Well, they were back! Yesterday afternoon Uncle Joe, Aunt Andrea, and Cousin Dixie arrived at Hotel Lupe from Colorado after having visited only a little over a month ago in October. While it was great to see them again, this time their reason for coming wasn’t entirely a good one.
On October 15th, Grandma had fallen. Fortunately, she hadn’t broken any bones and was alright, but not too many days later she got pretty sick. Grandma had to come and live with Lupe and SPHP for a while. Happily, she was finally better again now, and had just recently moved into assisted living. Aunt Andrea was going to spend a couple of days visiting Grandma, and help her get used to her new situation.
10:00 AM, 52ºF, junction of Horse Creek Road & USFS Road No. 243 – Of course, with Grandma in good paws, that left Uncle Joe and Cousin Dixie free to spend some time in the Black Hills today. What a beautiful day it was for November, too! Surprisingly warm, and not a cloud in the sky as the trek up USFS Road No. 243 began.
Old Bald Peak (6,130 ft.) was today’s chosen destination. Most of the route to it was merely a road hike. The section along USFS Road No. 243 was uphill all the way. Joe and Dixie made one off-road foray to have a look at a big round water trough, but other than that, and a few short breathers, everyone made steady progress on the long trudge higher.
Lupe was thrilled that Cousin Dixie seemed to have largely forgotten her former penchant for herding her. The American Dingo was usually able to proceed in peace, seldom issuing a warning growl in Dixie’s direction.
This welcome development seemed due to Dixie being old enough now at 7 months to start showing genuine interest in what was happening in the forest. Every now and then, Dixie pounced as if she heard something stirring among the dry leaves near the road.
After more than a mile, USFS Road No. 243 leveled off at a cattle guard. A junction with USFS Road No. 249 was just a short distance beyond it. From a small rise 100 feet S, both Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) and Sylvan Peak (7,000 ft.) were in sight.
After a look at the view, it was time to head N on No. 249. The road was flat at first, but soon began a gradual descent. After 0.75 mile, Old Bald Peak was in sight only another 0.5 mile NW.
A path leaving the road headed straight for Old Bald Peak seemed like an obvious and convenient choice, but quickly faded away. A bushwhack ensued among scattered pines amid extensive stands of aspens. Deadfall littered the forest floor.
After crossing a couple of drainages, a steeper trek began up Old Bald Peak’s SE slope, which was mostly covered with pines. Higher up, open regions began providing views of Peak 6043 and others beyond it. The steepest part of the entire climb came on a grassy slope just below the summit ridge.
11:45 AM, 62ºF – No doubt Old Bald Peak (6,130 ft.) was very old, but it was far from being bald. The reasonably flat summit ridge, the highest part of which was something like 150 feet long N/S and 30 feet wide E/W, was covered with enough pines to block the views in most directions.
Uncle Joe had brought his portable ham radio along. Upon arriving at the likely true summit near the center of the summit ridge, he began looking for the best spot to set up his telescoping antenna. Meanwhile, Lupe went back S a little way to stand on a small rock outcropping at least in contention for the title of true summit.
It was then, only a few minutes after reaching the top of Old Bald Peak, that a remarkable thing happened. Dixie had tagged along with Lupe and SPHP, and suddenly started barking as she stared farther S.
Someone was coming! SPHP expected to see hunters. Instead, moments later, Lupe met Curt and Jodie Massie of Rapid City. Amazingly, Curt and Jodie not only turned out to be fellow peakbaggers, but they even knew of Lupe from The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe! It was the first time the American Dingo had ever met anyone in the Black Hills purely by chance that already knew of her exploits.
Curt is a businessman and South Dakota State Representative for House District 33, while Jodie teaches at Meadowbrook Elementary school. On this fine November day, they were working on a personal goal Lupe and SPHP certainly approved of – to climb the highest 100 Black Hills peaks!
