Start – Palmer Creek trailhead W of Mount Rushmore, 7:38 AM, 41°F
Spring had sprung yet again! Maybe this time it would stick? A certain Carolina Dog, sick and tired of winter’s repeated attempts to reassert control, was more than ready. She arrived bright and early at the Palmer Creek trailhead with an ambitious day of peakbagging planned in the Black Elk Wilderness.
The first mountain Lupe was going for was Gap Lode Peak (6,560 ft.). As soon as SPHP was ready, the eager American Dingo was underway. Following the spur trail from the trailhead, she crossed the Palmer Creek valley. A bridge got her across tiny Palmer Creek. 0.25 mile later, Lupe arrived at the junction with Lost Cabin Trail No. 2.
At the trail junction Lupe went R. She soon passed a registration station for entry into the Black Elk Wilderness. SPHP registered, and Loopster went on.
Lost Cabin Trail No. 2 wound SW up a forested slope. After Lupe had gone a mile or so, she reached a level area. A massive granite formation extended a few hundred feet N from the trail. The exposed granite would provide views in several directions. Ready for a break, Lupe and SPHP went out onto the granite to look around.
Quite a number of peaks Lupe had been to before were in sight.
Looking SW, a big knob of rock capped the upper end of a sloping ridge. That knob of rock was the E high point of Gap Lode Peak. Loop still had a long way to go to get up there.
Lupe returned to Lost Cabin Trail No. 2. She hadn’t encountered much snow lower down, but as the Carolina Dog continued gaining elevation, more and more snow appeared. Soon the trail had a couple of feet of snow on it, slowing SPHP down considerably.
The snowy trail switchbacked up a long slope. Pine bark beetles killed a great many trees in this region years ago. Enough dead trees have fallen over to open up the views to some extent. Lupe had tree broken views to the N most of the way.
After a tedious climb, Lupe and SPHP reached a sunny, snow-free pass W of High Point 6482. This pass was the start of the Black Elk Wilderness.
The pass was as close to Gap Lode Peak as Lost Cabin Trail No. 2 was going to get. Lupe had been to the mountain once before. Even though Gap Lode Peak is only a little over 0.25 mile WSW of the pass, she knew that getting there wasn’t going to be easy.
The terrain between Gap Lode Peak and Lost Cabin Trail No. 2 is rough, but that wasn’t the big problem. Large amounts of deadfall timber were the real issue. The deadfall had been a significant problem the last time Lupe had been here. The situation hadn’t improved at all over the last few years. If anything, the deadfall was even worse than before.
Several large granite formations were W of the trail. Lupe went to them, climbing partway up to get a view. The E high point of Gap Lode Peak (6,560 ft.) was much closer now.
To get any closer, Lupe had to descend into a valley chock full of deadfall timber. This valley had a N exposure, so 2 or 3 feet of snow was present as well. Progress became dreadfully slow.
Deadfall drove all route decisions. Lupe was constantly faced with choices. She had lots of options – bad routes, worse routes, terrible routes, and ghastly routes. SPHP tried to encourage her toward a nice selection of bad routes. The goal was to reach the lower end of a wall of rock ahead.
Crossing the obstacle laden valley involved no great distance, but chewed up plenty of time. Lupe did work her way through, though, and arrived at a tall, thin rock. She had passed by this same rock the first time she’d gone to Gap Lode Peak, too. It stood at the far N end of the wall of rock, and marked the point where Lupe could get past it. SPHP decided this landmark deserved a special name.
Being an endlessly creative and imaginative person, SPHP easily came up with the splendid name “Skinny Rock”.
In the immediate vicinity of Skinny Rock, the deadfall wasn’t bad at all. As, Lupe continued on, however, she was soon back in the thick of it. Ahead to the W was Gap Lode Peak’s NE ridge. She pushed on toward it.
The first time Lupe had come to Gap Lode Peak, she had climbed this NE ridge reaching the ridgeline high on the mountain. This had worked well. SPHP wondered, though, if the ascent might not be even easier if Lupe could get up on the ridgeline at a lower point? The American Dingo set out to find out.
