Start – 8:39 AM, 50°F, Needles Hwy No. 87 in Custer State Park a little N of Little Squaw Creek
The NE end of Peak 5733 was already in view as Lupe started out on a dirt side road off Needles Hwy No. 87 heading W up the Little Squaw Creek valley. The morning was cool, calm, and comfortable with mostly blue skies. Looked the Carolina Dog had like a great day for peakbagging a few seldom climbed peaks in Custer State Park!
Loop would be getting to Peak 5733 soon enough. However, she stayed on the dirt road only a short distance before abandoning it to turn NW up a side valley. The lower end of this valley was forested and shady. Lupe was delighted to find some melting snow. Not much, but enough to cool off on, or get a mouthful of to wet her tongue now and then.
Going NW up the valley, Lupe climbed steadily. She quickly reached a minor ridge where a young forest was full of slash. The slash was left over from efforts to thin the trees, but what a mess!
Slow going for sure! Gradually picking a way through the slash, Lupe and SPHP finally got above it. The slope steepened, but this was still a lot easier than dealing with all the slash. Lupe kept going and eventually came to a top.
Loopster had made it up to Peak 5647’s summit ridge. The topo map showed two summits on Peak 5647 within 5640 foot contours. The true summit was presumably the 5,647 foot elevation point marked at the S end of the S contour. However, visual confirmation wasn’t going to be possible due to all the trees.
Before heading S to look for the true summit, Lupe explored N along the ridge. She quickly came to a high point, although it wasn’t initially clear if this was Peak 5647’s N summit or not. Continuing N another 70 feet, Lupe found a small opening with a view of Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) and the Cathedral Spires (6,840 ft.).
After a short break at the viewpoint, Lupe started back S along the main ridge. The whole thing was so densely forested that she didn’t come to any other decent views. As it turned out, the first high point she’d been to was not the N summit. Farther S, Loop came to another clearly higher spot that was probably it.
Even the S summit, presumably the true summit of Peak 5647, lacked views. Tree-broken glimpses of Peak 5733 and Peak 5880 were about it. A pink plastic ribbon was tied around a tree close to the highest rocks, but Lupe was far more interested in something hiding beneath a log down the slope to the E.
Once the American Dingo had exhausted the entertainment value of whatever had been hiding beneath the fallen log, it was time to press on to Peak 5733. To get there, Lupe had to drop nearly 600 feet back down to the Little Squaw Creek valley. Taking a direct route down Peak 5647’s S slope, she came to a rock outcropping with a decent view to the SE.
All the rest of the way down, Lupe roamed a steep forest. However, the bottom of the Little Squaw Creek valley was mostly meadow. Loopster hadn’t actually seen Little Squaw Creek earlier, but she now had to cross it. No problem at all, thanks to the “Little” part of Little Squaw Creek.
After crossing Little Squaw Creek, Lupe started up Peak 5733’s N slope between a short N ridge and a longer NE one. Big patches of snow were still melting away on densely forested ground that started off steep, and got steeper. Lupe climbed SW or WSW. The terrain became very steep as she drew near rock outcroppings up on the N ridge. Fortunately, by this time Loop was above the slippery snow, otherwise SPHP never would have made it.
Once up on the N ridge, Lupe still faced a good climb heading S up to Peak 5733’s summit ridge. Not quite so steep, no snow, and the forest was more open, though, so this was easier than what she had just done. The last part was an easy scramble up a boulder field.
From the top of the boulder field, the Carolina Dog had a good view of Peak 5647, where she’d just come from. Farther away, Mount Rushmore (5,725 ft.), Little Devil’s Tower (6,960 ft.), Cathedral Spires (6,840 ft.), Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) and Peak 6735 were all in sight.
Lupe followed the main ridge SW looking for the summit of Peak 5733. The ridgeline was fairly rough. The American Dingo came to several rocky high points before finally reaching a clearly higher region. The true summit proved to be a tall, curved rock. Rock outcroppings nearly as high were 50 feet away both to the NE and SW.
Traveling along the ridgeline, Lupe had caught glimpses of Legion Lake, but the lake couldn’t be seen from here. Trees blocked the views in most directions, but by moving around the summit area a bit, Looper did see Mount Coolidge (6,023 ft.) and Northeast Cicero Peak (6,240 ft.) off to the SW.
Having already completed 2 of her 3 peakbagging objectives for the day, Lupe was ready to take a break. The Carolina Dog curled up on SPHP’s lap, facing into a 10-15 mph NW breeze. The best views from Peak 5733 were in this direction.
The day was clouding up. Perhaps a bit of weather was going to come out of the NW? Didn’t seem threatening, though. Lupe was content. She stayed on SPHP’s lap, watching and waiting.
