Nope! No way! I’m not budging from this spot. Take it off! Take it off, now!
Tugging on the leash only made Lupe dig in and resist. She wasn’t going anywhere.
OK, Loop, but you gotta stay close to me. Let me lead the way.
The American Dingo had won. SPHP couldn’t drag her all the way up the mountain by the neck. The leash came off. Would Lupe follow? Reluctantly she did. Her adventure had hardly begun, and she was already terrified. SPHP had spoken the dreaded word: cactus. Ever since her adventure in the Wildcat Hills of Nebraska with mountaineer, Jobe Wymore, cactus has been a greatly feared nemesis.
Lupe followed right at SPHP’s heels. A very faint remnant of a road led W up the mountain. Lupe wasn’t about to go running around off the road, or take the lead. She did plod steadily along, however, which was all it would take to ultimately be successful. Onward and upward!
SPHP had been afraid of this. Lupe was on her way up Maverick Mountain (3,750 ft.) on the SE edge of the Black Hills. The southern part of the Black Hills region is the driest and lowest. Cactus line (sort of like tree line) tends to be in the 4,500 to 5,000 ft. range. Maverick Mountain is well below that, so cactus wasn’t unexpected.
Lupe had arrived early at the Romney GPA (Game Production Area) parking lot (7:39 AM, 45°F), which serves as the Maverick Mountain trailhead. On recent expeditions, she has been working on climbing peaks in the southern Black Hills that prolific climber Brian Kalet visited and added to the Peakbagger.com data base in May of 2016. Maverick Mountain was yet another Brian Kalet peak.
Counterintuitively, being lower meant that climbing Maverick Mountain was a more daunting task for Lupe than the higher Brian Kalet peaks she had been to farther N – all because of the cactus. If Lupe was going to climb Maverick Mountain at all, though, this was the time of year to do it. Once the weather warmed up consistently, another even greater danger might be present. SPHP wouldn’t even consider bringing her here then to risk a prairie rattlesnake bite.
Lupe’s Maverick Mountain adventure had begun only a few minutes ago, when she passed under a short wooden section in an otherwise barbed wire fence near the N end of the Romney GPA parking lot. She’d paused by a fallen steel tower, and then headed straight past it to start up the base of a forested ridge. She’d barely reached the trees when SPHP realized the situation, and spoken the dreaded word that brought Lupe to a screeching halt.
Lupe resumed her trek with trepidation, as SPHP watched carefully for cacti on the way up the first hillside. The Loopster wasn’t at all eager to move quickly, which was good, since there was plenty of cactus SPHP needed to guide her around.
Lupe had initially started up toward a bare spot on the ridgeline ahead. Before she even got that far, she came across a trail angling to the W (L) that was so faint, at first, that SPHP wasn’t even certain it wasn’t imaginary. However, it quickly improved and soon proved to be the old dirt road leading to the summit.
The road became easy to follow. Fortunately, there wasn’t any cactus on it. Lupe’s confidence began to return. Although she now trotted ahead on the old road, she was careful not to leave it. She understood perfectly well that the horrible cactus was waiting for her off the road.
Things were going well, again. Lupe gained elevation steadily. The road passed through a mixed forest of Ponderosa pines and junipers. Spiny Yucca plants grew in sunny spots between the trees. Occasional open views of the prairie to the E improved rapidly. The highlight was the Cheyenne River sparkling in the morning sunlight.
Once Lupe found the old road going W up Maverick Mountain, it was typically easy to follow. Where it wasn’t, straight ahead was always a good assumption. The road kept progressing steadily W, with few twists or turns.
Fairly high up on the mountain, Angostura Reservoir came into view to the S. Only on the edge of the Black Hills, and not actually in them, Angostura Reservoir is the largest lake in the entire Black Hills region. Popular for fishing and boating, the lake was created by a dam on the Cheyenne River.
The old road faded away as it leveled out neared the top of Maverick Mountain. Ahead of Lupe was an open field. A dried up stock pond was in the middle of the field toward the S. Trees rimmed the N and W edges of the field. A small hill straight ahead was clearly the location of the true summit.
Lupe was worried about cactus when the road disappeared. She had good reason. Even though the cactus had been worse lower down, there was still some scattered around. Lupe followed SPHP closely across the field. She made it to the summit of Maverick Mountain (3,750 ft.) without incident.
