Lupe was off to a late start. It got later when SPHP realized the camera had been left behind. Doh! Going back to retrieve the camera cost another 40 minutes. It was already 10:27 AM (44°F) by the time SPHP parked the G6 along the start of USFS Road No. 414.6K.
Lupe was eager to start exploring. She sniffed around excitedly, and rolled in delight in the 4″ of new snow that had fallen a couple of days ago. Lupe was the first to mar the pristine appearance of the clean, white road. No other tracks were in the snow. Lupe and SPHP started off intent on making some.
Lupe had been here just 2 weeks ago on Expedition No. 153 when she’d climbed Green Top. Back then, there hadn’t been enough time left in the day to also climb White Mansion (5,340 ft.), just a mile to the NE. Now she was back to climb it, if she could. Seen from the W, the highest part of White Mansion presented a continuous line of limestone cliffs. If the other side of the mountain looked the same, there wouldn’t be any way Lupe could reach the summit plateau.
Lupe headed N on No. 414.6K until she reached an intersection S of Green Top. At the intersection, Lupe turned E on No. 414.6G. She soon left the road entirely where No. 414.6G turned N. She headed E for the S end of White Mansion. After crossing a snowy little valley, she began to climb.
White Mansion is over 0.5 mile long N/S. Like many mountains in the Nemo area, the most prominent features are two widely separated bands of rock where cliffs tend to form. Near the top is a light-colored limestone cap. Lower down is a band of reddish, purplish gray rocks. Lupe could expect the summit area up on top of the limestone cap to be a relatively flat, forested plateau surrounded, or nearly surrounded, by cliffs.
White Mansion is a little bit unique. The limestone cap and intervening layers below it have been eroded away from the S end of the mountain. Only the reddish purplish gray rocks remain to form the top of the S end. Of course, the N half of the mountain where the limestone cap still exists is considerably higher than the S end.
Lupe began her climb up White Mansion at the very S end of the mountain, where it looked like it would be easiest to get up above the first reddish, purplish gray layer of rock. It really wasn’t a steep or difficult climb at all. Only the snow made things tricky at all for SPHP, since it made the slope much slicker than it would otherwise would have been.
Lupe quickly found a pretty easy spot to get up above the first layer of reddish, purplish gray rocks. Next came a stroll through the snowy forest heading N looking for the S end of the limestone cap. Lupe and SPHP both really enjoyed the trek. SPHP stayed near the W rim, where Lupe was already high enough to start getting some views. Lupe was more intent, however, on charging around through the forest. She found a few squirrels to bark at, and had a great time. The day was off to a very satisfying start!
Lupe and SPHP were gradually gaining elevation. The cliffs along the W rim grew taller. Before Lupe reached the S end of the limestone cap, she came to a little forested hill, which was the high point of the S part of the mountain. From the hill, the ground dipped slightly down into a very snowy clearing. Just beyond the clearing, Lupe could see the S end of the limestone cap up ahead.
Lupe and SPHP crossed the snowy clearing, and started up the hill toward the limestone cap. Near it, SPHP spotted Lupe’s nemesis – a broken down barbed wire fence. SPHP lifted Lupe over it, so she wouldn’t get hurt. Who puts a fence way up here, anyway? Were they trying to fence in mountain goats? No cow would come up here.
Lupe was now right at the base of the S end of the limestone cap. The cap was very narrow here. It wasn’t all that tall, but there wasn’t any remotely feasible way up for Lupe. SPHP already knew there wouldn’t be any way up along the W side of the cap. Lupe would have to explore the E side of the mountain.
The ground just below the E side of the limestone cap was pretty steep. Not terribly steep, but steep enough with the snow around to make SPHP proceed with caution. Fortunately, Lupe didn’t have to go very far N along the E side of the mountain before she came to a couple of breaks in the limestone wall. The 2nd one, farthest N, was bigger and looked more promising.
If there hadn’t been any snow around, the route up the 2nd break in the limestone cap would have been no problem. The snow made it slick, though. SPHP was reduced to crawling up on all fours clinging to trees, bushes, rocks, whatever there was for support. It was rather like the climb up out of South Boxelder Creek canyon back on Expedition No. 154 on the way to Crystal Mountain (5,680 ft.), but this climb wasn’t nearly so long.
Success! Well, maybe. Lupe and SPHP made it up onto the limestone cap near the S end. However, the ridge was so narrow along in here, that SPHP feared the limestone cap might not be continuous. It was possible Lupe was on a little rock island in the sky, not connected to the rest of the mountaintop farther N.
The views were good, though. Lupe could see to the S and W. The forest blocked the views to the E and N. It was certain Lupe wasn’t at the actual summit yet. There was clearly higher ground toward the N. Time for Lupe to begin her explorations of the limestone cap! Lupe and SPHP headed N. Lupe came to lots of places with great views to the W and NW along the way.
