Lupe – Page 209 – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

Sheep Mountain, Kluane National Park, Yukon Territory, Canada (8-13-17)

Day 14 of Lupe’s 2017 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon & Alaska!

Yesterday evening, after a couple of peakbagging adventures on overcast days, Lupe and SPHP had driven N out of Haines, Alaska back into Yukon Territory looking for sunnier skies. By nightfall Loop had made it as far as Dezadeash Lake. Although there were patches of blue sky this morning, clouds still prevailed. Before continuing N, the Carolina Dog spent a few minutes stretching and sniffing around.

Morning began with a view of **Dezadeash Lake**. Photo looks NNE.

A mountain on the E side of **Dezadeash Lake** wears a cap of cloud like a powdered white wig. All the rage only a quarter of a millennia ago, but what’s that to a mountain? Though clouds were prevalent this morning, encouraging patches of blue sky were also present. Photo looks ESE.

**Dezadeash Lake** is quite large, but shallow. Pink wildflowers add a splash of color to the scene. Photo looks NE.

After a short morning romp, Lupe and SPHP proceeded N on Haines Highway No. 7 to the Alaska Highway at Haines Junction. Although Dezadeash Lake was big, Lupe’s next stop farther N along the Alaska Highway was at a much larger lake, beautiful Kluane Lake E of Kluane National Park & Reserve.

Lupe arrives at the S end of beautiful, huge **Kluane Lake**. Only the far SW end of the lake is in view here. Photo looks W.

Lupe had been to Kluane Lake on her 2016 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies, Yukon & Alaska, too. A big gravel parking lot at the S end of Kluane Lake right off the Alaska Highway was a favorite spot. Lupe could see her next peakbagging goal, Sheep Mountain (6,400 ft.), right across the bay.

**Sheep Mountain** from the S end of **Kluane Lake**. The high point straight up from Lupe’s head is **Mount Wallace (7,700 ft.)** (R). The summit of **Sheep Mountain** is the next highest point seen a little to the L of Lupe. Photo looks NW.

The Sheep Creek trail providing access to Sheep Mountain was closed due to grizzly bear activity, when Lupe had been here in 2016. SPHP stopped by the Tachal Dahl visitor center to check on the status today. The American Dingo was in luck! Not only was the Sheep Creek trail open, but park personnel were recommending it.

SPHP returned to the G6 with the good news that Loopster had a green light on Sheep Mountain. The Slims West trailhead was nearby, only a short drive W from the Alaska Highway along the base of the mountain. Soon Loop and SPHP were leaving the trailhead parking area heading SW on the Slims River West trail. (10:45 AM, 60°F)

**Sheep Mountain** from the Slims River West trailhead. The trailhead is a few minutes drive W off the Alaska Highway on a good gravel road. Photo looks N.

The Slims River West trail begins as an easy stroll along an abandoned roadbed. In 10 minutes, Lupe reached a turn NW onto the Sheep Creek trail. A map was posted nearby, in addition to a plaque commemorating a hiker killed by a grizzly in July, 1996.

The Sheep Creek trail is officially only 5 km long, but a perfectly good unofficial route continues on up to the Sheep Mountain ridgeline.

The Sheep Creek trail headed NW into a forest. The trail was very wide and well worn. Lupe was soon climbing steadily. Although clouds were floating this way out of the SW, the drive N had been successful in finding sunshine at Kluane Lake. Uphill exertion made it feel plenty warm out. Squirrels provided occasional excitement and reason for happy Dingo barkfests.

A fine powdery dust covered the whole Sheep Creek trail. Puffs of dust poofed up with each pawstep, as though Looper were traveling through a desert. The trail might be named after Sheep Creek, but there was absolutely no water. Loop seldom saw or even heard Sheep Creek, which was soon hundreds of feet lower in a canyon to the SW. Lupe would have been better off as an Arabian Dingo, storing water in a hump on her back. Fortunately, as long as SPHP was around packing in a water supply, Lupe wouldn’t have to change her nationality.

The Sheep Creek trail was an uphill trudge, devoid of views until Lupe was getting close to the 2 km mark. She could now see SSW up the Slims River valley. And oh yeah, there was Sheep Creek, way the heck down there!

After a dusty 2 km climb on the Sheep Creek trail, Lupe finally comes to a point where she has a view of the **Slim River valley**. Photo looks SSW.

