Start – 8:55 AM, 50 °F, Pilot Knob trailhead of Centennial Trail No. 89
The first half of October had been cold and wet, but that was history now. This morning was clear and bright, and it was already 50 °F when Lupe and SPHP arrived at the Pilot Knob trailhead along USFS Road No. 208 (Merritt Road). The air was calm down here at the trailhead, but Lupe could hear a breeze up in the pines.
Lupe was eager to get started, which was a good thing. Days are getting short by the second half of October, and she had a long way to go. The South Boxelder Creek trailhead of Centennial Trail No. 89 near Nemo was 7.6 miles away, a 15.2 mile round trip. And that was if Loop stayed on the trail, which she wouldn’t, because a little off-trail peakbagging was part of the plan for the day, too.
Only a few minutes on the trail got Loopster up the first forested slope and around the bend to the N where she could see Pilot Knob (5,440 ft.) beyond a big field. Pilot Knob didn’t look like much from here, but Loop had been there recently on Expedition No. 235. Pilot Knob was actually a fun little climb and the views from the top had been surprisingly good.
Lupe followed Centennial Trail No. 89 NNW along the E side of the big field. Near the end of the field, the trail curved NE and went past a sign for Boodleman Spring, which didn’t seem to have much in the way of water. The trail got steeper after passing Boodleman Spring, and soon turned N again going up a forested valley.
After passing under a big power line, Centennial Trail No. 89 bent NW paralleling the power line. When the power line reached a high point, the trail curved away to the E. Lupe briefly left the trail to check out this high point, but there really wasn’t much to see.
Returning to the trail, Loop and SPHP followed it around the S end of a nearby hill to the E.
Lupe had been gaining elevation ever since leaving the Pilot Knob trailhead. However, as Centennial Trail No. 89 curved back around to the N on the E side the hill, the trail reached a high point, too.
Ahead was a limited view of a high ridge beyond a deep valley. Several high points could be seen along this ridge, which extended off toward the NNW. The topo map revealed that the closest high point was Peak 5701, the highest spot along the entire ridge.
Although Peak 5701 and the rest of the ridge it was on looked intriguing, Centennial Trail No. 89 wasn’t going up there. The trail went toward Peak 5701, but upon reaching the floor of the deep valley it turned E at the base of the mountain.
The American Dingo had entered the valley of the West Fork of Estes Creek. Looper soon came to a large puddle where Estes Creek crossed Centennial Trail No. 89. The creek itself was a mere trickle only an inch or two deep.
For 0.5 mile, Lupe continued E going down the valley on the N side of the West Fork of Estes Creek. The creek gained some flow along the way, but remained quite a small stream. NW of High Point 5452 the trail left the valley floor climbing up onto a small rise. From here, the trail turned N gaining elevation gradually as it wound around the SE end of Peak 5701.
Centennial Trail No. 89 eventually brought Lupe around E of Peak 5701. For 0.75 mile, the trail now headed NNW roughly paralleling the long ridge between Peak 5701 and Peak 5628.
While the first part of this area was forested, farther on Lupe came to meadows, too. The Carolina Dog reached a spot where she had a fairly clear view of Peak 5440 off to the NE.
Peak 5440 didn’t look too impressive. It was just a flat-topped forested hill. Yet with 360 feet of prominence, Peak 5440 was the most prominent mountain along the entire route Lupe would be traveling today. So the plan was to take a little off-trail side trip to climb Peak 5440. After seeing it, though, expectations were none too high. Loop probably wouldn’t be able to see anything but trees from up there.
Continuing on, Looper soon had views of Peak 5701 again and the long ridge going NNW from it to Peak 5628. That big ridge looked a lot more intriguing than Peak 5440 did. Despite not having as much prominence, it was higher and appeared to at least offer some views. Peak 5701 even had a little snow.
The trail gradually curved toward the NE. Stands of aspens sported a few yellow leaves, the last of 2018’s autumn colors. Approaching Peak 5440, Lupe came to a couple of ponds surrounded by wooden fences.
