Black Hills – Page 137 – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 126 – Battle Mountain, Parker Peak & Pilger Mountain (4-11-15)

Lupe got to do a little peakbagging in the southern Black Hills on this bright, clear warm day in early April. Her first peak was Battle Mountain (4,434 ft.) near Hot Springs, the site of a fight between the Cheyenne and Sioux tribes in 1869. SPHP had to drive around on the streets just E of Hwy 385 where it came into Hot Springs from the N to discover that Thompson Avenue is the correct street to turn off Hwy 385. A block or two from Hwy 385, it becomes Battle Mountain Road. SPHP parked the G6 on Sheridan Street a block N of Battle Mountain Road. It was 9:07 AM and 52°F out when Lupe left the G6.

Lupe near the start of Battle Mountain Road.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the air was totally calm. SPHP knew it was going to get hot fast and was anxious to get up Battle Mountain before the climb became too sweaty. The climb was a straight forward trudge up Battle Mountain Road involving an elevation gain of over 900 feet. There were scattered trees on mostly open ground for the first part of the climb, but as Lupe got close to the top of the mountain, there was more forest and shade. SPHP also started noticing a fair amount of trash along the road and began collecting it in a couple of extra plastic grocery bags.

The little lookout tower on Battle Mountain.

The top of Battle Mountain had an assortment of towers and wires and sheds on it. SPHP soon discovered that there was also a considerable amount of broken glass around too. To prevent Lupe from slicing up her paws on the broken glass, SPHP carried her from rock to rock for a few pictures in the summit area. The best views were to the SE towards Angostura Reservoir out on the prairie just outside of the Black Hills, and to the S towards the large hill S of Hot Springs. There was also a view of Hot Springs, SD to the W.

Looking SE towards Angostura Reservoir from Battle Mountain. — Angostura Reservoir is near the center of the photo faintly blue on the horizon. Looking SE from Battle Mountain.

The Golden West telephone tower from Battle Mountain.

Due to the broken glass, Lupe was not allowed to stay up at the summit of Battle Mountain for very long. SPHP did not even attempt to pick up any glass, fearing that the longer Lupe was up there, the greater the chance she would get hurt. However, SPHP did completely fill two plastic grocery sacks with trash on the return trip down the mountain. These were deposited in the trunk of the G6 for sorting, recycling and disposal the next day. Plenty more cleanup needs to be done on Battle Mountain, but at least things are a bit better than when Lupe arrived.

The town of Hot Springs, SD to the W of Battle Mountain.

The Golden West telephone tower sits on a sub peak just W of the summit of Battle Mountain.

It was 11:07 AM and 62°F by the time Lupe made it back to the G6. Although a new idea for one of her Black Hills Expeditions, Lupe graciously agreed to a short tour of Hot Springs, SD for the sake of her blog readers. She stopped by Evans Plunge, the Kidney Springs Gazebo downtown and the Mammoth Site, all Hot Springs attractions of some merit.

Evans Plunge is one of the main attractions in Hot Springs, SD. The main facility includes a large indoor pool with a pebble bottom and a couple of water slides. SPHP loves hot springs as a place to relax, get some exercise and clean up when traveling. Evans Plunge is one of the best. — **Evans Plunge** is one of the main attractions in Hot Springs, SD. The main facility includes a large indoor pool with a pebble bottom and a couple of water slides. SPHP loves hot springs as a place to relax, get some refreshing exercise and clean up when traveling. Evans Plunge is one of the best! Sadly, Lupe never gets to enjoy the hot springs.

The Kidney Springs gazebo near Fall River near downtown Hot Springs, SD. — The Kidney Springs gazebo near Fall River in downtown Hot Springs, SD.

Lupe near Fall River in downtown Hot Springs, SD. Note the blue bison on the building at right.

Lupe at the little waterfall not far from the Kidney Springs gazebo in Hot Springs, SD.

Hot Springs, SD has many old buildings of sandstone architecture. SPHP didn't read the plaque until later and did not realize there was something different on side 2. Oops! — Hot Springs, SD has many old buildings of sandstone architecture. SPHP didn’t read the plaque until later and did not realize there was more info on the other side. Oops!

A better look at the awesome blue bison which was more interesting to SPHP than the sandstone architecture.

Many thousands of years ago mammoths roamed the Hot Springs area. A few Neanderthals still do, and can likely be found partying on Battle Mountain on Friday and Saturday nights. If in the area and so inclined, you can now go there and pick up their trash, or join them in their festivities. The mammoths are long gone, and despite the Neanderthals, now Dingoes rule the earth! At least when not blinded by the sun.