The limestone cap was only 20′ wide, less in some places, as Lupe started going N. However, Lupe was not on a little disconnected island in the sky. The ridge became wider, eventually becoming hundreds of feet wide. Lupe was slowly gaining elevation as she went along the W rim where the views were. Eventually, though, there was a dip ahead.
It looked like there was even higher ground N of the dip, but it was hard to tell for certain due to the forest. Maybe Lupe was already at the summit? SPHP took a photo just in case. Lupe was very close to a rock platform jutting a bit out toward the NW. There were probably some nice views over there looking down on the valley below.
After a few photos from the rock ledge to the NW, which was a great viewpoint, Lupe and SPHP continued exploring. Lupe went down into the very snowy dip, and on up the other side. Lupe had to climb enough so that SPHP was convinced the true summit of White Mansion was still to the N.
N of the dip, there really weren’t any views. The forest was too dense. Lupe found the true summit was near the very N end of the mountain. The whole area was so flat it was impossible to say that any one particular spot was it.
Lupe had done it! She had reached the very top of White Mansion! It had been fun. There was still plenty of time left for Lupe to have more fun continuing on to some other peakbagging goals, but they were far enough away so Lupe needed to return to the G6 first. Lupe and SPHP started heading back S.
SPHP wasn’t looking forward to going back down the snowy chute near the S end of White Mansion where Lupe first reached the top of the limestone cap. Going down there might be worse than coming up. Lupe found a squirrel to bark at down in the dip. While Lupe focused on the squirrel, SPHP looked down the slope to the E.
From the dip, a wide swath of ground to the E dropped off at a very manageable rate. Lupe could clearly lose a lot of elevation going that way without coming to any real obstacle. She would easily get well below the limestone cap. Whether there were cliffs farther down was impossible to say, but the route looked very promising.
When Lupe was finally satisfied that the squirrel wasn’t coming down out of the tree, Lupe and SPHP headed down to the E. There were no cliffs below. It soon became clear that this was by far the easiest way up and down the mountain. Pretty soon the highway from Nemo to Sturgis was in sight not that far below. Lupe and SPHP turned S staying up on the mountainside.
Lupe returned to the snowy field S of the limestone cap. She went back along the W rim of the S end of the mountain again. She again had a blast racing around in the snowy woods. At the very SE end of White Mansion, she found an even easier way down going through a little ravine than the way she’d come up. Then Lupe and SPHP took a short cut SW through a valley back to USFS Road No. 414.6K. By 1:47 PM (50°F), Lupe was back at the G6.
Lupe’s next peakbagging goal was Flagstaff Mountain, about 3 miles N of White Mansion. It was twice that far following the paved highways. The highway from Nemo to Sturgis went right around the E slopes of Flagstaff Mountain, but with all the snow plowed up along the shoulders, there wasn’t anywhere to park. SPHP finally found a place to park the G6 (2:09 PM, 48°F) next to the highest spot on Flagstaff Mountain Lane just S of the mountain.
Flagstaff Mountain was an easy climb. No steep stuff, no cliffs, just a stroll up a big hill. Lupe enjoyed herself sniffing around in the forest. Fairly high up on the S side of the mountain, there was a big treeless field. There were good views back to the S from the upper end of the field.
From the upper end of the field, Lupe had only another 100 feet of elevation to gain to reach the E end of the summit ridge. The summit ridge runs E/W, and is shaped like a boomerang. The W end bends toward the SW, and the E end bends toward the SE. The W end is somewhat higher than the E end. Lupe reached the top of the ridge at the lower E end.
The ridge was forested at both ends, but the middle was mostly open and grassy. Young trees dotted the broad, almost flat terrain. There was quite a bit of snow around, at least 6″, blown into deeper drifts by the N wind. Tall trees along the S side of the ridge blocked the views in that direction. There were some tall trees to the N, too, but not as many. Terry Peak to the WNW was the most interesting point on the horizon.
The very highest point on Flagstaff Mountain was all the way around at the far W end of the summit ridge. Here Lupe found the only significant rock formations on the mountain. They were only 10-15 feet tall, but provided a nice setting for a few summit shots. The summit area was pretty heavily forested. The only real view was a narrow one to the S toward White Mansion.
Instead of retracing her route along the summit ridge on the way back to the G6, Lupe left the summit heading W. After losing some elevation, she circled around to the SE to reach the grassy field again. There she headed E back to her original path up Flagstaff Mountain. All that remained was just a very easy trek back down into the woods, and on to the G6 (3:09 PM, 44°F).