45 minutes near Peak 5733’s summit was enough. The American Dingo was ready to move on! Peak 5880, the final hill on today’s agenda was in view more than a mile off to the WNW.
Peak 5733’s W slope was thickly covered with slash. Instead of heading directly down into such misery, Lupe followed the main ridge farther SW. Easier to move around up here, but the situation to the W wasn’t improving. Looper did lose at least some elevation before the slash had to be taken on. The W slope wasn’t steep, but SPHP was very slow at picking a way through all the debris.
SPHP finally made it down to where the amount of slash present was greatly diminished. Lupe heard a squirrel and dashed off at top speed, thrilled to be able to run again!
After crossing a gently sloping region, Loopster came to a line of scenic granite formations. She followed them a little way before heading W down into a shallow valley. This valley was part of the Little Squaw Creek drainage, but no surface water was present here. However, going NW the valley soon widened out, and Loop did come to some marshy ground. This marshy area was both the source of Little Squaw Creek, and the low point of Lupe’s trek to Peak 5880.
From the marsh, a rutty dirt road went W. Lupe followed it. A sign said she was on Centennial Trail No. 89! Only a couple of weeks ago, Lupe had been exploring the Centennial Trail on Expedition No. 249, but a few miles farther N in the Black Elk Wilderness.
The rutty road led up out of the Little Squaw Creek drainage. Lupe came to an intersection with a better dirt road. Another sign for Centennial Trail No. 89 was SW along this better road toward Peak 5880.
Following the good road SW, Lupe gradually gained elevation. Near Peak 5880, the road leveled out and curved W. The Carolina Dog left the road here, going first SW through a meadow, then S up a forested slope. After gaining nearly 300 feet of elevation, Loop reached a saddle on Peak 5880’s SE ridge.
The summit was still 0.25 mile away. Lupe turned NW climbing along the ridge. In some areas, quite a bit of slash was present, but the worst of it could usually be avoided. After gaining another 140 feet, the ridge leveled out. Lupe came to the W end of a rock ledge. The pointy summit of Peak 5880 was in sight beyond a slash-filled minor saddle. Loopster was almost there!
Despite the slash in the saddle, and a steep little climb, Lupe was soon at the top of Peak 5880. A U-shaped ring of boulders surrounded a small patch of pine needle-covered ground. The American Dingo got up on several of the boulders. The highest one was a bit of a precarious perch.
With 3 out of 3 peakbagging objectives successfully completed, it was time for another break. SPHP sat on a narrow ledge overlooking a nearly vertical drop. Lupe once again curled up on SPHP’s lap. Despite the airy setting, there were too many trees to see much. The only clear views were off to the E. Both Peak 5647 and Peak 5733 were in sight.
Loop rested calmly. SPHP ate an apple. 4:00 PM, plenty of time to get back before dark. 20 minutes of the same view was plenty, though. Nice, but not that dramatic. Lupe was ready to go down Peak 5880’s S ridge a little way to see if anything interesting was over there. Yes! Quite a nice view of Custer Mountain (6,089 ft.) and Stockade Lake.
That was about all, though. Before leaving Peak 5880, Lupe returned briefly to the summit.
On the return to Needles Hwy No. 87, Lupe retraced her route only as far as the marshy area down in the Little Squaw Creek valley. She did not climb Peak 5733 or Peak 5647 again.
The Carolina Dog displayed great energy, running and sniffing her way down the Little Squaw Creek valley. Deer fleeing SPHP’s approach got her all excited! Most of the time Lupe stuck to dirt roads, but not always.
Between Peak 5647 and Peak 5733, Lupe came to a small pond. A couple of ducks flew off, unhappy about having company. From here, it was a pleasant road hike all the rest of the way back to the G6. (5:56 PM, 57ºF)
Lupe had enjoyed a successful day of peakbagging in Custer State Park. She now had another reason to celebrate! Yesterday evening, Lupe’s Grandma had given SPHP some leftover roast beef.
That’s right! As soon as Lupe got home, roast beef was on the menu again! And did a thoughtful, famished American Dingo that had spent a whole day climbing mountains share any roast beef with SPHP?
She did not!
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We <3 heart Lupe! Herman and Jordan have moved to Oregon where we mostly are hiking ridges and rivers, but if our own SPHP ever retires, we hope to do as much as Lupe accomplishes! 🙂 Paula + 2
Congratulations on the move to Oregon! Herman and Jordan ought to have lots of beautiful new places to sniff and explore. Nothing wrong with rivers and ridges. Each one is unique and its own adventure. Happy trails!