Once her tour of Hot Springs was over, Lupe headed W on Hwy 18 towards Parker Peak (4,848 ft.), the county high point for Fall River County. Although Parker Peak is on National Forest land, it is completely surrounded by private property. SPHP hoped to obtain permission for Lupe to climb Parker Peak, but was unsuccessful in locating the landowner.

Lupe NNW of Parker Peak, the highest point in Fall River county.

Parker Peak from the W. Parker Peak is on national forest land, but surrounded by private property. Lupe did not get to climb it.

Giving up on Parker Peak, Lupe and SPHP headed NW out on dusty Pilger Mountain Road into a remote part of the SW Black Hills with the intention of reaching Pilger Mountain (4,788 ft.). Neither Lupe nor SPHP had ever been out in this area before. The scenery was quite interesting and western. SPHP stopped the G6 a couple of times for photos along the way. From Pilger Mountain Road, SPHP took Elbow Canyon Road up to its junction with USFS Road No. 319.

SPHP's favorite rock formation and favorite dingo along Pilger Mountain Road. — SPHP’s favorite rock formation and favorite dingo along Pilger Mountain Road.

The junction of Elbow Canyon Road and USFS Road No. 319 was up on top of a broad open ridge. SPHP was surprised to see several pickup trucks with horse trailers parked near the junction. No one was around, so Lupe and SPHP just added the G6 to the collection of vehicles. It was 1:18 PM and now 73°F when Lupe and SPHP headed N on USFS Road No. 319.

USFS Road No. 319 heads NNW from the junction with Elbow Canyon Road for about 5 miles before going over Pilger Mountain. Lupe and SPHP followed it all the way. The road remains up on a broad ridge of open grassland for the first few miles at the S end. There are some pine trees around, but they tend to be near the edges of the ridge or up on various knolls and high spots along the way. The road very gradually gains elevation for most of the distance with only one drop of any significance, which is about a mile from Pilger Mountain. As No. 319 gets closer to Pilger Mountain, the ridge narrows considerably and the road enters a forest.

Neither Lupe nor SPHP was really enthused about the heat this early in April. Out on the exposed grassland and wearing a fur coat, Lupe was too hot to really enjoy the trek. She plodded along right behind SPHP hoping for water breaks, which came fairly frequently. The Black Hills are well behind normal precipitation so far in 2015. March and April have seen virtually no moisture in the southern hills. USFS Road No. 319 was parched and dusty. Despite the much warmer than normal weather experienced since early March, the grass has not greened up much at all due to the lack of moisture.

At least the hike was easy, since the rate of climb heading N was so gradual. SPHP did enjoy the views which frequently presented themselves along the ridge. Sometimes the views were to the W or SW into Wyoming. At other times they were to the E back towards the main body of the Black Hills. The views weren’t the only thing attracting attention. SPHP was also surprised by the occasional presence of people. A red jeep came along from the S after a while. Later on, a group of 7 or 8 ATV’s and motorcycles appeared from a minor side road and roared N along No. 319. The jeep, ATV’s and motorcycles later reappeared heading back S while Lupe was still heading N.

As the afternoon wore on, a welcome breeze began to stir up out of the W. It slowly gained in strength, although most of the time Lupe only heard it up in the trees. The breeze did help some though. It started to get a bit cooler too. Lupe started perking up when the road finally entered the forest. By then it wasn’t all that much farther to Pilger Mountain.

Lupe up on top of the rock SPHP decided may as well be considered the summit of Pilger Mountain.

Pilger Mountain turned out to be just a somewhat higher spot near the N end of the 5 mile long ridge. The summit area was a couple hundred yards wide E/W and even longer N/S, and so flat it was difficult to say where the true summit was. Lupe and SPHP went all around the area looking for the highest point. SPHP hoped to find a USGS Benchmark, but never did. Finally, SPHP concluded the highest point was likely one of several rocks near the center of the area. There was one slightly higher spot toward the forest on the E side of the mountain, but it was not natural. You could tell it was the result of human excavations. At any rate, it could only have been a couple of feet higher.

Lupe up on top of the largest rock formation on Pilger Mountain, near the NW end of the summit area.