Ordinarily, Lupe would have lingered on top of the mountain for a little while, exploring the summit area and seeing what there was to see. With cactus on the mountain, though, she wasn’t about to get too rambunctious, or hang around for very long. The views toward higher hills to the N and W were almost completely blocked by trees, anyway.
Lupe did roam around enough, though, to see the highlights of what views Maverick Mountain had to offer off to the S and E.
After a 15 or 20 minute stay up on the Maverick Mountain summit, Lupe headed E back across the N side of the field where the dried up stock pond was to start her trip back down the mountain. The Carolina Dog was eager to get off this pin cushion!
Besides, Lupe had other higher peaks to climb not too far away near Hot Springs, SD.
When Lupe reached the last hillside at the bottom of the mountain, SPHP made her stop and stay put. Due her fear of cactus, she didn’t dare disobey.
SPHP started searching around. Earlier, SPHP had noticed Lupe wasn’t wearing her pink collar. She’d had it on when she started out. Where had it gone? After some thought, SPHP had decided it must have come off in this area during all the commotion with the cactus and the leash right near the start of Lupe’s excursion.
The search was a failure. Lupe’s pink collar was nowhere to be seen. Lupe stood motionless wondering what was going on? An idea! SPHP took the leash out of a pocket. Hah! There it was! Lupe’s pink collar had gotten tangled up with the leash, and been in SPHP’s pocket all along. Doh!
Sorry, about the wait Looper. Guess I’m losin’ it. Come on, let’s go! Lupe was more than ready. She returned to the G6, leaving Pin Cushion Mountain behind forever! Even Brian Kalet couldn’t get her to come back a second time. (9:25 AM, 48°F)
Maverick Mountain had only been a warm-up. Lupe had other higher peaks to climb not too far away near Hot Springs, SD. Soon SPHP was parking the G6 on Sheridan Street in the N part of Hot Springs. (9:40 AM, 50°F) A stroll S to the end of the block brought Lupe to the start of Battle Mountain Road.
Lupe turned E on Battle Mountain Road. The road climbed relentlessly all the way up to almost the top of, you guessed it, Battle Mountain (4,434 ft.)! A short ascent up a jeep trail and rotting wood-framed steps brought Lupe to the rocks at the S end of the summit near the old fire lookout tower. Looper got up on the rocks for a look around.
Lupe had been up on top of Battle Mountain once before, nearly two years ago on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 126. Back then a tribe of Neanderthals, still hanging around Hot Springs long after the woolly mammoths Hot Springs, SD is famous for (see Mammoth Site of Hot Springs) were gone, had left a lot of trash including broken glass strewn around the summit. Due to all the sharp broken glass, SPHP had had to carry Lupe all around the summit area.
The summit of Battle Mountain was in considerably better condition today. Almost no trash around. Although there was still some broken glass, it looked weathered and old, lacking sharp, stabby points and edges. SPHP was still cautious about letting Lupe get near the worst of it, but for the most part she could roam the top of Battle Mountain at will.
The reason for Lupe’s return to Battle Mountain didn’t seem to be in view from the summit. Pine trees blocked the views to the NE. Less than 2 miles that way was where Lupe’s next peakbagging goal was. Friendshuh Mountain (4,450 ft.) was barely higher than Battle Mountain. Lupe would have to go considerably farther than 2 miles to get there. Dudley Canyon was in the way.
Friendshuh Mountain wasn’t actually another Brian Kalet peak. Gustav Sexaur added it to the Peakbagger.com data base. However, Gustav had never been there. So far, Brian Kalet was the only Peakbagger.com account holder to have ever actually climbed Friendshuh Mountain. Either way, it was another red circle on Lupe’s Black Hills map that needed to turn green!
Lupe left the Battle Mountain summit heading N into the forest. She was barely below the summit’s limestone cap when a glimpse of Friendshuh Mountain appeared between the pines.
Friendshuh Mountain isn’t in the Black Hills National Forest. Neither is Battle Mountain. Both are in the Battle Mountain GPA (Game Production Area), however, so there is public access.
Coming down the N slope of Battle Mountain, SPHP was looking for the Battle Mountain GPA access road, which leads to the N end of Dudley Canyon close to Friendshuh Mountain. Lupe found a way down off the limestone escarpments she ran into along the way, and very quickly came to a road. Was this it? The road headed E through a cut in the mountain. SPHP was pretty certain this wasn’t the right road.
