9:42 AM (44°F), a beautiful and warm (for January) sunny day, and Lupe was back! She had been here once before, almost 3 years ago. Way back on February 9, 2013, near the end of Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 46, Lupe had tried to climb Steamboat Rock (5,081 ft.).
Back then, Lupe hadn’t succeeded in finding a way up to the summit, but she’d gotten close. She’d approached from the N, and encountered cliffs just below the mountaintop. The cliffs weren’t high, only 10-15 feet tall at that end of the mountain, but the sun was about to set. There hadn’t been time to really look around for a safe way up.
Things were different now. It was early in the day. Lupe had time to search the entire circumference of the mountain, if necessary, to find a route up.
Lupe and SPHP set out from the Steamboat Rock picnic ground along Nemo Road. Boxelder Creek flows between the picnic ground and Steamboat Rock to the N. To get across the creek, Lupe followed Nemo Road E to USFS Road No. 147, where there was a bridge.
Once across Boxelder Creek, Lupe left USFS Road No. 147 by climbing up an embankment. She then traveled NW toward Steamboat Rock. Part of the time she was in the forest, and part of the time out on open ground just S of a big fenced field of privately owned land.
Lupe had to re-enter the forest to get around the SW end of the field. She then turned N and started a gradual climb. Lupe and SPHP headed for the SE end of the E side of the mountain. The forest had suffered a fair amount of damage from mountain pine bark beetles, but it wasn’t too bad. Most of the time it wasn’t hard to avoid the deadfall timber.
Steamboat Rock contains two bands of rock which are less easily eroded than the geologic formations between and below them, resulting in two bands of cliffs around the mountain. Lupe needed to find a route up avoiding both. It was clear Lupe couldn’t just go up the S end of the mountain, where the cliff walls were high and unbroken. Lupe traveled N along the E side of Steamboat Rock, gaining elevation and looking for an opening.
By the time Lupe had climbed high enough to reach the base of the first set of cliffs, she was far enough N to see that just ahead was an area where the cliffs were reduced to an intermittent string of rock outcroppings. The ground between the rock outcroppings was steep, but easily climbable. Lupe and SPHP had no problem getting up above the first band of rocks.
Lupe started climbing up toward the second set of cliffs, a light-colored band of limestone positioned high on the mountain. She continued angling up and toward the N. When she got high enough to see the cliffs through the forest, the view was discouraging. These cliffs were considerably higher than the ones below, and formed an unbroken wall. The ground below them was very steep, not much of a problem for Lupe, but SPHP had to proceed slowly and carefully.
Lupe and SPHP didn’t have to go too much farther N before there was a glimmer of hope. The cliff face was less regular, and there began to be some clefts in the rock. Lupe came to a place where there was a fairly large opening. SPHP couldn’t see the top of the opening, but it looked like it might be possible to climb up here.
SPHP started climbing, but soon realized that the ground was just too steep. There were little patches of snow and ice in the shade of the mountain, enough to make this route slick and treacherous. There were too few firmly anchored rocks to provide decent handholds and footholds. SPHP went back down. Lupe and SPHP continued N.
Just a little farther on, there was another break in the cliffs. Some steep ground led up to a much smaller opening where it looked like Lupe and SPHP should be able to get up on top. Lupe waited patiently as SPHP made a careful ascent. Soon both Lupe and SPHP were up above the highest band of cliffs on Steamboat Rock!
SPHP wasn’t really sure what Lupe would find up on Steamboat Rock. A glance to the W from where Lupe came up was very encouraging. An unbroken gentle slope rose slightly toward the W. The ground was almost flat. A pine forest covered the top of the mountain, with little sunlit clearings scattered here and there. Pine needles and patches of snow covered the forest floor.
Lupe and SPHP headed W through the forest. A few minutes later, Lupe reached a strange structure crudely built out of rough wood. It was about 30 feet long N/S, and maybe 15 to 20 feet wide E/W. A gap in the 4 foot high walls near the NW end of the enclosure served as the only entrance. There was no roof. A sign indicated Lupe had arrived at “Pugg’s Keep”. Trash, mostly empty beer cans and water bottles, was strewn all over the place.
Pugg’s Keep was perched quite close to the cliffs along the W side of Steamboat Rock. Lupe went to check out the view. Not too surprisingly, Pugg’s Keep was pretty close to the best view from Steamboat Rock.
Since Steamboat Rock slopes slightly down toward the E, the true summit had to be somewhere close to the cliffs along the W edge. Lupe and SPHP explored S along the W rim almost all the way to the S end of the mountain.
Although the top of Steamboat Rock is forested, there were plenty of spots along the W rim where there were nice views from the SW around to the NW. The forest was thicker, and provided fewer viewpoints along the E rim.
After her explorations to the S, Lupe headed back N along the W rim. Lupe’s investigations had revealed that the true summit was a relatively small flat area, just a little way S of Pugg’s Keep.