About the first and only good look at the not terribly convenient **Sheep Creek** (Center) from the Sheep Creek trail. **Sheep Creek** flows into the much larger **Slims River** seen in the broader valley below. Photo looks S.

The trail seldom stopped climbing, though some stretches were steeper than others, as Lupe journeyed onward. She was still in forest most of the time, but it was starting to thin out. Viewpoints were becoming more frequent. Of course, the higher the Carolina Dog went, the better the views were getting.

Looking SSW up the **Slims River valley** from a bit higher up.

Looking up the **Sheep Creek valley**. A different trail goes up the big ridge on the other side of the valley to the **Bullion Plateau**. Lupe hasn’t ever done any exploring over there yet. Photo looks NW.

Lupe passed signs marking the 2 km and 3.8 km points along the trail. Beyond the 3.8 km marker, the Sheep Creek trail narrowed down to a good single track. Trees became scarce. The mountainside was now covered in bushes.

The last trail marker came at the 5 km point. This was the official end of the Sheep Creek trail. From here, Lupe could see all the way S up the Slims River valley to the toe of the Kaskawulsh Glacier. The glacier was so far away, it was difficult to be certain Lupe was really seeing it. Only by using the telephoto lens on the camera was it possible to tell for sure. Binoculars would have been a tremendous help.

Looper at the 5 km marker, the official end of the Sheep Creek trail. Photo looks NW toward the **Bullion Plateau** area.

From the official end of the Sheep Creek trail, Lupe could see the toe of the mighty **Kaskawulsh Glacier** (L). Photo looks S up the **Slims River valley** with lots of help from the telephoto lens.

Looking NNE over the **Fortyeight Pup Creek** drainage (coming down from the R).

Although Lupe had reached the official end of the Sheep Creek trail, she had a lot farther to go, if she wanted to climb Sheep Mountain. The long NW ridge coming down from the SW end of the mountain was in view from here. This ridge is on the S side of the Fortyeight Pup Creek drainage. Lupe would have to climb it.

The ridge on the L leads up to the SW end of **Sheep Mountain**. Climbing it was Lupe’s next task. Photo looks E.

From the end of the Sheep Creek trail, an unmaintained “Ridge” trail continues E around the N side of a hill covered with bushes. As Lupe rounded the hill, she could see that this trail really was going to take her to the start of the ridge she needed to climb.

Lupe on the Ridge trail going around the N side of a brushy hill. Ahead on the R is the start of the long ridge she needs to climb. The **Fortyeight Pup Creek** drainage is on the L. The high point in the distance is the summit of **Sheep Mountain**. Photo looks ENE.

The climb up the NW ridge leading to the SW end of Sheep Mountain was long, but not difficult. The steepest part was at the beginning. The Ridge trail helped make the ascent easier, and wasn’t hard to follow. It was just a matter of having sufficient heart, leg and lung power to keep going. As usual, Lupe had plenty of all three, while SPHP lagged behind.

Despite SPHP’s frequent stops to catch breath, Lupe was making good progress up the ridge. She soon had a beautiful view of Red Castle Ridge back toward the Bullion Plateau area. Loop could also see the summit of Sheep Mountain beyond the end of the Fortyeight Pup Creek drainage, though SPHP didn’t recognize as such yet.

**Red Castle Ridge** in the **Bullion Plateau** area as seen on the way up the Ridge trail to the SW end of **Sheep Mountain**. Photo looks NW.

Going up the NW ridge, Lupe was quickly above even bush line. Only low alpine plants remained. The Carolina Dog would have to follow the Ridge trail 2.5 km from the end of the Sheep Creek trail to reach the first high point at the SW end of Sheep Mountain’s main ridge. Photo looks SE.

Looking up the **Fortyeight Pup Creek** drainage. SPHP didn’t recognize it yet, but the summit of **Sheep Mountain** is at Center. The more distant high point on the L is **High Point 6378** (1,944 m), also part of the Sheep Mountain main ridge, but not quite as high. Photo looks E.

Lupe loved being in the alpine on the big open ridge! None of it was the least bit scary. No large rock formations, boulders, scree or talus fields appeared. No cliffs or steep drop offs existed. The ridge was always plenty wide. The only mildly discouraging factor was a series of false summits, but they couldn’t go on forever.

