Black Mountain, Moffat County Highpoint, Colorado (8-15-15)

Dawn on Day 7 of Lupe’s great Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation found Lupe at Battle Pass in southern Wyoming.  The American Dingo was up and ready to go.  Another great day of Dingo adventures was about to begin.  Lupe and SPHP headed W on Hwy 70.  Lupe’s peakbagging goal for the day was going to take her out of Wyoming and into Colorado to climb Black Mountain (10,840 ft.), the Moffat County High Point.

The drive down Hwy 70 from Battle Pass went through gorgeous, unspoiled mountain scenery.  Lupe rode with her head out of the window in the wind.  She had a look of pure joy on her face.  Highway 70 left Wyoming and entered Colorado.  Lupe passed the Slater U.S. Post Office on the N side of the road.  If there was a town of Slater somewhere around here, Lupe and SPHP didn’t see it.  Lupe turned S on South Slater Creek Road, a gravel road that crossed the Little Snake River.

South Slater Creek Road headed S for a mile, and then followed Slater Creek through a narrow gap in a high ridge.  Immediately beyond the gap was an intersection.  Lupe and SPHP took the fork to the left across the creek.  SPHP was expecting this to be County Road No. 82, but a sign said Moffat County 1.  The road headed S along the E side of the Slater Creek valley for miles, eventually turning more SE and gaining quite a bit of elevation.  The grand unspoiled vistas brought to mind the days of the Old West.

Eventually SPHP saw a sign for County Road No. 82.  Lupe was on the right road, but not for long.  A few miles later, the road forked at the Brush Mountain Ranch.  A sign said No. 82 continued E.  The other choice was an unmarked road that went S.  SPHP didn’t have any detailed maps of the area, and assumed continuing on No. 82 was the right thing to do.  Lupe headed E.  Soon a very nice looking mountain came into view off to the N.  SPHP didn’t know it at the time, but this was Brush Mountain (9,869 ft.).

SPHP was looking for USFS Road No. 110, but County Road No. 82 went on and on.  The scenery was all beautiful and remote.  There began to be some signs though, that Lupe was on the wrong road for getting to Black Mountain.  USFS Road No. 110 never appeared.  Suddenly No. 82 magically became No. 80.  After No. 80 went S for some miles, there was a sign pointing to Bears Ears (10,577 ft.).  It pointed W instead of SE.  Signs mentioned California Park, which SPHP had never heard of before.

SPHP became convinced it just couldn’t be this far to USFS Road No. 110.  Finally at the top of a small ridge, there was a trailhead of some sort with a map posted.  After studying the map, SPHP realized that the correct road was the one that turned S way back at the Brush Mountain Ranch.  Gah!  It was 22 miles of gravel just to get back there.  Lupe didn’t mind.  Neither did SPHP either, not really.  Sometimes unplanned adventures just happen.  This was one of them.

Quite some time later, Lupe and SPHP reached Brush Mountain Ranch again.  This time Lupe took the road headed S.  Soon there was a sign with the unhelpful  message “1W”.  The road crossed Slater Creek.  SPHP stopped and let Lupe out of the G6 to go get a drink.  Instead she raced off down into the trees.  SPHP hadn’t noticed the huge black cow resting in the shade chewing its cud.  Lupe ran right up to it and barked furiously in its face.

The cow was pretty comfy where it was.  Never before in its entire life had the cow seen such a shrill, noisy, annoying thing as the Carolina Dog that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.  There was only one good thing about it.  The frantic doggie was tiny by comparison.  The cow declined to get up.  It wasn’t going anywhere.  SPHP called Lupe.  She came racing back up the hill.  Her enthusiastic expression showed what worlds of fun it was threatening the monstrous cow.  She couldn’t believe SPHP had let her out of the G6 to do that.  Lupe never did get a drink out of the creek.

SPHP drove on.  In practically no time, there was a sign for USFS Road No. 110.  At last!  No. 110 wound around in the forest.  Locals kept blocking the road.  Some people had cut down a huge dead tree.  They were cutting it up and loading the pieces onto a big trailer.  They had to move their trailer so Lupe and SPHP could get by.  A guy in a pickup and a guy in a sheepherder’s rig going in opposite directions were stopped on the road while they chatted.  Lupe and SPHP came through to bust up the conversation.  One of them thanked SPHP a moment later. The conversation had gone on way too long.

It was lunch time by the time Lupe and SPHP reached the Black Mountain trailhead along USFS Road No. 110.  Lupe and SPHP had lunch in the shade of some small trees.  Finally, at 12:54 PM (69°F), Lupe and SPHP started for Black Mountain on Trail No. 1185.

For a short distance, the trail was faint and hard to follow as it climbed steeply through an area of tall grass.  Beyond the tall grass the trail was in much better shape.  It was easy to follow and headed NW along the SW slope of a big forested ridge.  The trail undulated up and down.  There was a net elevation gain, but not all that much.  The forest provided welcome shade.  Now and then there were glimpses of distant territory to the SW.

Eventually Trail No. 1185 reached a saddle between the forested ridge and Black Mountain.  Beyond the saddle, the trail started climbing much more steeply.