Lupe returned to Pugg’s Keep for another sniff around. Inside the enclosure was a rather nicely constructed fireplace made of loosely assembled limestone. On the W side were a number of boards with writing on them, including the Pugg’s Keep sign.
People had painted their names or nicknames on various pieces of wood near the Pugg’s Keep sign. Most of the dates weren’t from that long ago, just a few months back in the late summer or fall of 2015. “Antman” on 8-30-15, Brit Holberry, Isaiah S. Shovel 9-7-15, Alex Lewis, Coletrain 9-5-15, McPat, Jim & Susan & Brit on 10-30-15, Caleb Stanley, and Beave S. R. were just some of the names. Apparently Steamboat Rock was not always a lonely outpost.
In fact, Pugg’s Keep gave the impression of a sometimes rather lively party place. Numerous empty beer cans, half a dozen water bottles, a giant empty bottle of New Amsterdam Vodka, a few coke cans and a plastic sports drink bottle were strewn around, along with other garbage. At the S end of Pugg’s Keep was a tattered blue-gray quilt hanging from some trees. It looked like a dilapidated hammock. Beneath it was a decaying black garbage bag full of more cans, bottles, and trash.
There were more fine furnishings at Pugg’s Keep, too. An old portable grill just starting to rust was nestled in the W wall. A couple of short ropes hung from a tree. An assortment of pens was bungee corded to a tree. Nearby, a First Aid kit was fastened to another tree. Someone had written a crude message on the First Aid kit case implying that anyone who actually needed to use it was weak and worthy of despise.
Clearly the word “Keep” in Pugg’s Keep was used in the sense of a fortress. The top of Steamboat Rock, nearly completely surrounded by cliffs, pretty effectively suited that meaning of the word. “Keep” certainly didn’t have anything to do with housekeeping. Pugg didn’t know diddly about housekeeping.
SPHP had 4 good plastic Safeway or Wal-Mart sacks. While Lupe sniffed around, SPHP started filling them with trash. An old red tote bag under the hammock was in good enough shape to carry some junk in, too. SPHP collected close to 3 dozen beer cans, the giant Vodka bottle, at least half a dozen water bottles, and other assorted trash, stuffing it all into plastic bags or the old red tote bag. One of the ropes hanging from a tree was used to tie together whatever wouldn’t go into SPHP’s backpack.
When the sacks and tote bag were full, there wasn’t much trash left around. The hideous hammock was still there, the First Aid kit and pens, plus the old grill, but almost everything else was packed up ready to go. Which way to go, though? With so much junk to carry out, SPHP was now interested in getting it all back to the G6 as expeditiously as possible.
Lupe and SPHP left Pugg’s Keep to go check out the N end of Steamboat Rock. Lupe hadn’t been there yet. Maybe there was an easier way down?
The N end of the mountain turned out to be narrower and rockier than any other part. The terrain was more broken up. There were a couple of significant breaks in the cliff line where it might be possible to go down to the W, but it was hard to know for sure without actually going down and scouting out the possibilities.
The very N end of Steamboat Rock was a narrow, discontinuous line of stone. SPHP concluded it was probably best for Lupe to just leave Steamboat Rock the same way she had come up. Before leaving, Lupe and SPHP returned one more time to Pugg’s Keep to retrieve SPHP’s backpack, and the big bundle of Lupe Treasures destined for recycling or the garbage truck.
Carting the bundle of Lupe Treasures down off Steamboat Rock didn’t do anything to enhance SPHP’s speed or agility, but the trip back down the steep E slopes of the mountain wasn’t as bad as SPHP expected. Lupe certainly had plenty of time to sniff around! A few times she found squirrels in the trees, providing happy moments of enthusiastic barking.
Instead of carrying everything all the way back to the G6, SPHP left the Lupe Treasures by the side of USFS Road No. 147. Lupe and SPHP returned with the car to stuff it all in the trunk. There were even a few more Lupe Treasures to gather up alongside No. 147 to add to the collection. The more the merrier, in a way, although it made SPHP pretty disgusted with the human race. Well, not all of it, but a significant alcohol-soaked part of it for sure.
For no farther than it had been to Steamboat Rock, it had sure seemed to take a long time get there and explore it all. Lupe and SPHP had reached the G6 again at 1:31 PM (55°F!). There was still time to do something else on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 153, but not as much time as SPHP had expected. Before leaving the Steamboat Rock area, Lupe and SPHP drove N along USFS Road No. 147 a half mile or more for a parting view from another perspective.
After a couple photos of Steamboat Rock from the SE, Lupe and SPHP returned to Nemo Road and headed NW toward Nemo. Lupe stopped again along the highway for a look back at Steamboat Rock from the W.