Clouds sailed overhead out of the SW. Sometimes it was windy; most of the time it wasn’t. From the end of the Sheep Creek trail up to the first viewpoint from the SW end of Sheep Mountain’s main ridge, the Ridge trail was 2.5 km long. Of course, Loop had amazing views all the way up the barren ridge, too.

Lupe loved being up on the big, smooth alpine ridge. Nothing scary, but the wind blew sometimes, and she came to a series of false summits. Photo looks ESE.

As Lupe climbed, the view of **Red Castle Ridge** kept improving. Photo looks NW with help from the telephoto lens.

Looking up the **Slims River valley**. The weather was looking more iffy as the day wore on. Clouds were starting to take over. Photo looks S.

Same view with a little more help from the telephoto lens. Photo looks S.

Beyond the last of the false summits, the already broad ridge widened out even more. Only very short sparse vegetation existed up here. The Ridge trail all but disappeared, but there was never any question on which way to go.

End of the climb ahead! Photo looks ESE.

Finally the trek up the long ridge was over. Lupe reached the high point at the far SW end of Sheep Mountain. Here there was need for a little caution and presence of mind. Tremendous cliffs existed all along the SE edge of the mountain.

The views were incredible! For the first time, Lupe could see the entire length of the Slim River valley all the way from mountains beyond the toe of the Kaskawulsh glacier clear down to the Alaska Highway and Kluane Lake.

At the high point at the far SW end of Sheep Mountain’s long main ridge, Lupe stands a few feet from SE facing cliffs with a view all the way up the **Slims River valley** to the toe of the **Kaskawulsh Glacier** and beyond. Photo looks S.

Lupe has her first view of beautiful **Kluane Lake** from up on **Sheep Mountain**. Photo looks E.

Looking down on the mouth of the **Slims River** where it empties into **Kluane Lake**. Photo looks SE.

The Alaska Highway sweeps around the SW end of **Kluane Lake** crossing the **Slims River delta**, Photo looks SE with help from the telephoto lens.

Lupe could now see much of **upper Sheep Creek valley** with **Red Castle Ridge** beyond it. Photo looks NW.

Another look at **Red Castle Ridge** with more help from the telephoto lens. **Upper Sheep Creek valley** is in the foreground. Photo looks NW.

Stupendous snow-capped peaks were off to the WSW. SPHP’s maps showed no names for them.

Lupe and SPHP were taking a break on the high point at the SW end of Sheep Mountain, when suddenly there were voices. A couple appeared coming up the Ridge trail. They turned out to be from Whitehorse, and had a rangefinder with them. They quickly spotted several herds of Dahl sheep grazing on a mountainside beyond the Fortyeight Pup Creek drainage. The sheep were so far away, Lupe hadn’t even noticed them.

SPHP chatted with the couple from Whitehorse. Loopster relaxed and enjoyed being petted. This viewpoint was as far as the couple intended to go. They had no interest in continuing on to the true summit. By the time they started back down, more than 30 minutes had shot by.

Lupe had better get going! The true summit was still some distance away. Although it wasn’t much higher than where Loop was now, she would have to lose then regain a fair amount of elevation to get there.

*“Lupe had better get going?” Sheesh, SPHP, you’re the one chit-chatting the day away up here! Come on!* The true summit of **Sheep Mountain** is at the L (N) end of the short ridge seen ahead on the L. Photo looks NE.

Looking down the SE face of **Sheep Mountain** from the SW high point before departing for the true summit. The Tachal Dahl visitor center parking lot is seen close to the near curve of the Alaska Highway. Photo looks ESE.

Looper sets off for Sheep Mountain’s true summit from the SW high point. She had to lose a fair amount of elevation right away. The views of **Kluane Lake** along the entire main ridge were spectacular!

A slightly different perspective on the **Slims River valley**. Photo looks S.

The first elevation drop leaving the high point at the SW end of Sheep Mountain was by far the biggest. Lupe subsequently came to a number of other high points and smaller drops along the way, too. However, the trek along Sheep Mountain’s main ridgeline was a dream, such a treat! The views of Kluane Lake were simply stupendous!

Lupe at an impressive little high point along Sheep Mountain’s main ridge after the initial big elevation drop. Photo looks E.

*It’s a precipitous drop, SPHP. If you want to come up here and get any closer to the edge for a photo, be my guest!*

Still a ways to go. The true summit is in sight way beyond Lupe. Photo looks NE.