Beyond the ponds, Centennial Trail No. 89 curved N again. This was as close as the trail was going to get to Peak 5440. Looper left the trail and began to climb, heading first E, then SE as she got higher up.
Lupe soon reached a grassy area on the W face of Peak 5440 that she had seen earlier from a distance. This was the only place she was likely to see much from Peak 5440. She actually had a rather nice view of Peak 5701 and the long ridge to Peak 5628 from here.
From the grassy area with a view, Lupe still faced the steepest part of the climb up Peak 5440, but even so, it wasn’t difficult and didn’t take her long. The terrain soon began to level out. The topo map showed two 5,440 foot contours on the mountain. Lupe headed NE through dense forest looking for the first one, which contained by far the smallest area. A single large boulder proved to be the clear high point of this contour.
The area contained by the larger 5,440 foot contour was only a couple hundred yards farther NE. Loopster traveled through dense forest the entire way. She seemed to gain at least some elevation. This larger area was almost certainly higher than the big boulder, and had to be the location of the true summit.
No big boulder or other definite high point existed here, however. The true summit might have been any of a number of smallish rocks located on nearly flat terrain that sloped only very gradually toward the SE. The most interesting thing about this place was actually a 15 or 20 foot high escarpment along the NW edge of the area. Forest blocked all views, but the escarpment featured some interesting rock formations.
Exploring is always fun, but Peak 5440 was the sort of place Lupe was only likely to get to once. Might as well linger a while to enjoy whatever the experience had to offer. It was time for a short break, anyway. The usual fare was on offer. Water and Taste of the Wild for Lupe. An apple for SPHP.
When break time was over, it was back to Centennial Trail No. 89 by the same route Lupe had taken up. Upon reaching the trail, Lupe continued N. She soon came to a sign saying it was 4.5 miles to Nemo or 3.5 miles back to Pilot Knob. Nemo was about a mile beyond the South Boxelder Creek trailhead, so this was about the halfway point.
It wasn’t much farther to another high point. Centennial Trail No. 89 had been gaining elevation, albeit quite gradually, ever since leaving the West Fork of Estes Creek. N of Peak 5440, however, the trail went over a broad, gentle pass. On the other side Lupe was soon losing elevation faster than she had gained it. She was entering the upper reaches of yet another valley.
Loop hadn’t gone far beyond the high point when she reached a sign for Caryl Spring. Caryl Spring consisted of several inches of standing water full of fallen leaves. Lupe cooled her paws off, and helped herself to a drink.
From Caryl Spring the trail continued E farther down the valley, but not for long. When the valley turned N, Centennial Trail No. 89 took off to the SE up a side draw. Lupe gained close to 100 feet of elevation going over a minor ridge extending NNE from Peak 5440. The Carolina Dog was soon over this ridge and starting a descent that would take her into Blue Draw.
Loop reached a sign indicating the South Boxelder Creek trailhead was only a mile ahead.
A junction existed where Centennial Trail No. 89 reached Blue Draw. It wasn’t clear where the road heading SW was going other than farther up the draw. Where it went didn’t really matter. Loop just needed to head down the valley. At the lower end of Blue Draw she would find the South Boxelder Creek trailhead. The trail headed NE at first, then E the rest of the way.
The trek down Blue Draw was shady and pleasant, but it seemed like Lupe had gone more than a mile since seeing the sign about the trailhead. Finally she saw a ramp for ATV’s and a gate ahead. Just beyond the gate was the bridge over Boxelder Creek. This was it! Looper had reached the trailhead!
Despite Lupe’s side trip to Peak 5440, she had made fairly good time getting to the South Boxelder Creek trailhead. Her Centennial Trail No. 89 explorations were complete for the day, although she still had to repeat the experience going all the way back to Pilot Knob again.
Not yet, though! Time for another rest break. Lupe and SPHP relaxed for a while on a grassy bank by the creek.
Well, that would have been it, but on the way back to Pilot Knob the American Dingo made such excellent progress that when she reached the pass N of Peak 5440 again, SPHP realized that the sun wouldn’t set for at least another couple of hours.