As Lupe had come up Battle Mountain Road, fairly close to the top of the mountain there had been 3 roads she could have taken. None of them had any signs. The first (lowest) turned N and went by a small building with a tower or big antenna next to it. The second road also angled N, and came only 100 or 150 feet before Battle Mountain Road turned sharply S on its final short leg to the summit.
Where Battle Mountain Road had turned S, a third road had continued E uphill and then turned N. Lupe was on this third, highest road.
Despite the lack of a sign, SPHP was pretty sure that the second road was actually the Battle Mountain GPA access road Lupe needed to be on. Instead of going E through the cut, Lupe followed the high road S and then W back down to the intersection with Battle Mountain Road. When she reached the second road, she turned and started following it N.
For about 0.25 mile, the road was quite level. It headed N on the W side of Battle Mountain. When the road started curving NE making its way around the NW slope of Battle Mountain, Lupe was surprised and happy to find snow and ice. From here on, she came to frequent stretches of snow, ice and mud wherever the road was shaded.
On the N side of Battle Mountain, the road began to lose elevation, going all the way down to about 4,080 ft. There it crossed a saddle heading ENE toward Dudley Canyon. This was the first drop.
By now SPHP was certain Lupe was on the correct road. It began winding around to the N and sometimes NW, slowly regaining nearly all of the elevation Lupe had just lost. The road stayed on the upper W slopes of Dudley Canyon. Due to the forest, most of the time the canyon wasn’t even in view. Lupe had fun. She found a few squirrels to bark at.
The Battle Mountain GPA access road eventually turned E. When it did, Lupe started losing elevation again. She had barely started down when Friendshuh Mountain came into view to the SE.
The road turned briefly toward Friendshuh Mountain before turning back to the NE and making its second and final significant drop down into the N end of Dudley Canyon.
At around 4,135 ft. elevation, Lupe reached the bottom of Dudley Canyon. Next to the road, a map was posted of the Battle Mountain Game Production Area. Apparently not enough game was being produced. The map itself had been a frequent target. It was riddled with bullet holes.
A parking area was S of the map, and a dirt road headed N through an open gate. Lupe followed the road 100 yards to a double gate which was padlocked shut. Another dirt road headed ESE up the draw behind it.
Lupe and SPHP went under and over the double gate respectively. Lupe followed the dirt road up the draw. Part of the road shaded by pines was snowy and muddy, but it wasn’t long before Lupe was up on a sunny hillside. The road now went E along the N side of a barbed wire fence.
Lupe came to another set of double gates, both of which were standing wide open. Friendshuh Mountain was in view beyond them directly to the S only 0.33 mile away. Lupe was almost there!
The Carolina Dog didn’t head directly for Friendshuh Mountain, however. The top of the barren ridge the road had been climbing was only a little farther uphill. An interestingly shaped flat rock up there looked like it might offer a great unobstructed view of whatever was over on the E side of the ridge. SPHP wanted to go see the views.
Lupe was a little reluctant to leave the road. Her concern was justified. On the way to the odd flat rock, SPHP saw her nemesis again. Cacti were scattered on the dry, sunny ridge. Not as many as at Maverick Mountain, but enough to be a concern. Still, it was a good thing Lupe had come this way. Upon reaching the odd flat rock, she made a discovery even more interesting than the sweeping views to the N and E.
Long, long ago, something else had come this way. Something gigantic and dangerous! Pressed deep into the rock next to the odd flat rock was a dinosaur track! Other similar depressions were nearby, but none were so clear as this one.
The huge dinosaur track was pretty cool, and the wide open views on the barren ridge were great, too. The summit of Friendshuh Mountain was covered with pines, so the views might be limited up there. Why not take a break here? Lupe was happy with that idea. She curled up inside the dinosaur track while SPHP ate an apple.
After her brief rest stop in the dinosaur track next to the odd flat rock, Lupe returned to the road and went S through the open gates. The dirt road went up a gradual slope heading almost straight for Friendshuh Mountain.
Lupe soon arrived at a large water tank, which had plenty of water in it. Here the dirt road angled SE going over a gentle pass on its way around the E side of Friendshuh Mountain. To the SW, a faint single track trail went up toward the trees N of the summit. Information SPHP had previously found online indicated that the two routes made a loop around Friendshuh Mountain, but didn’t go to the summit.