As Lupe proceeded NE along the ridgeline, she now began noticing herds of Dahl sheep. That really perked the Carolina Dog up. She was keenly interested in sheep! The Dahl sheep were grazing in alpine meadows on both sides of Sheep Mountain (6,400 ft.), but all were far, far below Looper’s lofty position up on the main ridge. None of the sheep had the slightest idea that such a ferocious predator as an American Dingo was eyeing them greedily from above. Eh, they were so far away, they had no cause for alarm.

Lupe finally reached the highest ridge toward the NE end of Sheep Mountain where the true summit is located. More than 50 minutes had gone by since she’d left the SW high point. The true summit was now an easy stroll to the N. Loopster could already see more of Kluane Lake, and also had a great view of High Point 6378 (1944 m on the topo map).

Lupe reaches the high ridge where the true summit of **Sheep Mountain** is located. She could now see **High Point 6378** (1944 m) (Center) and more of **Kluane Lake**. Photo looks NE.

**Sheep Mountain** is fun! Such tremendous views! And Dahl sheep! Don’t forget the fascinating Dahl sheep! Photo looks SSE with help from the telephoto lens.

**Mount Decoeli (7,650 ft.)** is seen at Center in the distance. Unfortunately, the summit is hidden by clouds. **Decoeli** is another fantastic peak in **Kluane National Park**! Lupe climbed **Decoeli** in 2016. Photo looks SE.

The true summit of Sheep Mountain (6,400 ft.) was at the N end of the summit ridge. Lupe trotted on over to claim her peakbagging success! For a mountain with over 4,000 feet of elevation gain (including some of the extra elevation regained traipsing along the main ridgeline) Sheep Mountain had been easy, super fun, and a visual treasure.

Lupe at the true summit of **Sheep Mountain**. Slightly lower **High Point 6378** (1944 m) is dead ahead with **Kluane Lake** beyond. Photo looks NE.

*Oh, there’s always something bigger and better, isn’t there?* Lupe at the true summit of **Sheep Mountain** with **Mount Wallace (7,700 ft.)** soaring higher on the L. Photo looks N.

*And there you have it! This is Lupe, the peakbagging American Dingo, reporting from high atop fabulous **Sheep Mountain** in **Kluane National Park & Reserve** in SW **Yukon Territory**!* Photo looks N.

**Mount Wallace** (L) from the true summit of **Sheep Mountain**. Photo looks N with help from the telephoto lens.

Lupe spent half an hour at the top of Sheep Mountain. SPHP passed the time gazing upon the glorious 360° views, while Loop concentrated on monitoring the tiny white specks far below that were herds of Dahl sheep. Sheep Mountain had something for everyone!

Looking back along Sheep Mountain’s long main ridge. The high point at the far SW end that Lupe had come from is on the R. Photo looks SSW.

Looking down the **Fortyeight Pup Creek** drainage. The S end of **Red Castle Ridge** is on the R. Photo looks W.

Zoomed in on a distant mighty snow and ice clad peak. Photo looks W.

Looking E. The S end of **Kluane Lake** is more than 3,800 feet below. There’s actually a much steeper, shorter, alternate route up **Sheep Mountain** from this direction than the way Lupe took.

A big glacier is seen on the R. It is at the upper end of a large side valley on the far side of the Slims River valley. Somewhere in the clouds to the L of the glacier is **Vulcan Mountain**. Photo looks S with lots of help from the telephoto lens.

**Mount Wallace (7,700 ft.)** and **Kluane Lake**. Photo looks N.

Dahl Sheep, objects of endless fascination for Lupe! None of the sheep were ever aware Loop was even around, but they provided her a great deal of entertainment. Photo looks down with lots of help from the telephoto lens.

Loopster’s ear on the R points straight up at distant **Mount Decoeli (7,650 ft.)**. Unfortunately, Decoeli never escaped the clouds while Looper was on Sheep Mountain, so she never got a clear view of it. Photo looks SE.

The American Dingo and SPHP would gladly have stayed up on Sheep Mountain much longer, but the weather was beginning to deteriorate. Blue sky was disappearing. An endless procession of gray clouds was steadily approaching from the direction of the Slim River valley.

Probably best to be moving on. Sad, but true.

Sunshine was disappearing. An endless procession of gray clouds was advancing on **Sheep Mountain** from the direction of the **Slim River valley**. Sadly, it was time to go. Photo looks S.

