After rain and fog all weekend long, Monday had dawned clear and bright. Rain wasn’t at all unusual this time of year. In fact, today was the 42nd anniversary of the Black Hill’s June 9, 1972 flood, when 238 people lost their lives. Nothing remotely close to that dramatic and tragic was going to happen today. SPHP registered at the entrance to the Black Elk Wilderness near the Horsethief Lake trailhead (10:36 AM, 59°F).
Lupe and SPHP took off heading SSW on Horsethief Lake Trail No. 14. The normally pleasantly bubbling little creek was gushing right along, overflowing its banks and parts of the trail. Most of the time, it wasn’t hard to get over or around the wet spots. The rushing creek in the leafy canyon between towering granite spires was actually rather cheerful and beautiful.
The creek was left behind by the time Lupe reached a junction with Centennial Trail No. 89 about 0.75 mile from the trailhead. Lupe and SPHP turned right, taking a short stretch of trail going W that is part of both Horsethief Lake Trail No. 14 and Centennial Trail No. 89. When the trails separated again, Lupe turned left, staying on Horsethief Lake Trail No. 14.
As Lupe continued SSW, she started encountering a fair amount of deadfall timber fallen across the trail. Huge numbers of ponderosa pine trees infested with pine bark beetles have died in the Black Hills in recent years. Over time, high winds blow over increasing numbers of the dead trees. Lupe and SPHP had to spend quite a lot of time off the trail going around the deadfall.
After about 2 miles, Lupe reached the S end of Horsethief Lake Trail No. 14 at a “T” intersection. Lupe turned right, following Grizzly Bear Creek Trail No. 7. The trail wound around heading generally W or NW. Lupe didn’t need to follow Grizzly Bear Creek Trail No. 7 very far, only about 0.375 mile. Lupe’s peakbagging goal for the day was Peak 6735, more than a mile to the SW. There is no trail to Peak 6735.
SPHP started looking for a way across Grizzly Bear Creek, a larger stream than the one near the start of Horsethief Lake Trail No. 14. Naturally, Grizzly Bear Creek was also running high. Fortunately, it didn’t take too long to find a place where a few boulders enabled SPHP to jump over. The American Dingo, of course, had no problem getting across.
On the SW side of Grizzly Bear Creek, Lupe found herself in a meadow that sloped gradually up to the W. Parts of the meadow were soggy and marshy, but by the time Lupe and SPHP reached the trees again, Lupe was back on dry ground. An old dirt road headed S around the E side of the mountain ahead. Lupe and SPHP followed it S for a little way.
The road gradually gained elevation, but reached a high point. From here, the road turned SE. Lupe needed to go SW, and she didn’t need to lose elevation. Lupe and SPHP left the dirt road, and started climbing the mountain.
The first part of this climb was about the only place all day where Lupe didn’t have to contend with a lot of deadfall timber. She raced this way and that sniffing around in the forest, while SPHP trudged ever upwards. Before too long, the mountain began to narrow. Deadfall and a series of large granite rock formations appeared. The climb became progressively steeper and more difficult.
As Lupe and SPHP continued up, the rock formations were larger and closer together. Most of the time it was easier to go around to the S of them, although occasionally it was easier to make forays to the N. Lupe was able to climb up on top of a few of the rock formations. Eventually, SPHP was able to see that Lupe was getting up in the world. Huge granite walls were visible on nearby mountains, especially in the area to the N leading up to Harney Peak.
From each rock formation, another higher one came into view up ahead. Finally, it looked like Lupe was getting close to the top of the mountain. SPHP expected Lupe to emerge up on Peak 6710, about 0.25 mile NW of her Peak 6735 goal. When Lupe reached the high point, though, the view was disappointing. Things didn’t look right at all. There was no way Lupe was on Peak 6710.
Actually, the scenery was great! The trouble was that SPHP could see another mountain ahead to the SW. It was several hundred feet higher! So, if Lupe wasn’t on Peak 6710 now, where was she? SPHP already had a pretty good notion, even before checking the maps.
Yes, the depressing news was true. That higher mountain to the SW had to be Peak 6710. Despite how long it had taken to get here through all the wretched deadfall timber and toiling around the big rock formations, Lupe hadn’t gone nearly as far as SPHP had thought. She wasn’t as high up, either. Lupe was on top of Peak 6411, still 0.33 mile NE of Peak 6710.
It was time for a rest. SPHP had intended for Lupe to bypass Peak 6411 to the N. Instead, Lupe and SPHP had climbed SW up the spine of the mountain to get here. Lupe still had to continue on to Peak 6710, or at least close to it, on her way to Peak 6735. To get there, she was going to have to lose over 100 feet of elevation going down to a saddle before she could resume climbing.
The task of getting to Peak 6710 looked daunting. More rock formations, an exhausting maze of deadfall timber, and another steep climb were still ahead. As discouraging at it was, there was nothing to do, but get on with it. One step at a time. The rest break was over. Lupe and SPHP headed slowly down into the saddle SW of Peak 6411. Nothing had changed. The way forward was a lot like Lupe’s climb up Peak 6411.
