At 9:38 AM (38°F), SPHP parked the G6 at the Samelius Trailhead of Centennial Trail No. 89 near Hwy 16, about 3 miles W of the Keystone “Y”. The skies were overcast, but no precipitation and a forecast high of 50°F on nearly the shortest day of the year had brought Lupe and SPHP out to do a little peakbagging.
Lupe’s first two peakbagging goals, Samelius Peak (5,856 ft.) and Hardesty Peak (5,562 ft.) were both less than a mile from the trailhead, although Lupe’s proposed route might take her a little farther than that to reach Hardesty Peak. Lupe set out heading N on Centennial Trail No. 89 up a mostly forested little valley.
The trail gained elevation at an easy pace at first, but became a little steeper as it went on. About 0.5 mile from the trailhead, Lupe reached a saddle area NNW of Samelius Peak. It was time to leave the trail, and start up the mountain.
Lupe and SPHP had been up on Mount Warner (5,889 ft.), less than a mile to the N, before on several occasions. Having seen Samelius Peak from Mount Warner, SPHP was expecting Lupe might encounter some pretty steep climbs up boulder fields near the top of Samelius Peak, since the mountain had looked pretty rocky. The climb really wasn’t bad at all, though. Lupe encountered some deadfall timber, some rock outcroppings, and snow that made it slick in some places, but even SPHP was able to maneuver around most of the obstacles without much difficulty.
On the way up, Lupe came to two high points. The first one was just a rocky spot in the forest. Lupe only had to lose a little elevation to resume her climb up the NNW slope of the mountain. At the second high point, an exposed rocky ledge jutted out toward the W. The ledge seemed quite high, and offered some pretty good views. Lupe and SPHP went out on the ledge for a look around.
This ledge provided the most open panoramic views from anywhere Lupe went on Samelius Peak, and wasn’t too far below the summit. When Lupe arrived at the summit, there were enough trees around to partially obstruct the views in most directions. The summit area wasn’t terribly large, but Lupe found several spots to pose for photos.
Lupe’s next peakbagging goal was Hardesty Peak, but where was it? It was supposed to be just 0.5 mile to the SE, but SPHP didn’t see it. Time to check the maps again. Of course, Hardesty Peak was there all along. SPHP had assumed the two mountains were about the same elevation, but Hardesty Peak at only 5,562 ft. was actually almost 300 ft. lower than Samelius Peak. That puny hill to the SE that could only be seen from the E end of the Samelius Peak summit area was it!
Lupe and SPHP left Samelius Peak heading down on the NE side of a ridge that led SE toward Hardesty Peak. At first the going was rather steep, then it became rather rocky. After Lupe had lost a fair amount of elevation, a long line of large boulders appeared ahead. The area to the NE of the boulders dropped off very steeply. However, there was a little saddle area at the start of the line of boulders where Lupe could cross over to the SW side of the ridge.
Lupe and SPHP headed for the little saddle. It took SPHP a little while to get there due to the rockiness of the area. Once there, Lupe and SPHP went to investigate a nearby high point just to the E of the little saddle. There was a nice view of Boulder Hill (5,331 ft.) and Silver Mountain (5,405 ft.) off to the NE.
Lupe still needed to lose more elevation to reach the saddle between Samelius and Hardesty Peaks. She left the high point E of the little saddle heading SSE down the mountain. This area was thinly forested, quite steep, and covered with pine needles and a fair amount of loose rock. Lupe had a great time sniffing around this way and that. Rocks slid down the slopes as SPHP came down. SPHP threw many of them back up, so they were higher than before.
It was kind of slow going, but it wasn’t hard to find a way down. Near the bottom of the slope, there was a boulder field to be traversed, and beyond the boulder field was an area that was a jumble of deadfall timber. SPHP picked a way through it all, while Lupe continued exploring the forest. It turned out that Lupe and SPHP had come down a bit S of the saddle area. Lupe had to turn N and regain about 40 feet of elevation to get to the saddle.
From the saddle, the climb up Hardesty Peak was similar to Lupe’s climb up Samelius Peak, except that she didn’t have to gain nearly as much elevation. Lupe soon reached the summit of Hardesty Peak. She paused to take a look around from the rocks at the very top.
The summit area on Hardesty Peak is a fairly long E/W trending ridge. The forested ridge is wide enough to walk along easily. It was easy to see there wasn’t any higher ground to the W of where Lupe had come up, but the forest hid the rest of the ridge to the E. Lupe and SPHP wanted to make certain she had reached the actual true summit, so Lupe went E exploring the ridge.
Lupe and SPHP went far enough E to verify that Lupe had reached the true summit back where the summit photos were taken. She had. Near the E end of the ridge, Lupe found a rather nice view looking NNW between Samelius Peak and Mount Warner. Some higher hills could be seen in the distance. There was even a faint glimpse of Custer Peak (6,804 ft.) beyond the high hills.