The area near the water tank was Lupe’s least favorite part of the journey to Friendshuh Mountain. Cacti grew in scattered clumps in the grassland. Some other plant with thorns was around, too. Lupe had a couple of painful thorns in her right front paw by the time she reached the water tank. SPHP pulled them out, but Lupe wasn’t happy. She demanded to be carried from here.
Fortunately, the summit of Friendshuh Mountain was very close by now. SPHP carried Lupe up the faint trail to the SW. From the top of a little ridge N of the mountain, Lupe could see that the trail soon became a dirt road a little farther to the SSW. The views to the W and SW were quite nice here. SPHP put Lupe down for a couple photos. She seemed a little more confident again.
Lupe made the final climb from the trail up to the summit of Friendshuh Mountain (4,450 ft.) on her own. She felt safer and more confident among the trees than out on the open grasslands. She came to no cactus up on the summit area, but she did find a limestone summit cairn next to a big melting snow bank. The cold snow felt good on sore paws.
Friendshuh Mountain had a roomy, flat summit area about 250 or 300 feet long N/S. It sloped gradually down toward the E. The top was open forest, but around the edges, the forest was thicker and effectively blocked the views in most directions.
After a short exploration, Lupe spent most of her time on Friendshuh Mountain at the S end of the summit area where there were fewer trees, and the best views were on display. Lupe and SPHP rested here, enjoying the scene and simply being together in the warm sunshine.
After a pleasant half hour on Friendshuh Mountain, the time came to think about beginning the return trip to the G6. Before leaving the mountain, Lupe returned briefly to the area near the summit cairn.
Lupe was fine going down the forested N slope of Friendshuh Mountain on her own. However, when SPHP wanted to cut directly across the open land back to the road leading to the gates near the dinosaur track, it was a different story.
Carolina Dogs have no fear of dinosaurs, but cacti are another matter. SPHP had to carry Lupe all the way down to the road. Even then, she wasn’t thrilled about being put down again.
Since it was a little later in the day, SPHP wanted to return to the odd flat rock and the dinosaur track. The sun would be lighting up more of the dino track now. Loopster was dubious about wisdom of leaving the road, even for such a short distance. When she managed to trot over to the dino track without incident, she cheered up.
From the odd flat rock and the dinosaur track, it was about 4.0 miles back to the G6 in Hot Springs. Lupe got to follow the road back the entire way, retracing her earlier route to Friendshuh Mountain.
When Lupe got to the forest on the W side of Dudley Canyon again, she forgot all about cactus when she saw a squirrel. She dashed off into the forest without a moment’s hesitation. From then on, she left the road to roam through the forest whenever she felt like it. Although there were still a few cacti scattered around, she didn’t step on any and had a great time.
Since the side trip up to the top of Battle Mountain (4,434 ft.) was so short, Lupe returned to the summit again when she got back to Battle Mountain Road.
Wow, it was 62°F out when Lupe reached the G6 (4:08 PM)! What a fabulous, warm, bright day it had been for February! Despite repeated cactus concerns, overall Expedition No. 192 had been a fun time with several more peakbagging successes for the Looper.
On the way home, Lupe got a ride in the G6 through beautiful Wind Cave National Park. She did see a few buffalo roaming, but not a single dinosaur. Dinosaurs just aren’t that common any more, even way out here in the remote Black Hills of western South Dakota.
Trailhead Directions:
Maverick Mountain – The parking lot for the Romney GPA serves as the trailhead. From Maverick Junction (intersection of Hwys 18, 79 & 385 about 5 miles E of Hot Springs, SD), go 0.7 mile W on Hwy 18/385. Turn S (L) on Scenic Road immediately after crossing Fall River. Follow Scenic Road 1 mile S to the Romney GPA parking lot on the R (W).
Battle & Friendshuh Mountains – A few blocks E of Evans Plunge in Hot Springs, SD, Hwy 385 turns N on its way to Wind Cave National Park. Take Thompson Avenue E (R) just N of the turn. A couple of blocks to the E, Thompson Avenue feeds straight into Battle Mountain Road (also known as Skyline Road), which goes 1.2 miles to the summit of Battle Mountain. Another 2.5 miles on the unsigned Battle Mountain GPA access road leads to the parking area at the bullet hole riddled map about 0.5 mile NW (as the crow flies) of Friendshuh Mountain.
Links:
Next Black Hills Expedition Prior Black Hills Expedition
Maverick Mountain on SummitPost.org
Friendshuh Mountain on SummitPost.org
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