SPHP postponed Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 132 by one day due to the threat of rain. A big storm did hit Hill City and flooded the highway. The next day was a gorgeous early summer day. Lupe was eager to go. The highway was no longer flooded, although the creeks and streams were still running high and out of their banks. At 8:27 AM, SPHP parked the G6 just off USFS Road No. 301.1A about 100 yards from its junction with USFS Road No. 301. It was 57 °F with a slight N breeze and a few clouds around.
Lupe’s peakbagging goals for this Expedition included Copper, Odakota, Bear and Green Mountains. All four of these mountains are in the west central Black Hills along the E edge of the high ground of the Limestone Plateau country. Approaches from the W involve very little elevation gain, but to the E there are cliffs or steep slopes.
Copper Mountain (6,920 ft.) was only about 0.5 mile to the W of where the G6 was parked, so Lupe headed there first. Lupe circled around to the SW side of Copper Mountain before climbing up on the W ridge. Once up on the W ridge, it was a gentle climb through a young forest to the summit. Soon Lupe was posing for photos on the cliffs just S of the summit, and drinking out of water holes in the rocks. Next stop would be Odakota Mountain, now in view 1.25 miles to the SW.
Odakota Mountain (7,200 ft.) is the 2nd highest mountain in the Black Hills according to Peakbagger.com. Lupe had been up there once before on Expedition No. 87 on 5-10-14. Lupe headed W off Copper Mountain, with only modest elevation loss. She found the first of many big mud puddles to cool off in on the W side of Copper Mountain. Lupe and SPHP reached USFS Road No. 301 again and followed it W only as far as the intersection with No. 299, which heads down Bobcat Gulch to the Boy Scout camp.
At the intersection, Lupe and SPHP left the road and started W up the draw to the S of USFS Road No. 301. SPHP remembered that Odakota Mountain was full of deadfall timber the last time Lupe had been there. Pine bark beetles were wreaking havoc with the forest. Despite all the fallen trees, there were still enough dead or dying trees still standing to obstruct the views at the summit. As Lupe and SPHP climbed Odakota Mountain from the NE, it became apparent the situation hadn’t changed at all in a year’s time. There was still lots of deadfall timber to contend with.
Instead of going directly up to the summit, Lupe and SPHP climbed to a high point on the ridge E of the summit. From there, Lupe and SPHP headed away from the summit towards the SE to see if there was any place where there were any decent views. It was slow going with all the deadfall to work around. At the very S end of the E edge of the mountain were a couple of rock ledges with open views to the S and E. This area is less than 100′ lower than the summit and features the only clear views from Odakota Mountain at this time.
From the viewpoints, Lupe and SPHP worked their way back to the NW to the true summit of Odakota Mountain. At the summit, SPHP was surprised to find a 2.5 foot high cairn made of limestone. It hadn’t been there the first time Lupe had climbed Odakota Mountain on Expedition No. 87. Lupe headed W off Odakota Mountain in the direction of Long Draw. She could have gone a couple of miles NNW to Green Mountain (7,164 ft.) at this point, but SPHP was more interested in exploring Long Draw first.
USFS Road No. 693 comes within 0.25 mile NW of Odakota Mountain and goes SW for 3 miles or so to Spring Creek where it turns W. Lupe and SPHP headed SW down Long Draw sometimes on the road, but often off of it just traipsing through the fields. The bottom of the draw was mostly meadows with scattered aspens and pines. Lupe romped her way through Long Draw sniffing this way and that. She returned to No. 693 now and then in search of mud puddles to get a drink from and cool off in. SPHP is pretty sure Lupe gets plenty of minerals in her diet from all the murky mud puddle water she drinks.
Close to Spring Creek, USFS Road No. 693 turned and headed W up the canyon following Spring Creek upstream. Instead of heading W, Lupe and SPHP left the road here and headed down to cross Spring Creek. Even with all the recent wet weather, Spring Creek was only a few feet wide this close to its source. The water was amazingly clear and cold. Lupe cooled off in the stream and had a better drink than the mud puddles offered. A short distance downstream, Lupe came to the intersection of Long Draw and Grand Vista Draw.