Most of the top of Pilger Mountain was grassland with scattered pines. However, the grassland was surrounded by forest along the edges, so there weren’t many places to get a good view. Toward the NW, Lupe found the most impressive rock outcroppings on Pilger Mountain. A short distance beyond them was a small cliff with some pretty decent views off to the W and N. In the distance to the NNW, SPHP saw Elk Mountain (5,669 ft.) where Lupe had been a week prior on Expedition No. 125. There were also some pretty good views to the E from some high ground at the far SE corner of the summit area on Pilger Mountain.

The trip back to the G6 from Pilger Mountain was more fun than the trip to the mountain had been. The sun was getting lower and the temperatures were cooling down. The breeze was blowing harder, but not enough to be at all annoying. Only one more ATV appeared to disturb the serenity and seclusion. SPHP saw a couple of pronghorn antelope bouncing away down on the grasslands near Robinson Flats near the S end of the trek. There were some really wild looking canyons and ridges nearby to the SW and Lupe picked up the scent of something exciting over there. She ran back and forth sniffing the ground in a state of agitation and expectation, enjoying some mystery only the dingo’s nose knew about.

This view to the NE was taken from the ridge S of Pilger Mountain.

Lupe reached the G6 again at 7:23 PM. By now it was a totally acceptable 57°F out. All of the pickup trucks and horse trailers were gone. Only the G6 remained. SPHP gave Lupe one more drink of water before she hopped into the G6 for the dusty ride home. She rode with her head outside the window, with a big smile on her face and her tongue hanging out in the breeze.

It wasn’t until reaching the pavement at the highway that SPHP made Lupe get her head back inside the window. Lupe still wasn’t done. She stood with her paws on the dash and launched into a barking frenzy at every cow she passed until it got too dark to see them. A few cows glanced up from the grass wondering what the heck was that? What a great dingo day!

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Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 125 – Atlantic Hill, Signal Hill & Elk Benchmark (4-4-15)

To start off this week’s peakbagging expedition, SPHP parked the G6 at 9:58 AM near the intersection of County Road No. 284 and USFS Road No. 284.1E, a point about 1.25 miles SSW of Lupe’s first goal of the day, Atlantic Hill (6,393 ft.). Except for a few high thin clouds, the skies were clear. It was a lovely 44°F out with a cool light N breeze. Lupe was excited and ready to go!

Lupe about to start for Atlantic Hill seen in the background. She was ready for action, although looking into the sun made her squint.

Instead of heading towards Atlantic Hill, USFS Road No. 284.1E first took Lupe W for half a mile up a ravine before turning back to the NE. As 284.1E wound around to the NE it slowly lost the elevation Lupe had just gained. The area Lupe was traveling through was nearly all forested, with a mix of ponderosa pines and aspens. There were interesting rock outcroppings on the hillsides that tended to be anywhere from a few feet to 10 – 15 feet tall.

As Lupe approached Atlantic Hill, she left USFS Road No. 284.1E and headed directly through the forest. She soon came to open ground down in a valley where there was a small creek, just a foot or so wide, but with marshy ground along it. This was Ruby Creek, and it had surprisingly good flow for its size. Set against a rock wall was a small pond with a few ducks on it that flew off as Lupe approached.

The better to lick you with, my dear! Lupe near the rock wall pond in Ruby Creek valley. — The better to lick you with, my dear! A big-tongued Lupe near the rock wall pond in Ruby Creek valley.

Once across the little Ruby Creek valley, Lupe headed into the forest and started the climb up Atlantic Hill. After gaining a bit of elevation, SPHP looked back and saw two more ponds back down in Ruby Creek valley, one upstream and one downstream from the pond next to the rock wall.

Part way up Atlantic Hill was this view to the W of Peak 6740, the high ridge on the horizon at center left. — Part way up Atlantic Hill was this view to the W of **Peak 6740**, the high ridge on the horizon at center left.

A typical rock outcropping seen while climbing Atlantic Hill.

Atlantic Hill was pretty easy to climb. There were quite a few rock outcroppings to work around on the way up and they were bigger than the ones along USFS Road No. 284.1E had been. The easiest path up was to avoid getting up on the rocks, and just keep heading up through the forest between the rocky spines of the mountain.

Lupe near the S high point on Atlantic Hill. The best views were toward Crazy Horse to the NE. — Lupe near the S high point on Atlantic Hill. The best views were toward **Crazy Horse** to the NE (the whitish rock up at center left).

