Of course! But, really? Do you mean it? You’re not just pulling my curly Dingo tail? Lupe was incredulous. SPHP had just asked if she wanted to go up into the mountains? Half the day was almost shot already. Until a moment ago, SPHP hadn’t shown the least inclination to go anywhere. Loop was mentally prepared for another idle day lounging about the house.
SPHP sprang into action. To the Carolina Dog’s utter amazement and joy, suddenly preparations were underway! The reason? A neighbor had casually mentioned winds gusting to 70 mph tomorrow. Lupe was supposed to go on one of her Black Hills expeditions tomorrow, not today, but SPHP had quickly checked the forecast. It said more like 30 mph winds with occasional stronger gusts. Not nearly as dramatic, but combined with temperatures in the low 40’s, no picnic either.
Today was an unseasonably warm 65°F with a gentle breeze. Given the circumstances, waiting until tomorrow was nuts. As late as it was, there wasn’t time to go clear down to the southern Black Hills to continue Lupe’s adventures there. That would have to wait for another day. However, there was still time for some kind of an expedition closer to home.
Ever ready for adventure, Lupe was soon leaping out of the G6. She found herself at the intersection of Old Hill City Road and USFS Road No. 357 (1:06 PM, 57°F).
Lupe began by heading SW on No. 357. A big pasture, part of a private ranch, was right next to the road. Lupe’s first peakbagging objective was all on Black Hills National Forest land, however, so she wouldn’t have any access issues. Summit Peak (5,655 ft.) was less than a mile from the G6. Soon Lupe was leaving the road to start her climb.
In an open forest thinned by logging operations, Lupe came to a spiffy rock outcropping before she had even gained much elevation. She hopped up on the rocks and struck a happy American Dingo explorer pose. Who knew what the top of Summit Peak might be like? From a distance, the mountain was heavily forested. There might not be anything to look at up there except trees. At least this rock formation looked good in a photo.
Lupe continued upward. She quickly came to another, higher road. This grassy road was apparently seldom used. Instead of charging right up the N slope of Summit Peak, Lupe followed the grassy road. She gained elevation gradually as the road went SW along the NW flank of the mountain.
When the grassy road seemed to be getting close to topping out, Lupe left it to start climbing directly up a heavily forested hillside. She arrived up on a saddle between rock formations. A rusty barbed wire fence ran along the ridgeline, a hazard for Lupe and an unwelcome sight. SPHP made certain she stayed away from it.
The topo map showed the true summit of Summit Peak at the SW end of the mountain, but Lupe was much closer to the NE end now. Another high point was supposed to be to the NE, so Lupe explored that direction first. The rock formation on the ridgeline was much larger and more rugged than it initially appeared. Before long, Lupe was forced to make a choice on how best to try to reach the NE end of the mountain.
Lupe got off the rocks to continue NE along the SE side of the formation. She soon found herself below a solid wall of rock, but had no problem continuing NE along its base. She was gaining elevation along the way, but so was the wall of rock. After going hundreds of feet, it became clear that she was nearing the far NE end of the ridge.
Fortunately, gaps in the rock wall provided the Carolina Dog a relatively easy way to scramble to the top.
The rocks at the very NE end weren’t the absolute highest. A couple of massive rocks only 20 or 30 feet farther SW were clearly the high point. These rocks were too large for Lupe to get up on them from this direction.
The only hope for Lupe to climb onto the highest rocks was if there was a route up from the SW. To find out, she went down a narrow gap right next to them. Small bushes grew thickly in the gap, but Lupe had no problem getting through.
The wall of rock was too high for Lupe to climb by herself, but she found a spot where it was possible for SPHP to scramble up. Lupe waited anxiously below while SPHP scouted around above. She didn’t like being left behind, especially when SPHP disappeared from view.
