Time for a change of focus. Lupe had spent most of her Black Hills Expeditions of the last couple of months peakbagging in the NW Black Hills, often going as far as the Bear Lodge Mountains in NE Wyoming. Only one named peak remained in that general direction that was a current peakbagging priority for her, Sweetwater Mountain (6,440 ft.), but she didn’t have permission from the land owner to climb it until hunting season was over in December.
So, what to do? Looking over the topo maps on Peakbagger.com, SPHP noticed a couple of peaks a few miles SSW of Iron Mountain that Lupe had never been to. They weren’t far away, which was kind of important on a short November day, since Lupe was getting off to a late start. Woodpecker Ridge and Peak 5688 should be fun! Lupe could start from Lakota Lake.
To get to Lakota Lake, Lupe and SPHP took Iron Mountain Road (Hwy 16A) going S from Mount Rushmore National Memorial near Keystone. Iron Mountain Road is a fun drive. It ultimately winds all the way up to the top of Iron Mountain (5,446 ft.). Along the way, Iron Mountain Road spirals up several pigtail bridges, features a couple stretches of “divided highway” consisting of one-way single lanes, and passes through short tunnels deliberately constructed to frame Mount Rushmore.
Naturally, Lupe and SPHP stopped to enjoy a few of the sights along the way up Iron Mountain.
At the top of Iron Mountain is a paved parking lot, and a short walking path to a viewpoint. Right next to the viewpoint is a ridge of rock roughly 20 feet high, where the absolute summit of the mountain is located. Lupe and SPHP stopped briefly to make the tiny climb to the absolute summit for a look around.
Since the true summit is on the W edge of the large summit area, the best views were toward Harney Peak (7,242 ft.) to the W, and Mount Rushmore (5,725 ft.) to the NW. From Iron Mountain, Lupe had a great view of some of the most rugged terrain in the Black Hills!
After all the sight-seeing stops coming up and over Iron Mountain, it was 10:01 AM (46°F) by the time Lupe arrived at Lakota Lake. SPHP left the G6 parked at the empty picnic ground.
Lupe’s first peakbagging goal was Woodpecker Ridge (5,680 ft.). Woodpecker Ridge is about 2 miles long, running SW/NE. The ridge is W of Iron Mountain Road, and S of Iron Creek. The topo map showed that the summit was near the far SW end of the ridge, about 3 miles from where Lupe was starting at Lakota Lake. Lupe and SPHP followed the gravel road SW from the Lakota Lake picnic ground back to Iron Mountain Road.
Iron Creek Trail No. 15, starts on the W side of Iron Mountain Road, right across from the road to Lakota Lake. The plan was for Lupe to follow Iron Creek Trail No. 15 up the valley for a mile, or so, to where the topo map showed the easiest approach to the Woodpecker Ridge summit from the NNE. After a relatively gentle mile-long climb, Lupe would reach the ridgeline about 0.25 mile E of the summit.
At first, everything went according to plan. Lupe enjoyed trotting along the single track Iron Creek trail looking for squirrels. Less than an inch of new snow on the ground made things look fresh and bright. The trail crossed Iron Creek several times, but there were plank bridges or good stepping stones to help SPHP get across.
At the fourth creek crossing, there was no bridge. SPHP didn’t see any convenient stepping stones around either. No way was SPHP going to wade across chilly Iron Creek this time of year! Lupe and SPHP went a little back downstream looking for a way to cross the creek.
Lupe hadn’t gone far, when a rather questionable way across the creek presented itself. SPHP had to reach out over the creek to lean against a boulder on the other side. SPHP was barely able to grip the top of the boulder and shinny up, but it did work. Lupe, of course, had no problem simply leaping over the creek. Carolina Dogs don’t let little things like minor creek crossings interfere with their plans!
Lupe and SPHP were now on the S side of Iron Creek, but not yet anywhere near where SPHP had planned for Lupe to start up Woodpecker Ridge. Lupe was only a little past the NE end of the ridge. Cliffs could be seen high above. It wasn’t at all clear if there would be a way up that would avoid the cliffs and allow Lupe to reach the ridgeline from here, but SPHP decided to try it anyway.
The start of the climb didn’t go very well. Lupe and SPHP climbed onto a small ridge to the E, before turning S. Right away, Lupe had to climb up onto a big rock outcropping. Ten paces later, a drop-off forced her right back down to the W. However, once around the rock formation, she was able to climb steadily through the forest, heading SSW.
There were plenty of rocks scattered around the whole way. Lupe eventually came to an area of fairly large boulders. The boulders slowed SPHP down quite a bit, although Lupe had fun exploring them.
As Lupe got closer to the cliffs above, the boulders got larger. At the base of the cliffs were boulder fields that would have taken a long time to traverse. Lupe and SPHP worked around to the W of them.
Fortunately, the line of cliffs was not continuous. Lupe bypassed them to the W, too. She was able to keep climbing steadily SSW through the forest. On the way up, Lupe even saw a woodpecker, but it wasn’t close enough for SPHP to get a decent photo.
As it turned out, Lupe wound up climbing well above the first cliffs. Lupe and SPHP reached the ridgeline near High Point 5537. Lakota Lake, and the top of the cliffs Lupe had bypassed, could be seen far below.
SPHP was glad Lupe had reached the ridgeline at High Point 5537. It meant Lupe would get to explore most of the length of Woodpecker Ridge. She now faced only about 150 feet of net elevation gain on the way to the summit. SPHP expected a relatively easy hike SW along the ridge.