Lupe reached a small saddle area between high points near the top of the hill. First she went to the S high point to check things out from there. Then she went to the N high point, and a short climb brought her up to the true summit of Atlantic Hill. The views at the high points were mainly toward the E. The most interesting thing to be seen was Thunderhead Mountain (6,567 ft.) where the carving of Crazy Horse is located, about 4 miles to the ENE. Although there had been views to the N and W at various places on the climb up, the forest blocked those views near the top.

Lupe reaches the summit of Atlantic Hill.

Looking back at the summit of Atlantic Hill.

Lupe had some water and a little Taste of the Wild at the summit. After a short rest break, SPHP led her to the N going down the mountain. A fairly steep slope brought Lupe down to a saddle connecting Atlantic Hill to a rocky sub-peak which was perhaps 100 feet higher than the saddle area. There Lupe turned W and headed down a less steep and mostly grassy draw with scattered trees. A couple of cabins with blue roofs came into view to the NW, but Lupe reached a dirt road before she got too close to the cabins.

At the Atlantic Hill N saddle looking towards Crazy Horse through the aspens.

Since Lupe had gone down Atlantic Hill to the N of where she had climbed it, SPHP led her S along the dirt road until it ended. Then Lupe headed the rest of the way down into Ruby Creek valley, which she entered just S of the northernmost pond. There were fences on both the E and W sides of the valley here, so this may have been private land. Lupe hurried across it and headed W back up into the trees. Soon she found USFS Road No. 284.1E again, which she followed back to the G6, arriving at 1:42 PM. It was now 56°F out.

Lupe and SPHP headed W on County Road No. 284 towards the next peakbagging objective – Signal Hill. The hike to Signal Hill began at the intersection of No. 284 with USFS Road No. 747. At the start of No. 747, Summit Hill was already in view a very short distance to the S. It was an easy stroll with little elevation gain.

Signal Hill (6,483 ft.) apparently used to have a lookout tower on it. However, the whole area had burned in the 83,000 acre Jasper fire back in August, 2000. SPHP doesn’t know if the lookout tower burned in that fire or was torn down before then. Lupe posed for a photo sitting on what little was left of the foundation for whatever had been there long ago.

The view of Signal Hill from the N close to where the G6 was parked.

Not much left of the old lookout tower foundation on Signal Hill.

The view from Signal Hill towards Elk Mountain (long ridge on the horizon) on the Wyoming/South Dakota border from Signal Hill. — The desolate view from Signal Hill towards Elk Mountain (long ridge on the horizon) on the Wyoming/South Dakota border.

Signal Hill felt quite forlorn and desolate. A cool breeze was blowing out of the W. Being totally exposed, there were views in all directions, but the best view was off to the SW toward the high ridge near the Wyoming border which was Elk Mountain 12-13 miles away. Lupe and SPHP spent a few minutes looking around for a USGS benchmark, but found none. Lupe was back to the G6 by 3:08 PM, just 29 minutes after leaving it. The temperature was 51°F.

Lupe had now completed her two main peakbagging goals of the day – Atlantic Hill and Signal Hill, but there was still plenty of daylight left. Lupe and SPHP headed S on USFS Road No. 282 reaching US Hwy 16 just W of Jewel Cave National Monument. SPHP turned E on Hwy 16 and drove to the E side of the park. SPHP was thinking Lupe might be able to go to the Lithograph Canyon Hillside (5,820 ft.) where the highest point in Jewel Cave National Monument is located just 0.33 mile N of Hwy 16 at the NE corner of the park.

There were signs along Hwy 16 at the E boundary of Jewel Cave National Monument, but there was no place to park the G6 anywhere close. Furthermore, the terrain to the N of the Hwy was very steep. SPHP began to reconsider. After a couple more passes back and forth along Hwy 16, SPHP decided it might be hard to find the right spot on the Lithograph Canyon Hillside that is the true NE corner and high point of Jewel Cave National Monument without doing some more research before making the attempt.

A new idea came to SPHP, which was to drive W towards Elk Mountain on the border with Wyoming. So Lithograph Canyon Hillside was left behind and Lupe headed W on Hwy 16. Just a mile and a half NE of Elk Mountain (5,669 ft.), SPHP turned the G6 S on Dewey Road, County Road No. 769. Lupe barked at cows from the G6 for a good deal of the 3 miles S to a right turn to the W on Elk Mountain Road (No. 123). There were longhorn cattle loose on the road at this point, which sent Lupe into a joyful barking frenzy.