Yes, there was a way up to the highest rocks along the SE side of the rock formation! SPHP came back to tell Lupe the good news. She was mostly relieved that she hadn’t been abandoned. SPHP scrambled down, then lifted Lupe up, giving her the boost she needed to get on the rock wall. SPHP then climbed back up to join her.
The route to the top was short. To get up on the very highest rocks Lupe needed another boost, but with SPHP’s help she made it! A look back to the SW convinced SPHP that Lupe was now on the true summit of Summit Peak (5,655 ft.). The topo map showing the true summit at the opposite SW end of the mountain was wrong. SPHP would have bet money on it!
SPHP was surprised at the size and length of the rock formations on Summit Peak. Lupe had some terrific views! When she was ready to get down, SPHP helped her off the true summit. While she explored among rocks nearly as high nearby, SPHP took pictures.
After enjoying the impressive views from the summit area, Lupe and SPHP left by the same route Lupe had come up. Loop was willing to leap off the rock wall, but SPHP helped the Carolina Dog so she wouldn’t risk joint damage.
Lupe headed SW exploring the NW side of the rock wall along the ridgeline. The rocks were even more impressive over here than on the SE side she had investigated earlier.
Once beyond the long rock wall, Lupe continued SW along the ridgeline. SPHP was convinced she had already been to the true summit, but she was going to see what the official summit according to the topo map was like. Was there any chance it actually was higher?
Lupe had to dodge the rusty barbed wire fence a couple of times again. SPHP wondered for the 10 millionth time, why it was so common to find barbed wire fences so incredibly high up on rugged mountains and ridges in the Black Hills? These hazardous fences were useless and silly. They always had been. No cow or horse would ever attempt this kind of terrain of its own free will!
As Lupe continued SW, she came to more high points. Near the first big one was a very odd rock formation. The rocks formed a large square surrounding a depression full of boulders, branches and pine needles. Strange! SPHP decided to name this formation Box O’ Rocks.
Lupe had lost quite a bit of elevation coming down from the NE, but she eventually regained a fair amount of it. After a fairly big climb, she arrived at a high point SPHP suspected might be the location of the (erroneous) true summit shown on the topo map.
Trees made it hard to see much in most directions, but the nice flat rock at the top did offer lovely, clear views to the N and NW. Lupe had a great look at both Bishop and Ford mountains, her next peakbagging objectives.
Lupe had to retreat off this possible SW summit going back down toward the NE. She then circled around the SE side of the ridgeline to continue SW. She went some distance before finding an easy way over to the NW side of the ridge. SPHP was again surprised at the size of some of the rock formations that continued SW from here.
When Lupe made it over to the NW side of the ridge, she started working her way down the mountain. Looking back up, SPHP began to have doubts if Lupe had actually been to the true SW high point. Maybe one of those towering rocks was actually it?
Lupe continued on down for 10 minutes while SPHP dithered. Finally, SPHP decided Lupe had better go back up to check it out. It’s a good thing American Dingoes have a lot of patience and a forgiving nature. Lupe didn’t complain in the least about having to return to the ridge. She didn’t bite SPHP even once.
SPHP wasn’t even certain Lupe could make it to the top of the towering rocks, but investigation revealed a surprisingly easy route. Lupe was soon perched at the highest point. She was maybe a couple hundred yards SW of the last high point she’d been at. SPHP could sort of see the other high point between the trees, but not clearly. This final spot seemed to be about as high.
From here, Lupe had some fabulous views. She could also clearly see there weren’t any higher points farther SW along the ridge.
SPHP was now completely satisfied that Lupe had been to every possible location of the true summit on Summit Peak. So much time had been spent on the mountain, it was doubtful Lupe had time to climb any others. Maybe she could still try to make it up Bishop Mountain (5,706 ft.)?
Lupe went back down to the NW side of the ridge. She resumed following the ridgeline SW, but was losing elevation steadily. Large rock formations continued much farther than SPHP expected, but there was no need to climb any of these rocks. None were as high as where Lupe had already been. When she finally reached the end of the rock formations, Lupe turned NW descending as quickly as possible.