Lupe wasn’t eager to be torn away from watching Dahl sheep, but she would see more of them on the trek back along the main ridgeline to the SW high point. Before setting out, Looper took one more look down on the Slims River valley and Kluane Lake from the S end of the summit ridge.

A last look at the **Slim River valley** from the S end of the **Sheep Mountain** summit ridge. Photo looks S.

A final look down on **Kluane Lake** from the S end of the summit ridge. Photo looks SE.

Starting back. The high point at the SW end of the **Sheep Mountain** main ridge is in the distance on the L. Photo looks SW.

While still on the main ridge, a rain shower hit. Fortunately, it didn’t rain hard, and didn’t last long. Lupe and SPHP pressed on. More rain showers were threatening. However, Lupe did stop briefly when she reached Sheep Mountain’s SW high point again.

Yikes! Looking down Sheep Mountain’s SE face.

Loopster back at the SW high point. Rain was threatening again, but never did hit. Photo looks S.

Looking S up the **Slim River valley** from **Sheep Mountain** before heading down.

A final look at the toe of the **Kaskawulsh Glacier**. Photo looks S with lots of help from the telephoto lens.

Rain threatened again, but never did catch up with Lupe. On the way down the long NW ridge from the SW high point, Looper had a blast! It was windy out, and the breeze made her half wild. She ran all over the place sniffing and exploring.

Back on the Sheep Creek trail, the fun continued when the Carolina Dog found squirrels to bark at in the trees. Many times she showed off how fast she was for SPHP, racing up and down the dusty trail kicking up clouds of dust as if she were the Roadrunner. SPHP praised her for her boundless energy and great enthusiasm.

And that was it. Lupe’s marvelous Sheep Mountain adventure was over. (8:32 PM, 59°F) Evening found her at the S end of Kluane Lake.

At the S end of **Kluane Lake** at the end of the day. **Mount Wallace** is on the L. Photo looks N.

Of course, Sheep Mountain was in view right across the bay. Sheep Mountain had been a great adventure, a superb day! Only a few hours ago, Lupe had been up there, way up at the top.

Only a light breeze blew down here. Kluane Lake was a gently rippling inland sea. Everything was blue and white and silver and gray. A dark blue procession of seldom visited, mysterious peaks marched endlessly N, far beyond Kluane Lake, forever on their way to the Arctic.

Tomorrow Lupe would be on her way there, too.

Kluane Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada 8-13-17

Kluane Lake & Shepherd’s Knoll in the Slims River Valley, Kluane National Park, Yukon Territory, Canada (8-8-16)

Decoeli, Kluane National Park, Yukon Territory, Canada (8-9-16)

Want more Lupe adventures? Choose from Lupe’s 2017 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon & Alaska Adventure Index, Dingo Vacations Adventure Index or Master Adventure Index. Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 232 – Flag Mountain & the Dragon Caves with Cousin Dusty & Uncle Joe (5-26-18)

Bright and early Lupe was all corked up. The lucky American Dingo’s enthusiasm soared higher yet when she realized another outing with Cousin Dusty and Uncle Joe was in the works. Flag Mountain (6,937 ft.) along the E edge of the western Black Hills limestone plateau country was today’s destination.

By 9:00 AM, Joe was parking the G6 at the start of a spur road off USFS Road No. 189. The spur road gains nearly 400 feet of elevation in a little less than a mile before ending near the summit of Flag Mountain. Lupe and Dusty could get a good romp in on the way to the top while Joe and SPHP chatted.

**Nipple Butte (6,800 ft.)** from the spur road leading up Flag Mountain. Photo looks S.

The trek up the spur road went by quickly. Before long the end was in sight. Leading the way, Dusty and Joe followed an old rock stairway to the top of Flag Mountain.

Approaching the end of the spur road. Photo looks NE.

A short flight of stairs at the end of the road winds up to the summit.

Dusty and Joe on top of **Flag Mountain**. Photo looks W.

This was Lupe’s 6th ascent, but Dusty & Joe had never been to Flag Mountain before.

Flag Mountain (6,937 ft.) used to sport a fire lookout tower at the E end of the summit ridge. Part of the old rock foundation wall still exists. Lupe got up on the wall for a look around. Off to the W, the limestone plateau country was about as high as Flag Mountain, but the views to the N, E and S were fabulous.

Loop up on the old lookout tower foundation. The ridge on the L is **Peak 6962**. The more distant ridge beyond Lupe is **White Tail Peak (6,962 ft.)**. **Terry Peak (7,064 ft.)** is even farther away at far R. Photo looks N.