Struggling through deadfall and snow, Lupe managed to get close to the ridgeline. A continuous vertical wall of rock 15 to 30 feet high offered no obvious way to the top. A search along the base of the wall, revealed a place where it might be possible to scramble up.
Lupe had no problem doing just that without the slightest assistance from SPHP. From the ridgeline, she had a great view of the territory she’d just come through. She could also see that this wasn’t going to work. She was on a narrow, uneven wall of granite with drop offs on both sides.
After a brief, failed attempt to make progress along this granite spine, SPHP gave up. Loopster retreated off the wall, and began heading SSW near its base. After going only a few hundred feet the wall ended. Loop returned to the ridgeline.
The deadfall on the other side of the ridge was bad, but the slope wasn’t quite as steep. This area had a N exposure, so there was plenty of snow. Lupe stayed on the W side of the ridge, leaping over or going under the deadfall as appropriate. SPHP struggled onward as well. Both headed SSW steadily climbing higher.
The terrain began to level out. Gap Lode Peak has two main high points, an E one and a W one, at nearly the same elevation. Lupe had made it to the deadfall strewn saddle between them. The topo map shows a tiny area within a 6,560 ft. contour at the W high point, which according to the map makes the W high point the true summit, since the E high point doesn’t have a 6,560 ft. contour at all.
SPHP had a different opinion. During Loop’s first ascent of Gap Lode Peak she had visited both high points. SPHP came away believing that the E high point was actually the true summit, though it was admittedly hard to tell for sure. Nevertheless, the Carolina Dog once again headed toward the W high point first. When she got close, it was time to take a break. Loop had an excellent view of Sylvan Peak (7,000 ft.) from a rock near her resting place.
Lupe curled up in the shade. She had water and Taste of the Wild. SPHP munched an apple. All the snow, deadfall, and rugged terrain on the way here took a few minutes to recover from.
When the American Dingo was ready, she went with SPHP to Gap Lode Peak’s W summit. She got up on one of the highest rocks. According to the map, she had reached the true summit of Gap Lode Peak (6,560 ft.).
The best views were toward the E and SE into the heart of the Black Elk Wilderness. This region contains some of the most rugged territory in the Black Hills. Huge granite formations of Black Elk Peak (7,131 ft.), Peak 6920 and Little Devil’s Tower (6,960 ft.) dominated the landscape.
After visiting the W summit, Lupe did not go directly to the E high point. Instead she went SW out onto a massive granite arm of the mountain. Deadfall made even this short jaunt time consuming. Once Loop made it to the exposed granite, though, it was easy to move around and enjoy some pretty spectacular Black Hills views.
Lupe finished her tour of Gap Lode Peak with a visit to the E high point. Deadfall once again made the trek difficult despite the relatively short distance.
Actually getting up on top of the E high point involved a short scramble. Lupe climbed up unassisted, although the scramble was right on the edge of what she could manage on her own. Looper did make it to the top, though. She could now claim her second successful Gap Lode Peak ascent, having once again visited both the E and W summits.
The views from here, of course, were for the most part quite similar to what Looper had already seen from the W high point.
Neither the E nor W summits of Gap Lode Peak are roomy, but there was a small level area up here where Loop could hide in the shade next to the highest rocks. The Carolina Dog decided she wanted to do that while SPHP admired the views.
Although the topo map shows that the W high point is the true summit, SPHP once again came to the conclusion that the E high point is actually higher. Admittedly, it’s a close call, but that’s how it appeared.
After being an eager participant earlier on, Lupe was reluctant to hop up onto any more rocks. After all, her peakbagging goal was accomplished. She now preferred relaxing in the shade. Not until it was getting close to time to leave could she be persuaded to resume her usual cooperation.
