8:26 AM, 32ºF, Boulder Hill trailhead along USFS Road No. 358 – A bit of a chill in the air when Lupe leapt out of the G6, but not a cloud in the sky. Supposed to warm up nicely. In fact, it had already been unseasonably warm the last couple of days. Not much snow left at all, although some lingered on N slopes and in shady spots.
The Boulder Hill trailhead! Been a while since we’ve been here, SPHP. Are we going to climb Boulder Hill again?
Nope, not today, Loop! How about a romp along Flume Trail No. 50 all the way to Sheridan Lake?
Sounds good, SPHP! The Flume Trail is a snap!
Oh, we’re gonna toughen it up a bit, though. Climb 2 or 3 peaks with more than 300 feet of prominence that I dug up from Lists of John.
I knew there would be a catch!
Hah! Wouldn’t want it to be too easy now, would we? One of those peaks is right here, just NW of the trailhead. Let’s tag it first, then hit the trail.
Peak 5048 wasn’t going to be all that much of a climb. 350 feet ought to about do it. The E slope looked easier than the S slope did, so Loopster worked her way around that way. Partway up, she caught a glimpse of Boulder Hill (5,331 ft.) less than a mile away.
Most of the ascent was on pine needles with some deadfall in the mix. A short scrambly stretch appeared just before Lupe reached the top. Peak 5048’s summit proved to be kind of unusual, 120 to 150 feet across with 3 separate rock formations forming distinct high points. Lupe climbed the SE one first.
Peak 5048 was too heavily forested to permit much in the way of views, although it was possible to catch glimpses of Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) and Five Points (6,221 ft.) by moving around a bit.
The Carolina Dog visited all 3 of Peak 5048’s high points. The NW one proved to be the true summit. SPHP shared a chocolate coconut bar with her there.
Loop completed her tour of Peak 5048 by checking out a crude shelter tucked in the low spot between the 3 high points. Roomy enough for an American Dingo, but it sure looked like the roof would leak. On such a beautiful day, Lupe had no need for a shelter, anyway.
Lupe was already starting back down the mountain when she stumbled onto the best view of all from just below the SE high point. An open spot provided a nice panorama of Boulder Hill, Silver Mountain (5,405 ft.), and Black Elk Peak.
With her exploration of Peak 5048 complete, Lupe returned to Flume Trail No. 50 at the Boulder Hill trailhead and headed W.
After a short stretch in pine forest, the trail crossed USFS Road No. 358, entering more open territory. This was all part of Section 2 as shown on the Flume Trail map. Passing through a field of scrub oak, the trail went slowly downhill. Lupe got a nice look at Peak 5048 from below.
Near the end of Section 2, the trail gained roughly 40 feet before starting gradually down again. 0.6 mile from the trailhead, Looper reached an intersection. Loop B, which took the long way (3.8 miles!) back to the Boulder Hill trailhead, was to the R. Section 1 of the Flume Trail, which went to Sheridan Lake, was to the L.
Section 1 started out winding NW along mostly pine-forested hillsides. The trail was very flat along in here, apparently following the original route of the old Spring Creek to Rockerville flume bed.
15 minutes brought Lupe to a road. Where to? No sign of where the trail went from here. SPHP initially thought the trail must cross the road, but could see no indication of it on the other side. However, a more careful search revealed a couple of 1 inch tall stubs of a broken wand right along the edge of the opposite side of the road.
Aha! Must be the way! Continuing WNW, the direction the trail had been going where it reached the road, Lupe plunged ahead. While she sniffed through snowy open forest, SPHP kept an eye out for some clear indication of the trail, because there was no real sign of it yet.
After 400 or 500 feet, the American Dingo came to a barbed wire fence. Still nothing. Suspicious. The trail had been really easy to follow until it reached the road. Following the fence line S, Lupe was soon at the road again. Maybe she ought to follow it?
The road was muddy, full of slush and big puddles. 0.2 mile S brought Lupe to a green gate. A “50” diamond on the L post confirmed that she was going the right way.
Beyond the gate, the road kept winding S or SW. Lupe finally came to a cut where the road started turning W. Just past the cut was a junction with another road that went S. Fortunately, another “50” diamond was on a tree to the W. Helpful! Ignoring the road to the S, Lupe went W.
Soon turning SW again, the road remained quite level as Lupe followed it along the SE side of a shallow valley. (Johnson Gulch about a mile NW of Boulder Hill on the topo map.)