USFS Road No. 291.3A headed up Grand Vista Draw. Lupe followed it S up Grand Vista Draw as it gradually turned SE. Spring Creek had continued on down the canyon to the E and there was no water other than scattered mud puddles in Grand Vista Draw. A spur off No. 291.3A headed E to the scenic overlook at the edge of the limestone plateau about a mile WSW of the Boy Scout camp. The overlook is a block of limestone about 20′ below the rim of the high country. There is a trail leading down to it. At this scenic overlook, Lupe and SPHP rested for a bit. Lupe was kind of hungry by now and ate some Taste of the Wild.
Lupe’s next Peakbagging goal was Bear Mountain (7,166 ft.), the 3rd highest mountain in the Black Hills. Bear Mountain is about 4 miles S of Odakota Mountain, but Lupe’s route through Long and Grand Vista Draws had taken her over 1.5 mile W before working back to the E. Bear Mountain was still 2 miles SSE from the Boy Scout camp overlook. There was no road. From the overlook, Lupe and SPHP just went S along the rim of the high country until almost to the ranger tower on Bear Mountain.
Instead of going directly to the ranger station, SPHP led Lupe E along the Bear Mountain ridge. From the Boy Scout camp overlook, it had appeared the highest point on Bear Mountain was at the E end of the mountain. This wasn’t strictly true. The highest point really is where the ranger tower is located. Still, it was worth a bit of exploring to see what the views might be like from the E end of Bear Mountain. The best view proved to be towards the N back toward Odakota and Copper Mountains where Lupe had just come from.
After exploring the E end of the mountain, Lupe went back W to the summit at the ranger tower. Lupe and SPHP climbed up the tower. Three steps from the top, Lupe decided it was a bit scary and started turning around to go back down, but SPHP urged her onward. A ranger was on duty and Lupe got to go inside the ranger’s station at the top of the tower. She laid on the floor listening to the radio chatter while SPHP talked to the ranger.
The ranger had been working this job at various towers in the Black Hills region for 13 years. He described the Bear Mountain tower as the Cadillac of ranger facilities in the Black Hills. The station at the top of the tower was roomier than at any of the other towers. The ranger said he had seen two tornados from ranger towers in his 13 years on the job.
The 360° view from Bear Mountain at the top of the tower was really great! SPHP had been told once before that Laramie Peak (10,272 ft.) in Wyoming can be seen from Bear Mountain when conditions are clear. The ranger confirmed this, but said it wasn’t that clear very often.
The most immediately useful of the interesting things SPHP learned up in the Bear Mountain lookout tower was that it was 3:30 PM. It was time for Lupe to head back N! Lupe and SPHP bid adieu to the ranger and headed down off the ranger tower. Lupe went W on USFS Road No. 293. (No. 293 goes right to the top of Bear Mountain, approaching it from the SSW. Bear Mountain is easily accessibly by car.) At the first hill to the W was a big tower. There Lupe and SPHP left the road and went along a forested ridge descending towards the NW.
The forested ridge ended in a meadow where there were some pretty aspen trees with light green new leaves shining in the sunlight. Beyond the meadow was USFS Road No. 291.3A, the same road that Lupe had followed up Grand Vista Draw earlier before taking a spur E to the Boy Scout camp overlook. SPHP intended to follow No. 291.3A back to Grand Vista Draw, but at a little pass shortly before getting there, took a side road labeled No. 2 North with an orange marker.
The side road went W then N and then turned back to the S. SPHP didn’t want to go S. Lupe needed to go N, so SPHP abandoned No. 2 North in favor of a trek through the forest continuing N towards Grand Vista Draw. It all worked out just fine and soon Lupe reached No. 291.3A again in Grand Vista Draw as anticipated. Lupe now started retracing the path she had followed earlier in the day. Lupe and SPHP halted upon reaching Spring Creek just S of USFS Road No. 693 in Long Draw.