Curt and Jodie had just come from Peak 6167, roughly 0.5 mile S. Old Bald Peak was their 19th summit, and they were thinking about maybe heading over to Peak 6043 nearly a mile ESE next. After a pleasant 15 minute conversation with SPHP, and giving Lupe a pat, Curt and Jodie were on their way.
Wow! Curt and Jodie had already heard of me, SPHP! Maybe I’m getting famous?
Undeniably true, Loopster! It’s taken only 12 years and 11 months to run into someone in our Black Hills home territory aware of your existence.
Don’t forget about Peter and Meghan Cielenski, SPHP! They recognized me when we got back to camp after climbing Atlantic Peak in the Wind River Range, remember?
That’s right, Loop! And meeting them took only 9 years and 9 months, so the pace you’re being recognized at has tripled, since it isn’t even quite 3 years and 3 months later yet.
Do you suppose I’ll become rich and famous, SPHP? And when will the rich part start?
Oh, no doubt about it, Looper! Taylor Swift better watch out! And as far as the rich part goes – the sooner, the better.
By now, Joe had decided where to put up his antenna, and required a bit of SPHP’s assistance to get the 4 lateral wires spread out. Once that was done, all SPHP had to do was prevent Lupe and Dixie from running into the laterals since they weren’t very securely fastened.
Hanging around Joe while he was on the radio wasn’t working out. Both Lupe and Dixie kept running into the laterals despite SPHP’s best efforts. Seemed like a good time for a little tour of the greater summit region to have a look at whatever views might be available.
From another rock well S of the true summit, Mount Warner (5,889 ft.) and Samelius Peak (5,856 ft.) were visible through an opening in the trees. Repositioning a bit, Calumet Ridge (5,601 ft.) and a little slice of Sheridan Lake were, too.
Everywhere to the W, a long line of high ridges was visible strung out along the E edge of the limestone plateau country of the western Black Hills beyond a vast region of lower, forested hills. The view to the SW was particularly attractive.
After the Old Bald Peak scenic tour, it was time to check in on how Joe’s ham radio operations were going.
So, how’s it going, Uncle Joe?
Oh, nothing like the response we got back in the Summits on the Air days with your Cousin Dusty, but not too bad, Lupe. My antenna isn’t the best, so people had a hard time hearing me. Wound up spending a lot of time talking to a friend named Terry back in Colorado, who is a new ham radio enthusiast, so that was fun. Also worked a guy in Missouri, and even someone in Russia who could hear me quite clearly.
In Russia! You didn’t collude with anyone in Russia, did you Uncle Joe?
Collude? Of course not, Loopster! We just exchanged call signs and a few short messages via Morse code.
What! You were sending coded messages to a Russian, Uncle Joe? Seems sort of suspicious to me.
Suspicious! We were just using Morse code, Lupe. Completely harmless. Morse Code has been around for nearly 2 centuries. Everyone knows Morse code, if they have any interest in amateur radio at all.
Oh, really? So you admit that you’ve been knowingly sending messages to a Russian in a code that they’ve already broken? What was his or her name, Joe? Wasn’t “Vlad” by any chance, was it?
NO! What’s gotten into you, Lupe? I’m your Uncle Joe!
Well, I happen to notice you didn’t send any messages to this Russian while a representative of the South Dakota government was around.
SPHP, I think it’s about time we muzzle your Dingo and head back.
1:49 PM – It was all just crazy talk. SPHP wasn’t about to muzzle Lupe. Best to forget the whole thing, and that’s exactly what happened. More than 2 hours after arriving on Old Bald Peak, everyone headed down the S slope with Peak 6167, where Curt and Jodie had been only a little while ago, in view nearby, and Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) on the horizon.
And as far as the all-American Dingo knows, Uncle Joe has never again ever even thought about colluding with anyone in Russa.
That may be, SPHP, but do you think maybe we ought to check on whether or not that radio Uncle Joe uses was made in China?
Uh, no. I’d let it go, Loopster! (End 3:00 PM)
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