Start – 9:46 AM, 38°F along Horse Creek Road (USFS Road No. 243) near USFS Road No. 243.2J
New Year 2019 arrived on a subzero night in the Black Hills. Things had warmed up since then. Naturally, Lupe was anxious to get started on her 2019 adventures! False North Point (6,130 ft.), a peak she had first visited on Halloween in 2015, was going to be her first peakbagging goal of the new year. She might even make it to Five Points (6,221 ft.) today, with a little luck.
Lupe left Horse Creek Road on USFS Road No. 243.2J. The snowy road wound S crossing Horse Creek 3 times, but the creek was so small that flowing water was only present on the surface at the middle crossing. The Carolina Dog easily leapt over it.
After 0.33 mile, Horse Creek flowed E. No. 243.2J crossed the drainage for the last time, and began curving SW up another valley. Lupe came to a locked gate, and went under a barbed wire fence. A small dry stock pond was just ahead where the valley forked. No. 243.2J ended here at an intersection with USFS Road No. 669.
Lupe could take No. 669 up separate valleys going either S or W. She stayed to the R taking the valley to the W.
No. 669 wound W, before eventually turning S. Looper came to sunny spots, but the road was often in the shadow of forested hills. At first, 6″ of snow was on the road, but as Lupe gained elevation, the snow became deeper, significantly slowing SPHP down. Lupe was forced to expend more and more energy bounding through it.
This was a beautiful trek, though. The snowy valley was quiet and still. Lupe maintained it could have been improved with the addition of a few squirrels. She kept a sharp eye and keen nose out, but didn’t find any.
Lupe had been on USFS Road No. 669 several times years ago. An odd, sublime, sense of both discovery yet vague familiarity, as though having been here before in a dream, took hold. At last, after 1.75 miles on No. 669, Lupe reached a fork in the road that SPHP definitely recognized. The snow was belly deep on the American Dingo here.
Loop took the fork to the L (SE), which very quickly led up to a broad saddle that was also familiar. This saddle was strewn with a great deal of deadfall timber, the product of a severe pine bark beetle infestation a number of years ago. Many dead pines had fallen on a barbed wire fence, collapsing it. SPHP lifted Lupe over the dangerous fallen fence.
On the far side of the saddle, Lupe saw a forested hill ahead.
SPHP checked the topo map. False North Point was only 0.33 mile away! Lupe could head directly for it by turning R and going SSW straight up the hill on the SW side of the saddle. She could then follow False North Points’ NNE ridge directly to the summit.
Only a low forested hill, and copious deadfall timber, could be seen in that direction. SPHP carried Lupe back over the collapsed fence. She then began her ascent of the wretched-looking slope.
The deadfall was inconveniently laying at a 90° angle to the direction Lupe needed to go. Her climb began slowly as SPHP laboriously picked a way up through the mess. Enough trees were still standing to hide any views. At first, there was nothing to see except the snowy forest.
After gaining some elevation, the deadfall thinned out. Lupe came to a small rock formation from which she had a bit of a view.
Looper kept going. The ridge wasn’t particularly steep. Exploring the forest was fun! The Carolina Dog had never been up False North Point from this direction before. She came to another rock formation. This one had a more impressive view of a wider area.
The mountain steepened. The snow was deeper. Lupe was getting close to the top. After toiling up a particularly steep slope, she came to much larger rock formations. Loopster traveled along the E side of the rocks looking for the summit.
The last part of the climb was a short scramble. Lupe arrived at the top of False North Point (6,130 ft.) to find a cramped area of uneven rock. The summit was a somewhat precarious perch. Loop had no place to get comfortable or relax. A small cairn sat upon some of the highest rocks.
Ponderosa pines hid the views to the SE, but False North Point provided an impressive 180° panorama to the NW. Lupe could see many peaks she had been to recently off to the N, and a huge expanse of territory off to the W all the way to the limestone plateau country.
Due in part to these great views, False North Point had gotten its name back on Halloween 2015 when SPHP had mistaken this peak for the northernmost summit of Five Points (6,221 ft.), which was actually 0.5 mile SE. Lupe had continued on to Five Points that same day, thereby quickly revealing SPHP’s error.
The true north point of Five Points was barely visible from False North Point, almost completely hidden by trees. SPHP could get a glimpse of it, but Lupe wasn’t tall enough to see it at all.
No matter how wonderful the views, Lupe wasn’t going to balance up there on the tippy top of the mountain all day long. She stayed near the cairn for a short while, before checking out another part of the summit formation 12 feet to the SW. This wasn’t a much better perch.
The summit ridge dropped off quite sharply in most directions. The SSW spine featured rocks that were flatter and offered essentially the same views. Lupe headed down there.
Lupe had arrived at False North Point with enough daylight left to linger here a while. However, the snow and deadfall had slowed things down enough to make continuing on to Five Points (6,221 ft.) a poor choice. Conditions were pleasant and the views magnificent, so Loop and SPHP simply relaxed up on False North Point and enjoyed the day.
A happy hour shot by, and it was time to go.
For a change of scene, Loopster headed down the SSW ridge instead of retreating the way she had come. Below the rocky summit, the ridge was heavily forested, but the Carolina Dog did come to a spot where she had a clear view of Five Points (6,221 ft.).
Then it was down, down through the snowy woods. Lupe gradually turned W, then NW. When the slope began to decrease, she emerged from the forest in a field of scattered pines and deadfall. USFS Road No. 249 was in sight at the bottom of the slope.
Upon reaching No. 249, Lupe followed it N.
After nearly a mile, Loop reached an entrance to Whisper Creek Ranch, which sounded nice, but was private property. False North Point was in view to the S from here.
Thus far, the road had been snow-packed, but beyond the Whisper Creek Ranch entrance a metal gate blocked the rest of No. 249. That didn’t stop the American Dingo! Lupe continued N. No vehicle had been here to compress the snow.
Another 0.33 mile, and SPHP figured Lupe had gone far enough N on the road. She needed to turn E somewhere along in here. A low bare ridge was E of the road, so Lupe climbed it. From a minor high point, which SPHP figured was probably High Point 5686, Lupe had her final view of False North Point.
The Carolina Dog left High Point 5686 going N, but soon turned down into the valley to the E. She had never been here before, so exploring this new valley was interesting.
The valley eventually led back to USFS Road No. 669, somewhat below the fork in the road where Lupe had gone L to reach the saddle NNW of False North Peak. From here on, Loop simply retraced her route up all the way back to Horse Creek Road. (4:17 PM, 33°F)
Only later did SPHP realize that Lupe’s snowy return to False North Point had been exactly 100 Black Hills Expeditions after her very first ascent on Expedition No. 144 way back in 2015. Perhaps she will return again some fine day, 100 expeditions into the future?
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