Bishop Mountain was less than 2 miles NW, but Lupe first had to detour nearly a mile to the WSW to get around private property. She was now making rapid progress, but SPHP had made her dilly-dally a long time up on Summit Peak. By the time she was approaching Bishop Mountain, it was clear she wouldn’t have any time to waste here.
Lupe started up Bishop Mountain. At first her course aimed between two high points midway up, but she eventually drifted over to the E to reach the S ridgeline. As soon as she was on the ridge, she came to big rock formations. Due to the forest, good viewpoints were rare, but Lupe came to a few along the way.
The higher Lupe went, the more rock formations she encountered. However, they did not form continuous walls like on Summit Peak. Lupe could wind around among them easily enough while working her way higher. Loopster was quite high on the mountain, but not at the summit yet, when she saw the golden glow in the W. The sun had already set.
The sky had been almost totally overcast for a while. Lupe hadn’t seen sunshine since leaving Summit Peak. However, there must have been a small break in the clouds. Off to the S, suddenly Elkhorn Mountain and Black Elk Peak were aglow in the final rays of sunlight on those higher peaks.
With light fading fast, Lupe pressed on looking for the true summit of Bishop Mountain. The top of the mountain was a fairly big area dotted with large rock outcroppings. The farther N Lupe went, the higher the rock formations were. She’d made it quite a long way N when one rock formation appeared higher than all the others so far.
Looper scrambled to the top.
The true summit of Bishop Mountain proved to be a less dramatic place. Only a little farther, way at the N end of the mountain, Lupe came to a modestly sloping area with a couple of minor high points so nearly equal in elevation that either might have been the true summit. She also discovered 3 cement pillars. The pillars were likely part of the foundation of some former structure, though they looked almost new.
It was already so dark out when Lupe arrived, even the highly light sensitive camera lens had a hard time producing a clear image.
With darkness growing by the minute, it was time to get off the mountain. The G6 was less than 1.5 miles to the E, so the return trip seemed like an easy, done deal. SPHP became careless about the route Lupe would take back. Down, down the mountain she went, but SPHP missed the saddle between the two high points to the S.
Suddenly there were houses ahead. Somehow Lupe was on private property instead of USFS land. What had happened? The realization grew that SPHP had taken Lupe in totally the wrong direction. The best guess was that she was now somewhere SW of Bishop Mountain. In the dark with an overcast sky, it was hard to know exactly where she might be, or what direction she was headed.
So the wandering began. Back up away from the homes, then up and down over ridge after ridge. Lupe came to lots of little dirt roads in the forest, but none had any signage. In the darkness, the mountains loomed much higher than seemed possible. How much elevation had Lupe lost? Nothing was familiar. Peachy.
Lupe was still having fun! She loved prowling around in the night. Fortunately she stuck close to SPHP. On and on. SPHP thought Lupe was now heading mostly N or E, but wasn’t sure.
Finally, the Carolina Dog came to a big power line up on a hill. The USFS map showed a power line going NE/SW about a mile E of Hill City. A few stars were now out, so it was possible to be more certain which way Lupe was going. She followed the power line NE. At least it went straight, although the route was still up and down.
Lupe eventually left the rugged power line route. She wound up in Hill City! She had been considerably farther S than SPHP believed. The poor American Dingo had to traipse the entire boring length of the town to get back to Old Hill City Road. Sadly, it was Sunday, so the Alpine Inn was closed. If it had been open, Lupe have been delighted to stop in for a delicious filet Mignon steak.
Still two miles to the G6! Funny how things work out. Clouds dissipated from the night sky. Stars and a half moon lit the way through the quiet countryside. Lupe trotted along alertly checking fields for signs of deer or wild animals. Truth was, the happy Carolina Dog may have been a little sad when her beautiful moonlit stroll and Expedition No. 194 came to an end. (9:21 PM, 37°F)
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