Lupe got a big, cold clear drink from Spring Creek and finished her Taste of the Wild. SPHP studied maps. SPHP had intended to take USFS Road No. 693 W to No. 291 and then head N to the Four Corners Well. From there the plan had been to go on to Green Mountain (7,164 ft.) via a short stint to the E on No. 301 and then taking USFS Road No. 691 NNE to Green Mountain. However, it was too late in the day to do all that. As usual, SPHP had bit off more than could be chewed. The fastest route to Green Mountain was going back up Long Draw.
So Lupe headed back up Long Draw on No. 693. SPHP saw a couple of elk along the way. Lupe barked at chipmunks and squirrels, and didn’t even notice the elk. As Lupe and SPHP neared the high point on No. 693, SPHP decided Lupe may as well go and hit the summit of Odakota Mountain again since it was only 0.25 mile away to the E. Lupe found the cairn at the high point again and had her second picture of the day taken there.
Lupe and SPHP left Odakota Mountain and headed back to USFS Road No. 693. Although there was still probably time to reach Green Mountain before it got dark, a large cloud was now hanging around in that direction. It had already been a long day. SPHP didn’t really think the cloud was going to cause any problems, but used it as an excuse to shorten the trip back to the G6. SPHP decided Lupe would just go back and have another look at the world from the top of Copper Mountain. Green Mountain would just have to wait for another day.
Lupe didn’t care. She was just as happy going to Copper Mountain again. Lupe and SPHP followed No. 693 back to No. 301. At the high point on No. 301 near Copper Mountain, Lupe and SPHP left the road and started the modest climb up Copper Mountain along the W ridge. Earlier in the day, SPHP had wondered if there were good lookout points along the N side of the W ridge, but hadn’t gone over there. Now Lupe and SPHP headed over to the N side of the ridge.
Pine bark beetles need to kill more trees for there to be much of a view to the N. Glimpses of Gillette Prairie were frequently available as Lupe and SPHP followed the N edge of the ridge heading E towards the summit of Copper Mountain, but there just weren’t any unobstructed views anywhere. It wasn’t until Lupe was very close to the E edge of Copper Mountain that there were views off to the N. Even then they were only partial views.
Lupe tagged the summit of Copper Mountain for the 2nd time this day. The sun was still up, but getting low. The big cloud to the WNW over by Green Mountain was still hanging around. Most of the rest of the sky had only scattered clouds. The views to the E and S from the SE edge of Copper Mountain were still the best. Sometimes slanting sunlight broke through the clouds to the WNW and illuminated the scene. Lupe and SPHP stayed for a while on Copper Mountain, taking a break from the long day’s trek and enjoying the moment.
Then it was time to go. Lupe and SPHP left Copper Mountain heading W, but soon turned SW and then S to reach USFS Road No. 301 more quickly. SPHP then followed the road the rest of the way back to No. 301.1A and the G6. Lupe wasn’t quite done though. While SPHP walked the road, Lupe dashed in and out of the forest still sniffing madly and exploring. It was 8:10 PM and 58°F out when Lupe and SPHP reached the G6 again. The sun was still up for a bit longer and shining on some of the mountain tops. Lupe laid down by the G6. She didn’t want to hop in. Nearly 12 hours on the go wasn’t enough!
For a few minutes SPHP let Lupe rest on the ground. Then SPHP lifted the reluctant Carolina dog into the G6. Lupe wasn’t tired. She didn’t curl up on the passenger side seat like she often does after a long expedition. Instead she stood up with her paws on the dash still looking for adventure. SPHP lowered the windows so she could ride with her head out the window of the G6. She loved the wind rushing past her face. She barked at cows and horses as she flew on by.
At a couple of points along County Road No. 309 before reaching the highway there were quite a few cows and their calves right on the road. Greeted by a hysterical dingo, they looked quite puzzled at what all the excitement was about. Finally they got the idea that the crazy dingo was trying to be big and scary and the cows all moseyed off the road. Lupe continued to stand up and bark at every opportunity all the way along Deerfield Road to Hill City. With no cows or horses in sight in Hill City, she was finally content to curl up on the seat and pant for a while. It had been another great day to be an American dingo in the Black Hills of South Dakota!
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