Exploring Woodpecker Ridge was fun, but soon proved to be a lot of work, too. The ridgeline was rough, not level. Lupe had to climb over or around many rock formations. The rocks weren’t the worst of it, either. The farther SW Lupe went, the more deadfall timber she encountered. The rocks and deadfall weren’t terrible, but SPHP’s progress became very slow.
Another problem began to worry SPHP. Since there was so little net elevation change along the way, it might be hard to tell where the true summit of Woodpecker Ridge was. SPHP started taking photos of Lupe at notable high points, just on the chance that she was already at the summit.
Lupe finally reached a place where there were significant elevation changes ahead. Two distinct hills weren’t too far away. SPHP hoped the closest one was the summit of Woodpecker Ridge, and the more distant one was Peak 5688, Lupe’s other peakbagging goal for the day. A brief halt to check the topo maps was in order.
The topo maps said differently. What they showed was disappointing. Lupe hadn’t made nearly as much progress along Woodpecker Ridge as SPHP had believed. Both of the hills in view were high points of Woodpecker Ridge, the summits of which were both enclosed by the 5680 foot contour.
On Peakbagger.com, the more distant hill farther to the W with a much larger area enclosed by the 5680 foot contour was shown as the location of the true summit. Still, there was a chance that the closer hill was actually the true summit. Lupe would have to visit both to make certain she reached the top of Woodpecker Ridge.
One more thing was evident, too. At the pace Lupe and SPHP were going, there was absolutely no chance Lupe was going to reach Peak 5688 today. By the time Lupe reached the W summit of Woodpecker Ridge, the sun was going to be too low in the sky to do anything but start looking for an easier way back to the G6. Oh, well. That’s often how things go in the mountains.
Lupe and SPHP pressed on toward the two hills. If anything, the rock formations Lupe had to find a way around were bigger than before, and the deadfall still worse. There was more elevation loss and gain to deal with, too. It took more than half an hour just to reach the E summit, even though it hadn’t been very far away.
Lupe and SPHP took a break up on the E summit of Woodpecker Ridge, but only stayed 15 or 20 minutes. It was nice up there, but it was too late in the day to lounge about given the continual difficulties Lupe faced negotiating all the obstacles nature placed in her path along Woodpecker Ridge.
The time arrived to begin the final push to the likely true summit of Woodpecker Ridge. Lupe headed W down into a broad saddle. The more level terrain should have made the going much easier, but the deadfall timber here was the worst Lupe had faced all day.
It took close to another 45 minutes to make it over to the W summit of Woodpecker Ridge. Sadly, the W summit was ugly. There was a lot of deadfall. Even so, enough trees were still standing to block the views. Although Lupe could now claim a successful ascent of Woodpecker Ridge, the achievement seemed anti-climactic.
Lupe and SPHP took another break. Lupe relaxed. SPHP took a look at the topo maps again. The sun was low enough so Lupe really needed to start making tracks toward a decent route out of here.
The topo maps showed some kind of a trail off to the W that would lead N before curving NE down a ravine into the Iron Creek valley again. There was a road down there that would take Lupe back to Iron Creek Trail No. 15 again. Somehow, SPHP would just have to deal with the creek crossings, even if it meant fording the stream.
SPHP polished off the last apple. Time to pack up and go. The sun would be down in minutes. Lupe was ready. Puppy, ho! Onward!
Lupe and SPHP left the summit heading N. Before long, Lupe reached a cliff edge. The terrain forced her down to the W. She saw two more woodpeckers as she progressed down the slope. As soon as it was possible, Lupe turned N again. Lupe and SPHP wandered through a forest with less deadfall than before, but it was still slow going. The area was full of thistles. Time passed. The light was fading. Lupe still hadn’t found a trail or road.
SPHP decided to check the topo maps again. The maps could not be found. It became clear they had somehow been left up on Woodpecker Ridge. Not good. Still, they probably wouldn’t be needed. The distance Lupe needed to cover to reach Iron Creek wasn’t that far. One way or another, she would make it.
It’s hard to say exactly where Lupe and SPHP went, but probably somewhere in the area where the topo maps on Peakbagger.com show a point marked 5190 feet of elevation, 0.5 mile NNW of the Woodpecker Ridge summit. As Lupe and SPHP wandered N, Lupe finally came to a faint remnant of a road. It did curve NE down into a ravine. Lower down, the ravine had huge solid rock walls.
Lupe reached the road leading to the W end of Iron Creek Trail No. 15 before it was dark. Old cabins were strung out along the road, but there was no sign of activity anywhere. By the time Lupe reached the start of the trail, stars were coming out. At the trailhead, a sign said Iron Creek Trail No. 15 had 11 water crossings. Oh, boy!
It wasn’t a problem, though. Lupe and SPHP made great time along the single track trail. Luckily, there was a decent way across Iron Creek at every crossing – a bridge, stepping stones, a fallen log – always something. The stars became bright against a black sky. The flashlight came out. Lupe and SPHP enjoyed a last hour of quiet travel in the darkness.
Somehow, even in the dark, a way across Iron Creek appeared near crossing No. 4 (No. 8 counting in reverse). Funny that it could be found in the night, when SPHP hadn’t seen it during daylight, but there it was. Yay! No fording of the freezing stream was required! And that, was that. No suspense remained over the outcome of Expedition No. 183.
Lupe and SPHP made it back to the G6 (5:57 PM, 33°F). All the way back over Iron Mountain, the Carolina Dog rode with her head out the window, hoping to see a deer in the headlights, but she saw none. By the time she reached Keystone, Lupe had given up. It was kind of an anti-climactic end, like reaching the summit of Woodpecker Ridge had been.
Yet for Lupe and SPHP, it had been another great day adventuring together in the Black Hills. It’s often the journey, and not the final goal, that make the day and the memories.
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