Finally, it was over. Lupe and SPHP were close to the top of Peak 6710. The summit was a big, high steep granite rock formation. Lupe and SPHP got to within 10 feet of the top. SPHP could probably scramble up on top, but there was no way for Lupe to get up there, even with SPHP’s help. The granite was just too vertical. SPHP couldn’t quite see the top, but it felt like the summit might be a scary high place. Getting back down safely didn’t look very easy, either.
Well, it would have been nice to reach the absolute summit of Peak 6710, but Lupe’s real goal was Peak 6735. If she could reach the top of Peak 6735, that would just have to be good enough. SPHP gave up on Peak 6710. Lupe and SPHP headed SE down toward the saddle over to Peak 6735.
Lupe lost nearly 250 feet of elevation crossing the saddle. Due to the deadfall, it was all miserably slow going. The true summit of peak 6735 is more toward the S end of the summit area. Lupe and SPHP skirted the N end of the high ground to the W. Lupe had another steep climb, but eventually it got easier. There was somewhat less deadfall timber near the end. Lupe and SPHP started making faster progress.
The top of Peak 6735 was much easier to navigate than Peak 6710 had been. The whole area was rocky, but it was easy to approach the very highest rocks at the true summit by circling around a bit to the S. After a long, hard struggle, Lupe had done it. She stood on top of Peak 6735!
Peak 6735 featured marvelous 360° views. As annoyingly difficult as it was to get here, SPHP was pretty certain Peak 6735 must not be visited very often. Not many people or American Dingoes have ever been treated to these views. Lupe and SPHP were glad to be here!
It had been a long, exhausting climb through rugged territory. By far the worst obstacle, though, had been the shattered dead forest. Lupe and SPHP needed a rest break, a much longer one than Lupe had taken on High Point 6411. Rest, water, snacks and big views were all part of a most welcome respite.
After the rest break was done, it was time to do some exploring of the summit area. A big granite arm of the mountain extended off to the SW without losing too much elevation. Lupe had clear sweeping views to the S from this granite ridge. Nothing she saw to the S was as high as Peak 6735!
After a leisurely exploration of the SW arm of the mountain and around to the SE, Lupe and SPHP returned to the summit of Peak 6735 for a final look.
It would have been nice to explore the high ground N of where Lupe had come up the mountain, but it had taken a very long time to get up here. The slanting rays of the sun gave notice that it was already late afternoon. Lupe’s time on Peak 6735 was running out. The N ridge wasn’t quite as high as where Lupe had already been, anyway.
Although the world was beautiful from up on Peak 6735, it was time to move on. When darkness fell, SPHP didn’t want to be lost wandering in a wilderness of steep terrain, deadfall timber, cliffs and huge rock formations. Lupe and SPHP left Peak 6735 heading N.
It was now a race against time to get back to a trail before darkness fell. There was no need to go back up Peak 6710 again. This time, after crossing the saddle to Peak 6710, SPHP led Lupe N along the E side of the mountain aiming for the saddle over to High Point 6411.
Upon reaching the saddle, Lupe and SPHP crossed it continuing N. Lupe wasn’t going back to High Point 6411, either. The plan was to go directly down to Grizzly Bear Creek Trail No. 7. The terrain started dropping steeply. SPHP feared Lupe would lose hundreds of feet of elevation only to find herself at the top of a cliff. If she did, there would be no choice but to climb all the way back up before trying another route.
The steep descent went on for what seemed like a long time. Close by to the E, a huge wall of granite appeared. Across the valley to the N, SPHP could see similar steep declines that ended in sheer cliffs below. Lupe was losing a lot of elevation. Luckily, the terrain wasn’t getting any steeper. Lupe forged ahead of SPHP. She could maneuver on the slope much better than SPHP could.
At last, looking down from above, SPHP saw Lupe sitting motionless, panting happily. Lupe had found it! She was sitting right on Grizzly Bear Creek Trail No. 7. SPHP joined her on the trail. Good work, Lupe! SPHP praised her. Lupe beamed. The shortcut had worked, and there was plenty of daylight left, even though the trail was in the shadow of the mountains. Lupe and SPHP set off heading E down the trail.
It was much farther, and took much longer, than SPHP anticipated to get back to Horsethief Lake Trail No. 14. There was the usual deadfall timber plus half a dozen creek crossings to deal with along the way. SPHP managed to find a way to jump over the high-flowing creek each time. For Lupe, the stream crossings were a piece of cake. She leaped across with ease.
By the time Lupe and SPHP made it back to Centennial Trail No. 89, it was getting dark. The flashlight had to come out for the last stretch of Horsethief Trail No. 14 after leaving the Centennial Trail. In the darkness, it was much harder to avoid all the water flowing over the trail.
Lupe’s long adventure to Peak 6735 and back ended at 9:53 PM (52°F). Nearly 11.5 hours had gone by, most of it spent in rugged terrain choked with deadfall. Lupe didn’t complain. She never does. She hopped in the G6 and curled up for the ride home.
SPHP didn’t complain either. The views from Peak 6735 had been splendid. The sense of remote isolation, complete. In truth, it had been a fun and challenging day. So much fun that SPHP thought Lupe should return to Peak 6735 some day. Maybe some day, she will.
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