Lupe and SPHP left Hardesty Peak near the E end of the summit ridge, heading back down toward the saddle over to Samelius Peak. From the saddle, SPHP tried to lead Lupe N looking for Centennial Trail No. 89. Lupe crossed a couple of small ridges, but the terrain kept forcing Lupe farther E until she reached the bottom of a gulch.
Lupe turned NW to go up the little valley on its E side. Lupe and SPHP had been in this area several times before, but going down the valley. Things just looked different going up it. SPHP kept expecting Lupe would find Centennial Trail No. 89 at any time, but she kept going without coming across it. SPHP stopped to check the maps again. They provided no further clues. It couldn’t be too much farther.
Before long, Lupe came to a road heading ESE. Lupe and SPHP followed it. SPHP thought maybe Centennial Trail No. 89 was still higher up the side of the mountain, but within just a few minutes, the road led past a rocky little hillside that SPHP remembered from Lupe’s prior expeditions. The road was Centennial Trail No. 89. That was good news!
Centennial Trail No. 89 wound around the SE end of Mount Warner, leaving the road and becoming a single track trail along the way. It turned NW going up a small valley to a saddle. Instead of going over the saddle, the trail started a climb up the mountain to the S, switchbacking a little bit on the way up. Eventually the trail turned W, and passed to the S of a rock outcropping where SPHP remembered there was a view to the N. Lupe and SPHP went to the edge of the rock formation to take a look.
From the rock outcropping, Lupe could see part of Sheridan Lake and Calumet Ridge (5,601 ft.) off to the NNE. From here, it wasn’t too much farther along Centennial Trail No. 89 up to the top of Mount Warner. On the way, Lupe started hearing gunfire coming from way off somewhere in the direction of Calumet Ridge. By the time Lupe reached the top of Mount Warner, she was one nervous Carolina Dog.
SPHP wanted to get a photo of Lupe up on the highest rocks on Mount Warner, but Lupe really just wanted to be close to SPHP. The gunfire was just too unnerving. Half a dozen times SPHP persuaded her to get up on the highest rocks, but each time SPHP backed off to take the photo, Lupe would hear more gunfire within a few seconds and jump down to follow SPHP.
Finally, it worked. A brief lull in someone’s target practice restored the American Dingo’s confidence. Lupe stayed up there for her summit photo on Mount Warner. Good doggie! After one quick photo, SPHP didn’t make her stay up there any longer. She was glad it was over with, and jumped down as soon as SPHP said it was OK.
There was still some time left in the day. Originally, SPHP had thought maybe Lupe should do some exploring toward Calumet Ridge, but with all the gunfire in that direction, that just wasn’t going to work. Instead, Lupe and SPHP left Mount Warner continuing NW on Centennial Trail No. 89.
The trail gradually lost elevation following a ridgeline, but eventually turned to start heading down the NE side of the ridge on its way down to Sheridan Lake. Instead of going that way, Lupe and SPHP left the trail and started down the SW side of the ridge. It was steep, but not as steep as going down Samelius Peak had been.
Lupe lost a lot of elevation. Finally things started leveling out. Somewhere along the way, she crossed Joe Dollar Gulch. Lupe came to a maze of little roads in the forest. She followed them S or SW. SPHP led her onto roads heading SE a time or two when the opportunity presented itself. SPHP was hoping to find a road going up a little gulch just S of Joe Dollar Gulch, but it didn’t happen.
Lupe and SPHP had a nice time just wandering the back roads. Lupe trotted ahead, leaving the road here and there to investigate interesting smells in the forest. Lupe crossed a saddle shown just to the E of High Point 5157 on the Peakbagger.com topo maps. During the last part of her journey, the sound of traffic on Hwy 16 wasn’t far off to the S. When SPHP saw the little tunnel that Centennial Trail No. 89 passes through under Hwy 16, SPHP knew Lupe was almost back to the Samelius trailhead.
The sun was down and the light was fading, when Lupe reached the trailhead again. There was a bunch of trash around. SPHP spent a little time picking it up while Lupe sniffed around. At 4:38 PM (37°F), when Lupe and SPHP finally got into the G6 to head home, it was practically dark out. Climbing Samelius and Hardesty Peaks had been fun. The big loop up to Mount Warner and beyond, and then down and around to the SW was a nice bonus.
Tomorrow would be the shortest day of the year. Christmas was almost here. Nearing home, Lupe and SPHP admired the cheerful, colorful Christmas lights. 2014 was fast drawing to a close, but Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 110 wouldn’t be Lupe’s last of 2014. SPHP was glad. When you’re lucky enough to have a Carolina Dog, you just don’t want the good times to ever end.
Note: SPHP isn’t certain of the correct spelling for Samelius Peak. The sign at the trailhead on Centennial Trail No. 89 says Samelius, as do SPHP’s old USFS maps. The Peakbagger.com maps and records show it as Samelias Peak.
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