Start – 8:43 AM, 31°F at the junction of Horse Creek Road (USFS Road No. 243) & USFS Road No. 257
Not a cloud in the sky on this beautiful, crisp December morning! Lupe set out from Horse Creek Road heading N on USFS Road No. 257. Snow was on the road and in the fields, but not on the hills with a S exposure up ahead.
Several central Black Hills peaks were on Lupe’s agenda today, each one for a different reason. No. 257 would bring the Carolina Dog practically right to the first one. A saddle W of Peak 6046 was a little less than 2 miles away.
Lupe kept a sharp lookout for squirrels, as SPHP trudged along the road. Now and then she dashed off into the forest to check out particularly promising trees, but she wasn’t having much luck. No. 257 curved around High Point 5284.
W of High Point 5284, the road forked. No. 257 was unmarked, but all Lupe had to do was stay to the R. The road went E of a minor hill, then straightened out heading NNW. Soon the Carolina Dog was approaching the saddle W of Peak 6046. The rate of climb increased as Loop got close to the pass.
The saddle was forested, but the valley leading to it was grassy. As Lupe neared the trees, she left the road to start climbing toward Peak 6046. From the upper end of the grasslands, she paused for a look back to the S. Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) and Five Points (6,221 ft.) were in view.
Lupe still had more than 250 feet of elevation to gain to reach the summit of Peak 6046. She headed E up a steep slope to Peak 6046’s S ridge. By the time Loop reached it, she wasn’t far from the top. She turned N, and soon came to a rock formation where she had a clear view of her next objective, Peak 6070, off to the NW.
Lupe reached the summit of Peak 6046 early – two whole weeks early! For Peak 6046 is none other than New Year’s Eve Peak!
This was Lupe’s 7th ascent of New Year’s Eve Peak. Her first was on the last day of 2012 on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 41, when she had come here by essentially the same route. That was the day when Peak 6046 became New Year’s Eve Peak. Loopster had been here in late December or early January on an annual basis almost every year since.
It was the middle of December. Christmas was coming! Being here now didn’t feel the same as being here right on New Year’s Eve. After all, 2018 still had a couple of weeks to go! There wasn’t that same sense of finality or of a new beginning. Yet it was good to be here. New Year’s Eve Peak has become both a tradition and a favorite place.
Lupe and SPHP lingered a while. SPHP managed to pick out Peak 6043 off to the W. Peak 6043 was going to be the American Dingo’s third and final peakbagging objective of the day. Peak 6167 was right behind it. Old Bald Peak (6,130 ft.) was in the vicinity a bit to the N, too.
Satisfied with her traditional winter visit to New Year’s Eve Peak, Lupe moved on. Her next objective, Peak 6070, has 2 summits separated by 0.33 mile. The SE summit was the closest, only a little more than 0.5 mile WNW of New Year’s Eve Peak.
Lupe headed straight on down New Year’s Eve Peak’s steep W slope to the saddle leading to Peak 6070. She arrived to find 6″ of snow.
Loop crossed the saddle, then continued W up a snowy, forested slope. She was looking for a ridge that would lead her to a power line. The SE summit of Peak 6070 would be only a short distance beyond it. As much as possible, the Carolina Dog tried to avoid the steeper slopes with the deepest snow.
When Lupe reached the ridge, the power line was in sight. A short trek NW along the rocky spine of the ridge got her to the power line, where she crossed beneath it.
A bare spot on a hill just beyond the power line provided some nifty views to the NE and E. Lupe could see quite a few peaks she had been to before including Scruton Mountain (5,922 ft.), Norris Peak (4,982 ft.), and, of course, New Year’s Eve Peak (6046).
Lupe had been to the SE summit of Peak 6070 once before on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 81. That was nearly 5 years ago now. The topo map would lead one to believe that the SE summit is lower, but not by much. Even if it was lower, Lupe remembered some excellent views. Time to go find the high point, then have another look at those splendid views!
The SE summit was only a little SW of where the Carolina Dog was now. She followed a relatively narrow rocky ridge offering many viewpoints, and soon came to the highest rock. The NW summit was in view. If it was higher, it couldn’t have been by much.
The best views were from SW of the summit out on a point where there were reasonably level rocks to hang out on. Loopster had panoramic views here. Unfortunately, what had been a tolerable 10 mph SW breeze up on New Year’s Eve Peak, was now more like 15 to 20 mph. It was warm out for December, close to 50°F, but the Carolina Dog didn’t care for the wind.