Exploring Flagstaff Mountain had taken only an hour. Lupe still had time left in the day for a 3rd peakbagging goal, as long as it was just a relatively short one, too. She had already seen Veteran Peak (5,333 ft.), 4.5 miles due N, from Flagstaff Mountain. Veteran Peak was only 0.5 mile E of Vanocker Canyon Road, maybe 0.75 mile as the road to the top went. Lupe could do that!
High winds were in the forecast for the next few days. In the 10 minutes it took to get from Flagstaff Mountain Lane to the wide shoulder along Vanocker Canyon Road near the intersection with USFS Road No. 139.1, the weather had changed. Suddenly it wasn’t just breezy, it was windy out. The suddenly chill N wind wasn’t too bad down on the ground, but it could sure be heard up in the treetops.
SPHP hesitated. If the wind continued to strengthen rapidly, Veteran’s Peak in an early February gale wasn’t going to be such a great experience. Perhaps it would be best to wait a few more minutes to see what happened.
Lupe hadn’t eaten anything all day. Maybe she was hungry? SPHP offered her some Taste of the Wild in her silver bowl. She turned it down, at first. SPHP offered her a few pieces of it by hand. She took it and suddenly realized she really was hungry – famished actually! While Lupe devoured nearly the entire day’s supply of Taste of the Wild, SPHP had a couple of tangerines.
The wind hadn’t gotten any worse in another 10 minutes, so it was decision time. Lupe and SPHP hopped out of the G6 (3:34 PM, 44°F). It would be fine. Lupe and SPHP set out on USFS Road No. 139.1. Just 200 feet from the highway, there was a side road off No. 139.1 that turned NE up a hillside. Lupe and SPHP stayed on the lower road, which wound around the SW side of the hill to the E, and then turned E.
On the S side of the hill, Lupe was sheltered from the N wind. It was actually quite beautiful out. The now slanting sunlight was shining on the fresh, white snow. No. 139.1 gained elevation very gradually. Lupe sniffed along, happily. There were a few tracks in the snow. Someone had been cross country skiing here, and big paw prints showed they had a large dog with them. The paw prints went only one direction – the way Lupe was going, away from the highway.
The towers up on Veteran Peak came into view. They couldn’t have been more than another couple hundred feet higher, probably less, and weren’t very far away. No. 139.1 didn’t go there, though. For a moment, at a very snowy spot, SPHP thought the road just ended, but then realized it just continued over a saddle going E downhill. Looking back, SPHP saw Lupe had just passed a faint road going up to the NW. There was a “No Motor Vehicles Allowed” marker there.
Lupe and SPHP took the faint side road. The snow was deep on it. There weren’t any tracks in the snow here. Lupe left quite a trail, though, bounding through the deep snow. The side road soon reached another road, which headed NE on its way up Veteran Peak. This road was covered with snow drifts 2-3 feet deep. It went up along the NW slope of Veteran Peak. With all the snow on the road, it was much easier for Lupe to just climb up onto the ridge above it. The wind had swept most of the snow off the ridge.
Before long, Lupe was up on Veteran Peak. There were two big towers, each with a small building at its base. The top of the mountain was a nearly level ridge of moderate length running NNE/SSW. There was plenty of room to move around, although there was quite a bit of snow drifted up most places. The very highest point on the mountain seemed to be a rock between the two towers.
The entire summit area was forested, not that thickly, but enough to prevent clear views in most directions. There was a view off to the N where Lupe first reached the top of the mountain. From the highest rock, Lupe could see off to the S and SE, but that was about it. Disappointingly, Bear Butte (4,422 ft.), out on the plains to the NE, which should have been the most interesting feature in sight, could only be glimpsed between the pines.
Moments after Lupe started back down the SSW ridge on her way back to the G6, the weather changed again. While she’d been up on top, the skies were clear and sunny. The wind had died down. Now an unpleasant breeze was suddenly picking up again. The air seemed colder than before.
Dark clouds spread rapidly across the sky from the NW. The sun disappeared from view. The mood changed. Veteran Peak transformed into a lonely, forsaken outpost. The natural world was still beautiful, but also hinting that it could be cruel as well.
Lupe stayed on the upper road. When she got around to the SW side of the hill between Veteran Peak and the G6, she could see USFS Road No. 139.1 below. A big dog was down there, and a cross country skier, too. Like Lupe, they were on their way back to their vehicle. It turned out two more dogs and several people were waiting for them down by the highway. The big dog’s name was Bear.
A few minutes of sniffing and it was time to go. Lupe and SPHP were into the G6 and headed for home. (4:34 PM, 38°F) Alpo, a soft bed and her blankie awaited the lucky Carolina Dog. Meanwhile, a roaring ferocious night swept in on the creatures of the Black Hills. To live wild and free, you have to be incredibly tough!
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