Four horseback riders appeared.  They were heading down.  Lupe and SPHP got off the trail to let them pass.  They stopped.  The first rider said Lupe would get up on the mountain just in time for the lightning to be snapping and popping real good.  On this encouraging note, the riders continued on.  As the last horse went by, Lupe couldn’t contain herself any longer and barked.  SPHP grabbed her nose and held her mouth shut to keep her from spooking the horses.

After the horses went by, it wouldn’t have taken too long to finish the steep part of the climb to get up on Black Mountain.  However, someone far down the mountain started firing a gun as if a war was breaking out.  The sound carried very well way up the mountain.  Lupe kept wanting to stop and hide.  SPHP finally persuaded her to finish the steep climb.

Once up on top, a sign by the trail said Black Mountain, East Summit, 10,801 ft.  SPHP stopped and sat on a big log.  Lupe was happy resting and hiding out nearby.

Black Mountain is a plateau.  The entire mountaintop is pretty flat with sharp drops all around the edges.  The mountain has two large parts separated by a comparatively narrow ridge of level ground.  The W part of the mountain is somewhat smaller than the E part.  Lupe had arrived on the mountain near the far SE corner of the larger E part.  The E portion of Black Mountain extends more than 0.5 mile NW/SE, and at most 0.25 mile SW/NE.  Trail No. 1185 runs along the length of the SW rim.

The war ended and no more gunfire was heard.  Since the E end of the mountain is just an increasingly narrow flat ridge, it was a short easy walk from where Lupe came up over to the N side of the mountain.  Lupe and SPHP went to see what was over there.  There was quite a nice view.

After seeing the view to the N, it was time for Lupe to find the true summit of Black Mountain.  The highest point and true summit was shown on SPHP’s topo map as being less than 0.25 mile to the W.  It was supposed to be a very short distance N of the trail.  Lupe and SPHP headed W on the trail to find it.

Unsurprisingly, there really wasn’t any identifiable exact summit.  Being a plateau, the top of Black Mountain was so level it was hard to say any particular point was the absolute highest.  None of the territory N of the trail looked noticeably higher than the trail itself.  In fact, not too far N of the trail, the ground clearly began to lose elevation.  SPHP chose a spot with a few flowers a bit N of the trail for Lupe’s official summit of Black Mountain photo.

After Lupe’s summit photo, Lupe and SPHP went back to the trail to continue NW along the SW rim of Black Mountain.  Soon Lupe wanted to stop again.  Now there were faint rumblings of thunder.  SPHP agreed to stop at a point where there was a good view from the SW rim.  It was possible to see a long way to the S, but the view was marred by smoke haze.  There had been some haze back in Wyoming, but the smoke was definitely thicker here in Colorado.

It was kind of hot – at least in the 70’s °F.  Lupe and SPHP sat near the edge of Black Mountain.  Soon both fell asleep.  Suddenly SPHP awoke to the sound of puppy feet dashing away.  Lupe had heard a squirrel.  The usual commotion ensued.  When it was over, Lupe was completely revived.  Lupe and SPHP continued NW on the trail.  By now there were sprinkles of rain, but nothing serious.  The rain soon quit.

The clouds passed on by.  It was sunny again when Lupe reached the NW end of the E portion of Black Mountain.  Lupe was close to the narrow flat area that connects the E part of Black Mountain with the W part.  Lupe and SPHP crossed over to the N side of the mountain to check out the view over there.

A communications site was shown on the topo map.  Sure enough, a little tower was in clear view a bit farther W.

From the tower at the communications site, Lupe and SPHP headed SW.  At a cliff, Lupe could see a long forested ridge extending S from the W portion of Black Mountain.  There was a big gulf of open space between the cliff where Lupe was and that far S ridge.

Lupe could have gone on to explore the W portion of Black Mountain, but SPHP was satisfied she had gone far enough.  It was getting to be time to turn around.  On the way back, Lupe and SPHP explored the NE rim of the E part of Black Mountain.  The ground was definitely lower and not as level here as along the SW rim, but it was still pretty easy going through the forest.  With no trail, SPHP thought about how few people or American Dingoes must ever venture to this part of Black Mountain.

It was beautiful and peaceful.  There were little meadows filled with flowers, although most were now past their prime.  There were many places with good views to the N.  Lupe and SPHP had a very fun time exploring.

Shortly before Lupe reached the trail again near the far SE end of the mountain, SPHP realized a big dark cloud was approaching from the W.  Lupe and SPHP headed down as soon as Lupe reached the trail.

The dark cloud started sprinkling rain.  Lupe kept wanting to stop due to thunder.  SPHP made her press on.  Lupe had lost considerable elevation, and was already at the end of the steep part of the trail, when the storm hit.  It rained harder and the wind blew.  Lupe and SPHP took shelter beneath a clump of trees right next to the trail.  The trees provided pretty good protection.  Lupe didn’t get very wet.  The worst was over in 10-15 minutes.

Lupe was still reluctant to go on.  She could still hear the thunder.  Then she saw a deer in the forest.  In an instant, the thunder was forgotten.  An hour before sunset, Lupe was back at the G6.  Her adventures on Black Mountain were done.

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