After a good look around, Lupe and SPHP retreated SE a bit below the ridgeline to escape the breeze. The day was quite comfortable out of the wind. SPHP ate an apple. Lupe was content to curl up in the sun. Part of Sheridan Lake could be seen off to the SE.
After the demise of the apple, it was time to think about tagging Peak 6070’s NW summit. Lupe liked it right here, but was willing to move on.
Lupe left Peak 6070’s SE summit heading W down a steep slope. She lost 100 feet of elevation before the terrain flattened out. She found herself at a snowy open area rimmed with pines.
A road went through this area heading NW, the direction Loop needed to go. She followed it, but it soon curved away to the SW, so the road had to be abandoned. The American Dingo plunged on ahead through a snowy forest. Significant amounts of deadfall timber slowed progress down considerably. Fortunately, Peak 6070’s NW summit wasn’t far away.
Shortly before reaching the NW summit, Lupe came to a sunny open slope. Here she had a grand view of Peak 6043, Peak 6167, and Old Bald Peak (6,130 ft.) all nicely spread out off to the SW.
The NW summit featured a clearing which extended a little toward the SE. Minor rock outcroppings rimmed a small patch of snowy ground at the highest point. If the topo map was correct, this was the true summit of Peak 6070. Enough trees surrounded the area to block the views, but Lupe was happy! She had now visited both of Peak 6070’s summits.
Lupe had climbed New Year’s Eve Peak because it was tradition to visit it near the end of each year or early in the next one. She had come to Peak 6070 to visit both summits, but mainly to see those great views she hadn’t seen for 4.75 years now from the viewpoint SW of the SE summit.
Peak 6043 was next. Lupe had never been there before. She’d intended to get there on Expedition No. 239 nearly 1.5 months ago, but had only made it as far as Nugget Gulch Peak. Peak 6043’s claim to fame was that it had 343 feet of prominence. It was the only peak in this general vicinity with over 300 feet of prominence that Lupe had never visited.
Days are short in December! If Loop was going to visit Peak 6043 today, she had best get on with it. Lupe and SPHP headed down Peak 6070’s steep SW slope.
Peak 6043 is 1.5 miles SW of Peak 6070. To get over to it, Lupe had to lose 675 feet of elevation. She lost most of it just descending to the valley W of Peak 6070. The valley floor was littered with deadfall timber.
Fortunately, Lupe did not have to fight her way through deadfall all the way down the valley. USFS Road No. 244 runs N/S along the W side of this valley. Lupe only had to make it over to the road.
No. 244 brought Lupe down to a junction with No. 675.2 by a large meadow. This was familiar territory. (Point 5396 on the topo map) Lupe had been here on a number of prior expeditions, some long ago. The lower slopes of Peak 6043 were just beyond the meadow. Lupe crossed the meadow and No. 675.2 to get to them.
Beyond the road, forested terrain led the Carolina Dog up toward the W. She eventually reached a saddle N of Peak 6043. A big snowy field was on the other side of the pass. Lupe turned SSW here and began a steeper climb.
Nearly 400 feet of elevation gain from the saddle to the top! Peak 6043’s N slope was snowy. Lupe swung over toward the NW where the snow wasn’t quite as deep.
The true summit of Peak 6043 proved to a little ridge of angular rocks. To the SSE, a good-sized area of slightly lower open ground was buried beneath a foot of snow. Lupe hopped up on the highest rocks of the tiny ridge to claim her final peakbagging success of the day!
Plenty of daylight remained. Not enough to go chasing after more peaks, but enough to hang around up on Peak 6043 for a while. Lupe and SPHP took a break where there was a big view to the S and SE.
Peak 6043 actually had a second high point S of the true summit. Lupe visited it, too.
After more than half an hour on Peak 6043, Lupe returned briefly to the true summit where she’d originally come up. A final look around, and it was time to depart. The Carolina Dog went back to the S summit, then continued on down the S ridge. Before long, Looper reached the same power line she had passed under near Peak 6070.
After a brief pause at the power line, Loopster continued S. When the terrain became favorable for a turn to the E, a steep descent began.
Lupe reached USFS Road No. 243 again SW of Point 5329. The rest was easy – a 2.5 mile march back to the G6 on Horse Creek Road. The road was snow-packed and slippery. The Carolina Dog barely noticed, trotting happily along ever watchful for squirrels and deer. (4:10 PM, 38°F)
Links:
Next Black Hills Expedition Prior Black Hills Expedition
Expedition No. 221 – Peak 5800 & New Year’s Eve Peak (1-7-18)
Expedition No. 261 – Peak 5800 & New Year’s Eve Peak (12-31-20)
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