to go.
Just to make things more aggravating, for the first half of the way along the ridge, there is an utterly useless barbed wire fence that has been broken down in countless places as trees fell on it. SPHP constantly worried that Lupe might get cut by the barbed wire. The best route forward seemed to zigzag repeatedly across the fence line. Despite the number of trees that have fallen, there are still enough dead and living trees still standing to block the views both on the way to Peak 6962 and at the summit. Perhaps there are views at the cliffs at the very S end of the mountain back towards Flag Mountain, but SPHP didn’t consider it worth the struggle to get there.
On Expedition No. 90, Lupe had come to an area along the ridge SW of Peak 6920 where there had been a large number of crocus flowers blooming. They were in such gloriously beautiful condition, SPHP had named the area “Perfect Crocus Ridge”. Sadly, there were no crocuses at all on this journey, although there were a few nice dark purple flowers here and there. What was flourishing among all the deadfall timber were low-lying scratchy juniper bushes.
Lupe and SPHP finally reached the summit of Peak 6962. The area was so flat, it was hard to tell where the exact summit might be. It all looked pretty much the same. Lupe and SPHP stopped here for a bit of a break after the battle with the deadfall timber, barbed wire fence and scratchy juniper bushes. Lupe had some more Taste of the Wild. SPHP ate the 2nd and final apple. SPHP was certain the forest looked worse now than in May 2014.
After the break, even though more than a year ago Lupe and SPHP had explored some distance to the N along the E edge of Peak 6962 and found no decent viewpoints towards White Tail Peak, SPHP decided to try it again. The results were the same. There were a few places along the E edge of Peak 6962 with partial views to the E, but no views at towards White Tail Peak. On the way back to USFS Road No. 189, SPHP tried leading Lupe a bit to the N of the SW ridge to avoid the worst of the deadfall timber. This helped some and also helped avoid the broken barbed wire fence. It didn’t seem to take quite as long getting back to USFS Road No. 189 as the journey to Peak 6962.
Once back to USFS Road No. 189, Lupe and SPHP started following it back towards Flag Mountain. The almost totally clear skies of the morning had given way to overcast conditions as the day wore on. It began to rain. It rained hard enough for Lupe and SPHP to take cover under a big pine tree. It didn’t last long. After 5 minutes the rain was almost over and Lupe continued on. At a bend in the road, Lupe and SPHP left No. 189 to follow a high ridge to the SW and then S. There was a fence along this area too, but there was little deadfall timber and the fence was in good condition.
Soon the ridge ended and Lupe and SPHP went down through the forest to reach USFS Road No. 239. For a short distance No. 239 climbed and reached a high spot with a very nice view to the S. From then on it lost elevation slowly and steadily. Both Lupe and SPHP liked the secluded valley that No. 239 descended into. There were lots of deer and some squirrels and chipmunks around. Birds were singing and a hawk kept flying around screeching. Everything was lush and green.
No. 239 went almost straight S for 2 miles and then curved to the E. The road, which had been very good, deteriorated after reaching a wide, flat turn around spot. The road did go on, however, and Lupe and SPHP continued to follow it. The road became a wide grassy trail and started heading NNE. It looked like it might climb up a valley just W of Castle Rock. The road lost elevation though, so Lupe kept on. Before long, the road became a mud hole at a spring. Here Lupe and SPHP left the remnant of No. 239 to head E down to the floor of the valley.
At the bottom a small creek was flowing, which was probably Horsethief Creek. There was a rock wall on the E side of the creek. There was also a green grassy remnant of a road which followed the creek S again. This road was marked by orange diamond-shaped signs on trees or posts. In many places, the road was so close to the creek that it was rather boggy. There wasn’t the least sign for a considerable distance that any vehicles ever actually use this grassy road. Lupe and SPHP followed the creek and the orange diamond grassy road the rest of the way back to the road where the G6 was parked. The G6 was in view as soon as the gravel road was reached.
It was 8:22 PM and 60°F when Lupe reached the G6. She hopped right in. This time it was SPHP’s turn to linger outside. There was some promise of a nice sunset developing up Castle Creek valley to the NW. It was a gorgeous evening. SPHP took a photo looking NW up Castle Creek valley. The sunset hadn’t quite peaked yet. SPHP drove to a high point not far away just off South Rochford Road, but the sunset couldn’t be seen from there. So it was back to the original pullout along Castle Creek one more time for a final photo. Then it was time to head home. A happy dingo hung its head out the window sniffing the breeze for miles.
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