After a leisurely time spent touring the highlights of Gap Lode Peak, Lupe was ready to move on. She now needed to get back to Lost Cabin Trail No. 2. SPHP had seen from the E summit that she might be able to take a shortcut, and avoid losing so much elevation.
So after Loop made it back down to the saddle, she gave the potential shortcut a whirl. Lupe and SPHP plunged down a steep NNE slope in search of a better route E.
Looper still lost a bunch of elevation. This maneuver looked like it was going to prove to be a complete waste of time. However, as she neared a wall of rock, a possible saddle could be seen where Lupe might be able to get through. The saddle was a little higher than where she was at the moment. The effort of going back up to it was rewarded. Surprisingly, a narrow passage actually did exist.
Whether Lupe’s newly discovered secret passage E from Gap Lode Peak really saved any time is debatable. She certainly avoided losing as much elevation as she would have going all the way back down to Skinny Rock, but she wound up facing a longer than expected trek back to the trail. The deadfall wasn’t any better on the this route than on the Skinny Rock route, either. At least there was less snow this way.
At any rate, Loopster eventually did get back to Lost Cabin Trail No. 2. Although she hadn’t traveled any great distance getting to Gap Lode Peak, hours and hours had gone by. SPHP had originally foreseen Lupe also visiting Peak 6920 and Black Elk Peak on Expedition No. 226. The sun would still be up for hours, but Peak 6920 would be another super time-consuming off trail march through deadfall and snow. Trails go all the way up Black Elk Peak, but the summit was still miles away.
Calling it a day would have been the smart thing to do. SPHP realized that Peak 6920 had to be dropped from consideration, but maybe Black Elk Peak wasn’t a lost cause yet? The Carolina Dog seemed energetic and perfectly happy. Lupe and SPHP continued on Lost Cabin Trail No. 2 intent upon Black Elk Peak.
On and on along the snowy trail. A short break was taken in a sunny glade. Lupe enjoyed a shared chocolate granola bar. Hitting the trail once again, she came to the Lost Cabin No. 2 spur trail, a shortcut to Trail No. 9 leading to Black Elk Peak. The spur trail gained elevation slowly following a creek. There was a lot of minor up and down along the way.
Lupe was nearing Little Devil’s Tower, but she was still far below it.
When Lupe finally reached Trail No. 9, she started meeting groups of people on their way down to Sylvan Lake from Black Elk Peak. These were first people she had encountered all day. It was getting toward evening, so no one else was on the way up.
Before long, Trail No. 9 was practically deserted, too. Loop stayed busily engaged watching chipmunks. SPHP kept trudging higher. At last, the American Dingo was above Little Devil’s Tower (6,960 ft.) and the Cathedral Spires (6,840 ft.). Black Elk Peak wasn’t much farther now.
Two people were still out on the observation deck of the old Harney Peak lookout tower when Lupe arrived at the summit of recently (2016) renamed Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.). Brandon and Nate were rock climbers from Sioux Falls. The only reason they hadn’t started down yet was that they intended to camp somewhere not too far away. After a pleasant chat with SPHP, they departed as well.
Lupe left the observation tower, taking a trail from the basement out onto the granite W of the tower. A cool E breeze was blowing. SPHP shared the last chocolate granola bar with her.
Lupe had made it all the way to Black Elk Peak, but shadows were lengthening. She couldn’t stay. In fact, it would be dark long before she could get back to the Palmer Creek trailhead. Better get a move on.
On the way back, the American Dingo made a loop, taking Trail No. 9 down to Willow Creek Trail No. 8. SPHP was thinking this might be a shorter route, but it had been a long time since Lupe had last been this way. Trail No. 9 stayed high much farther than SPHP remembered.
The scenery was beautiful, but Loop didn’t have time to dilly dally. It was a race against time and fading light.
Night won. Two miles before Lupe reached the Willow Creek trailhead, SPHP had to bring out the flashlight. After a short rest, Lupe trotted on, alert and uncomplaining, beneath silvery stars and a bright half moon. (End – 10:25 PM, 38°F)
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