Looking S now. **Castle Rock (6,783 ft.)**, **South Castle Rock (6,840 ft.)** and **Nipple Butte (6,800 ft.)** appear clustered together on the L.

No one else was around when Dusty, Joe, Lupe and SPHP first arrived, but that didn’t last long at all. This was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Within a few minutes the roar of engines could be heard. ATV’s appeared. People started coming and going. Dusty, Joe, Lupe and SPHP moved to the W end of the summit ridge to let others enjoy the views from the lookout point at the E end.

While a steady stream of people came and went, Joe began setting up his portable Ham radio. A small pine tree provided good support for a 16.5 foot long antenna.

The Flag survey benchmark is located on the limestone summit ridge W of the old fire lookout tower foundation.

Numerous ATV’s came and went. Several are seen below at the end of the spur road. Parts of Deerfield Reservoir are in sight beyond **Reynolds Prairie**. Photo looks SSE.

The original plan had been for Joe to “activate” Flag Mountain using the Summits on the Air (SOTA) website. On prior trips to the Black Hills, Joe had activated Custer Peak, Boulder Hill and Silver Mountain. Joe had gotten a huge, essentially overwhelming response each time. Summits on the Air had been a blast!

Unfortunately, when Joe tried to schedule an activation alert for Flag Mountain on the SOTA website yesterday evening, there no longer seemed to be a way to do it. Something had changed. Despite best efforts, neither Joe nor SPHP could figure out the problem. The system now seemed to require a second password and wouldn’t take anything Joe submitted. Phooey!

Summits on the Air or not, Joe was planning on transmitting Morse Code from Flag Mountain. Of course, without an activation alert scheduled, whether anyone would pick it up was uncertain. Another potential problem was that the 11 year sunspot cycle is at its low point during 2018. Conditions for transmitting radio waves tend to be poor.

Joe getting ready to transmit from **Flag Mountain** with American Dingo Lupe standing by ready for action! Photo looks NE.

A small pine tree provided support for a 16.5 foot antenna. The setup also included 4 lateral wires running out from the center.

Dusty relaxed in the shade of the pine tree supporting the antenna. Lupe, however, stayed on alert near Joe. She knew how this worked. Her job was to bark a warning if anyone showed up and started getting too close to the thin lateral wires strung out from the antenna.

Lupe on the alert for intruders. Her job was to bark if anyone else showed up and got too close to any of the wires.

So he could hear better and wouldn’t get too many questions about what was going on, Joe waited until a quiet period when all the people and ATV’s had left before beginning to transmit.

Right away Joe had good news! Some sort of amateur radio contest was going on. Hundreds of people were on the airwaves! And despite the unfavorable sunspot cycle, the atmospheric conditions were excellent. Joe stayed busy making contacts from around the nation. He could even hear stronger stations in Europe and South America.

Joe & Lupe broadcasting live from Flag Mountain!

Despite not being able to set up a Summits on the Air alert this time, Joe stayed plenty busy making successful contacts with other Ham radio operators. Photo looks N toward **White Tail Peak**.

After a good half hour of Ham radio fun, Joe was satisfied. Time to pack it all up, and think about heading back down the mountain.

Joe and lateral wire defender, Lupe, after the Ham radio fun was over. Defending the wires had been a cinch. No one had come along to threaten them. Photo looks ENE.

Lupe, Joe & Dusty ready to depart. Photo looks E.

On the way back to the G6, there was some discussion about possibly climbing nearby Nipple Butte (6,800), too. However, the day was warm beneath a cloudless sky. Cooler activities sounded like more fun. Joe drove while SPHP gave directions on how to get to the Dragon Caves.

About 3 miles SW of Deerfield Reservoir on USFS Road No. 291 is a turn to the W onto a bridge over Ditch Creek. This is the start of USFS Road No. 385. Immediately past the bridge a dusty side road goes straight on up a little hill. The Dragon Caves are right around a bend to the R (N).

Apparently the Dragon Caves are no great secret. Hordes of ATV’s were coming down the hill when Dusty, Joe, Lupe and SPHP arrived. While the dust they stirred up settled, Dusty and Lupe gladly took advantage of this opportunity to cool off in Ditch Creek.

Lupe in Ditch Creek. Cooling off in the creek was way better than a hot climb up another mountain.