No. 123 climbed slowly at first and then steeply up the Elk Mountain ridge. The road was narrow, but not too rough, so the G6 had no problem reaching the top of the ridge. At a junction there, SPHP turned N on USFS Road No. 118 looking for a place to park. At first there wasn’t anywhere to park, but after a mile or so there was a side road that went W or NW off No. 118. Next to the side road was a nice open grassy level spot. Lupe and SPHP continued on paw and foot from here. (It was by choice SPHP stopped here, there was no reason SPHP couldn’t have driven along No. 118 all the way to the lookout tower since the road was in decent shape all the way.)

About 100 feet along No. 118, Lupe came to a new yellow sign with red lettering and a red pheasant logo on it marking the South Dakota border. Apparently the G6 was parked just into Wyoming. Lupe and SPHP continued N for about 0.25 mile, reaching the end of the forest and start of the big burn area that encompasses all of the N end of Elk Mountain. It was still another 2.5 to 3 miles to the lookout tower along the road.

A look back to the S along the long Elk Mountain ridge. — A look back to the S along the long E side of Elk Mountain ridge.

The view N towards the Elk Mountain lookout tower shortly after Lupe left the forested portion of the ridge. — The view N towards the Elk Mountain lookout tower, faintly seen above Lupe’s head, shortly after Lupe left the forested portion of the ridge.

Getting closer. Hopefully it will rain soon. Elk Mountain would look better green.

Although Elk Mountain itself is now rather ugly and barren, the forest fire had certainly opened up the views. All the way to the lookout tower there was either a great view to the W into Wyoming or to the E into South Dakota. At the very highest parts of this broad ridge there were wonderful views in both directions. Lupe had a great time sniffing around and exploring. She also seemed to enjoy peering over at the views from the edges of some of the cliffs.

At the base of the lookout tower, but not quite the highest point on Elk Mountain.

The view towards the NW from close to the lookout tower. The high point in the distance is the true summit and where there are 2 USGS survey benchmarks on the rocks.

The Elk Mountain lookout tower stands at the NE end of the ridge. No one was around when Lupe arrived. In fact, Lupe met no one at all during her entire time on Elk Mountain. There was a single picnic table at the base of the lookout tower. The lookout tower was high, but not quite on the highest ground on the mountain. In view nearby to the W was a somewhat higher spot. Farther away at the NW corner of the ridge is the true summit of Elk Mountain where two USGS benchmarks are located up on rocks just a few feet from each other.

Lupe on the magnificently colored boulder on top of the W high point not far from the lookout tower.

A look back at the lookout tower from near the magnificently colored boulder. — A look E back at the lookout tower from near the magnificently colored boulder.

After prowling around at the base of the lookout tower for a few minutes and getting a couple of pictures taken, Lupe headed over to the higher ground to the W. She was soon there. A magnificently colored boulder about 5 or 6 feet tall was at the very top. SPHP helped Lupe up onto it for a photo. From there SPHP and Lupe went over to the true summit at the NW corner of Elk Mountain and found the two USGS benchmarks. Lupe had now been to all three of the highest points on Elk Mountain. SPHP agreed with the maps that the highest spot was at the Elk Benchmarks, although the magnificently colored rock not far W of the lookout tower was a very close 2nd.

The most interesting views on Elk Mountain were off to the NW from the Elk Benchmarks towards Newcastle, WY where the mountains looked more rugged than the high flat ridges to the E and SE. Some fairly deep canyons could also be seen to the N. Far away to the SSW, however, so barely visible that SPHP frequently had to stop and just stare in order to see it, was the top of Laramie Peak (10,272 ft.) . A few of the mountain tops S of I-25 between Douglas and Casper, WY could be just faintly seen too.

The best view from Elk Mountain was this one to the NW towards Newcastle, WY. Lupe is near the Elk Mountain benchmarks in this photo.

On the way back to the G6, SPHP was hoping a nice sunset would develop. However, although there was some open sky to the SW, most of the sky had clouded up by now. The sun sank slowly down just 5 degrees N of the clear skies. There were a few small breaks in the clouds in that direction, but despite a few moments of promise, a colorful sunset never really developed. Too bad, as Elk Mountain would have provided a dramatic vantage point.

The sun was still up, but must have been very low on the horizon and obscured by clouds when Lupe reached the G6 at 7:36 PM. It was still 50°F. Lupe had reached the summits of three new mountains during the day. Lupe and SPHP both agreed that the most fun of all had been Elk Mountain. SPHP loved the solitude, easy nearly level ground, and splendid views. Lupe loved racing over the open ground sniffing and exploring through the tall grass and around the many interesting rocks.

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