Lupe and SPHP continued driving NW to Nemo and beyond. SPHP actually had another couple of peakbagging goals in mind for Lupe, although it was looking like there was probably only time enough for one of them now. SPHP wound up wasting more time looking for the best starting point, but eventually (2:26 PM, 51°F) parked the G6 near the start of USFS Road No. 414.6K just N of Nemo Road, about 2 miles N of Nemo.
No. 414.6K was snowy and partially snow-packed by vehicle tracks. It headed N for about a mile toward Lupe’s next two possible peakbagging goals, Green Top (5,360 ft.) and White Mansion (5,340 ft.). Just S of Green Top, No. 414.6K came to an intersection. By now SPHP had decided Lupe should go for Green Top instead of White Mansion.
Lupe and SPHP turned W (L) at the intersection. A sign said Lupe was still on USFS Road No. 414.6K. No. 414.6K gradually curved to the NW slowly gaining elevation as it proceeded up Green Draw. There were no vehicle tracks at all in the snow here, just a few animal tracks. Lupe liked this part of the woods. She was hearing things in the forest. Lupe sprinted off in various directions, racing back again every few minutes to check on SPHP’s progress.
Somewhere W of Green Top, Lupe and SPHP left No. 414.6K to start climbing NE through the forest. There were big boulders and occasional rock outcroppings along the way. The same geological rock formations present at Steamboat Rock were also present here. It was quite possible Lupe would have to find a way up over two bands of cliffs again to reach the summit of Green Top. It wasn’t at all certain Lupe would find a route to the top.
Lupe’s final approach up Green Top was from the NW. Fortunately, the rock outcroppings did not form continuous cliffs along in here. Lupe had no problem going up the mountain, but it was impossible to see how much farther Lupe had to go. Green Top was thickly forested. The young trees were tall, thin and densely packed.
Unlike Steamboat Rock, there wasn’t much left of the original limestone cap up at the top of Green Top Mountain. A narrow ridge ran NW/SE. A rocky little scramble up a short slope brought Lupe to the NW end of the summit ridge.
The views were really great! Snowy Custer Peak (6,804 ft.) off to the WNW was the feature attraction, but Terry Peak (7,064 ft.) and a wide swath of the central Black Hills was all on display, too.
Looking SE along the summit ridge, it appeared likely that Lupe wasn’t quite at the true summit of Green Top yet. The broken ridge was mostly hidden by forest. It still wasn’t clear if Lupe would succeed in reaching the actual summit.
Lupe and SPHP worked their way SE along the ridge, staying on the NE side. To the SW were cliffs – not high cliffs, but still cliffs. It wasn’t far to a platform of rock slightly higher than the rest of the ridge. Fortunately, there was a way to climb up on top with little trouble or risk. This platform was the true summit of Green Top! Lupe had arrived!
The entire slightly elevated summit area was only the size of a large room in a house. The best views were from the SSE around to the SW. By now it was maybe just 45 minutes until sunset. Green Top was going to be Lupe’s last peakbagging success of Expedition No. 153.
Lupe and SPHP sat together enjoying the view. SPHP petted and talked to Lupe. It was all very deep and profound stuff. Lupe listened carefully. She understood it all. In fact, she already knew it. SPHP ate an orange. Lupe wasn’t hungry, even though she hadn’t eaten all day.
The time to go always comes too quickly. Lupe and SPHP left the summit of Green Top, returning to the NW end of the ridge. There, after one last look toward Custer Peak, Lupe and SPHP started down the mountain. This time Lupe stayed farther E than she had been coming up. She lost plenty of elevation going down through the thick forest of spindly pines. She passed by lots of purple-gray boulders and rock outcroppings.
The rocks and dense forest ended as Lupe approached the saddle NW of Green Top. From the saddle, Lupe and SPHP headed ENE through a snowy field of tall grass and widely scattered pines to reach USFS Road No. 155.1A. To the NW, No. 155.1A went up Wilson Gulch, but Lupe and SPHP followed the road S between Green Top and White Mansion.
Cows were mooing at a very secluded ranch NW of White Mansion. No. 155.1A was very snowy. There were deep ruts in the snow where some jeep or high clearance vehicle had spun its way through. E of Green Top, Lupe and SPHP didn’t see the sunset. The temperature dropped as SPHP trudged S through the snow. Two big, erect American Dingo ears, and an arching curly tail led the way.
The cows left behind, the only sound was the soft crunch of Dingo paws on the now hardening snow. Before Lupe reached the intersection with USFS Road No. 414.6K, she heard them. It was that moment of twilight when the branches of the trees are an impenetrable black against the palest blue sky. The wild dogs of the forest, the coyotes, were howling.
For just a few minutes, the coyotes howled to one another. For just a few minutes, Lupe listened attentively to the call of the wild. Then she and SPHP crunched on in silence along the snowy road (5:23 PM, 35°).
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