Dusty takes a turn in **Ditch Creek**, too.

When the last of the ATV’s left, everyone headed up to the Dragon Caves. SPHP wasn’t sure what Joe was expecting of “Dragon Caves”, but he may have been surprised to see 3 huge horizontal shafts disappearing into the mountainside. The openings really were large enough for dragons!

Dusty, Joe and Lupe arrive at the Dragon Caves.

No one else was around when Dusty, Joe, Lupe and SPHP walked into the middle cave. The air was much cooler than out in the sunshine only a few feet away. A vast dimly lit corridor led into the mountain.

Perhaps 100 feet in, the corridor met up with similar corridors coming from the other two cave openings. Several more passages went off in other directions. Despite the size of the openings, it was rather dark this far from the entrance. SPHP brought out a small flashlight. It helped, but the batteries were low. The huge caverns remained dimly lit.

Joe at the end of the middle cave looking toward other passages.

Joe doesn’t really believe much in dragons. As a geologist, he puzzled over why anyone would go to such expense as to mine out huge passages like this in sedimentary rock? Lupe, however, wasn’t so sanguine.

SPHP, don’t you think we better get out of here before the dragons return? Those ATV’ers probably stole all the dragon’s treasures while they are away. The dragons are going to be mighty unhappy when they get back and find us here instead of their piles of loot!

None of the passages seemed to go much farther into the mountain. A few looked like they had caved in. The only clue to Joe’s question about why anyone would mine out a place like this was an odd discontinuity in the rock. A smooth, vertical wall of rock of a different color completely blocked one passage.

Lupe immediately suspected a magical door, but didn’t say so to avoid unnerving everyone else. What if the dragons were still actually at home just beyond it? Joe wondered out loud about that apparent fault line, too, but the notion of a magical door isn’t the sort of conclusion an experienced geologist is apt to leap to at first blush.

Joe takes a picture while Dusty sniffs for clues.

Fortunately, the magical door never did open. Although the outside world seemed very bright and hotter than ever, the American Dingo was relieved when the exploratory tour of the mysterious Dragon Caves was finally over. Joe wanted to go up on top of the hill over the Dragon Caves to see if any clues about the local geology could be discovered. Everyone made a brief foray up into the forest above the caves.

Disappointingly, nothing of geological note was really to be seen above, although stands of lovely wild irises were blooming on the way there.

Back down below, Joe noticed a pile of big brown rocks some distance from the front of the Dragon Caves. These large rocks showed signs of mineralization, but nothing significant enough to justify the amount of excavation evident here. The Dragon Caves remained a mystery.

As far as the Carolina Dog was concerned, that was fine with her. At least the dragons hadn’t returned to explain it all in fiery detail.

After visiting the Dragon Caves, enough time remained in the day for a couple more quick sightseeing excursions. Ditch Creek campground was only a mile S of the Dragon Caves. Maybe Dusty and Joe would like to see it? The whole place was packed with people when Dusty, Joe, Lupe & SPHP arrived, but Loop and Dusty managed to sneak in another quick plunge into clear, cold Ditch Creek.

Looper and Dusty at Ditch Creek again, this time near the Ditch Creek campground a mile S of the Dragon Caves.

Staying cool had become a theme on this warm day. The final stop was at Deerfield Reservoir. Dusty and Joe had seen Deerfield Lake for the first time only yesterday during Expedition No. 231 to Hat Mountain (6,779 ft.). The lake had been a hit then, and Cousin Dusty was looking forward to another refreshing swim while fetching sticks.

W end of **Deerfield Reservoir**. Photo looks W.

Oh, yeah! What a great way to end the day!

The afternoon wore on. The time came to return to Grandma’s house for dinner, and an evening of fun and relaxation. Tomorrow, Cousin Dusty and Uncle Joe were going with Aunt Andrea down to David & Mush’s 40 acre ranch in the southern Black Hills. Lupe wouldn’t see them again before they all left for home in Arvada, Colorado.

Lupe’s adventures with Cousin Dusty and Uncle Joe were over for now. Dull days laying around resting up at home were ahead, but not too many of them. June was almost here! The Carolina Dog didn’t know it yet, but soon she would be setting off on her first big Summer of 2018 Dingo Vacation to the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming and beyond!

Cousin Dusty & Uncle Joe in the Dragon Caves, Black Hills, SD 5-26-18

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