The big ridge with Peak 5701 at the S end and Peak 5628 at the N end was now in sight. Seemed like Lupe had enough daylight left to explore it. The American Dingo was willing, so why not?
Lupe and SPHP left Centennial Trail No. 89 heading SW for a saddle N of Peak 5628.
At first, the way was easy. The terrain gained elevation slowly. Lupe came to few obstacles. For a while, SPHP even thought Loop might be on a long abandoned road, but it was hard to tell for certain.
As the Carolina Dog got closer to the saddle, though, the going got tougher. No road here! Lupe passed through a very dense pine forest. Beyond that was an area of mixed pines and aspens thick with deadfall timber. Loop didn’t have much farther to go to reach the saddle, but progress in the middle of this mess was slow, slow, slow.
The map showed a road going up to the saddle. Lupe ought to come to it, but for a long way she didn’t. SPHP had about decided the road didn’t exist any more, when suddenly there was Lupe, standing right on it. Loop headed W on this road until it was clear she was due N of Peak 5628 and wasn’t going to gain any more elevation sticking with the road.
Time to start up Peak 5628! Lupe and SPHP left the road heading S up a fairly steep slope.
The hardest part of the climb was the very beginning. The slope was steepest here, and again full of deadfall timber. Once Lupe was above the deadfall, the rest of the way was much easier. The elevation gain from the saddle to the top of Peak 5628 was only about 300 feet, so it didn’t take long.
Close to the summit, Lupe discovered a platform of rock with a good view of Custer Peak (6,804 ft.). A nearby rock formation proved to be the true summit of Peak 5628. Looper had no problem getting up onto the highest rock.
Quite a few trees grew near the top of Peak 5628, so views were limited. However, this was definitely better than Peak 5440 had been. Not only could Lupe see Custer Peak, but a little way S of the summit was an open area where she had a good look at Peak 5701 at the opposite end of the ridge.
Looper could also see a broad expanse of territory to the S and W. Even Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) was in view, although it was quite far away.
SPHP had expected Lupe would have an easy time traveling along the ridgeline from Peak 5628 to Peak 5701. However, the highest part of the ridge was capped by large rock formations. Large quantities of deadfall timber existed in some places, too.
Traveling the highest part of the ridge would have taken too much time. Lupe made far faster progress staying somewhat lower on the W side of the ridge. She avoided the much steeper E side.
The climb up Peak 5701 was short, but fairly steep and rocky. The top of the mountain had quite a bit of rock, too. The summit area was forested, but breaks in the trees provided some views. The highest point was toward the SE at the edge of an uneven rocky platform.
Lupe and SPHP took the last rest break of the day up on Peak 5701. The best views were toward the N and E from a rocks a little below and SE of the true summit. Lupe could see both of the other mountains she had climbed today, and a big expanse of territory she had passed through on Centennial Trail No. 89.
The sun was still up when Lupe headed N off Peak 5701 back down to the ridge leading to Peak 5628. She went only far enough to reach a slope she could easily descend into the valley to the W. This valley drained S into the valley of the West Fork of Estes Creek, but SPHP wasn’t certain which direction Lupe ought to go once she got there.
Which way to Centennial Trail No. 89? The sun had set. Light was now fading fast. A decision needed to be made quickly. When a brief foray to the E didn’t reveal anything that looked familiar, the Carolina Dog turned and went W.
W proved to be the wrong direction. No matter. Lupe continued up the valley of the West Fork of Estes Creek until she reached the power line she had been to much earlier in the day. Following the power line SE got Loop back to Centennial Trail No. 89.
Since striking out for Peak 5628, Lupe’s return route had bypassed most of the trail. Less than a mile remained to the Pilot Knob trailhead. It had been a great day, and was now a beautiful evening. Darkness reigned. Stars twinkled. A coyote howled. Puppy, ho! Onward! Almost there. (End 6:38 PM, 44°F)
Links:
Next Black Hills Expedition Prior Black Hills Expedition
Next Trail Section S
Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 235 – Centennial Trail No. 89: Deer Creek to Pilot Knob (9-29-18)
Next Trail Section N
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