The valley narrowed, and Loop reached another junction. 75 feet S of this intersection, a leaning brown wand showed where Flume Trail No. 50 finally left the road. After crossing a tiny frozen creek, the trail went N on the W side of Johnson Gulch, eventually turning NE as the valley widened out. Boulder Hill (5,331 ft.) came back into sight.
Flume Trail No. 50 kept coming to various intersections with old jeep trails or USFS Roads, but seldom followed them. Johnson Gulch fed into a huge open field to the N known as Baker Park. Before getting all the way to it, the trail curved W again, but for a while Lupe enjoyed mostly tree-broken views of Baker Park.
Somewhere along in here, it became clear that the Flume Trail was no longer following the old flume bed. The trail headed W up onto a grassy ridge. Peak 5006 and Peak 5040 were both in view only 0.5 mile WNW.
Lupe had been going for quite a while now, and this seemed like a good spot to take a break. Stopping in the shade of a large, lone pine tree, SPHP had an apple, and split another chocolate coconut bar with Loop.
After a nice rest, Lupe continued on her way. The trail headed NW along the ridge, which soon ended. Flume Trail No. 50 switchbacked down a NE slope, turned NW at the bottom close to Baker Park, then looped SW up the Bittersweet Creek valley. Bittersweet Creek was non-existent, no surface water at all. The grassy terrain was quite gentle, and before long the American Dingo was across the valley, heading N again.
The single track trail came to yet another road, and this time followed it NW for a while, as evidenced by occasional “50” diamonds on the trees and other markers. Steadily gaining elevation, it soon became apparent that any views of Boulder Hill were about to be left behind for good.
As the road headed farther into the trees, Lupe came to a second green gate. No “50” diamonds or any other markers here. Didn’t seem right.
Glancing around, SPHP could sort of make out what might be a diamond 150 feet away at the top of a slope to the SW. Looper went to investigate. Sure enough! The Flume Trail must have left the road a little way back. It was up here.
The whole mood of Flume Trail No. 50 changed as Lupe continued over the rise. Losing some elevation on the other side, she entered a denser pine forest. Gone were all the relatively open views and gentle terrain, although the trail itself was super easy. Reaching the old flume bed, the trail leveled out again, but the mountain slopes on each side were much steeper than before.
Flume Trail No. 50 again made another long foray SW along the SE side of a deeper valley. A tiny creek crossed at the far end was frozen solid.
Now on the NW side of the valley, the trail narrowed as it headed NNE. After a bit, a wall of rock appeared ahead. The trail went straight for a wood-framed black opening. Lupe had reached the first of 2 tunnels.
This was the short tunnel. Hardly anything to it, except for a trail system map posted inside on the R as Lupe entered. SPHP paused briefly for a quick look, before the Carolina Dog went out the other end of the tunnel.
Even though it was short, the tunnel was still pretty cool. Definitely an unmistakable landmark along the way. After going through the tunnel, the trail continued N, but it wasn’t long before it bent sharply W.
The stretch ahead was flat, but icy and narrow, with exceptionally steep banks on both sides. Sheridan Lake Road was visible down in the Spring Creek valley on the R (N).
The icy, narrow, steep situation persisted as Flume Trail No. 50 curved NW. However, it soon curved W again, then SW. As the Spring Creek valley got left behind, the surrounding terrain was no longer as steep. Just a pleasant stroll through sunlit forest again!
Everything proceeded along smoothly enough for another 10 minutes. Then Lupe came to a cut. A few minutes beyond the cut, another dark opening appeared.
Peering into the long tunnel, Lupe saw a path of 3 planks laid side by side leading into the darkness. No light could be detected indicating any opening at the far end. Spooky!
The Carolina Dog ventured in. She didn’t have to go very far before light could be seen quite some distance ahead. Reassuring! Confident now that there actually was another end to this tunnel, Lupe kept going.
Some of the plank flooring was loose and sagged under SPHP’s weight. Lupe had no problem, but the ceiling was low enough in spots to make SPHP stoop. The light at the far end of the tunnel kept growing, though. Gonna be fine!
The short tunnel was only what, 20 or 30 feet long? The long tunnel was 10 times that. All went well until the end when SPHP’s head bashed into the very last timber overhead.
Smooth move, SPHP!
Thanks, Loop! Just call me Grace!
You, OK?
Yeah, mostly. Only whacked my head. Can’t be too serious!
Past the long tunnel, the world seemed incredibly bright. Spring Creek, many times larger than the little trickles Lupe had come to so far, could now be heard way down in the canyon ahead. Traversing another steep slope, Flume Trail No. 50 headed S past a big wall of rock.
Looper was soon past the wall, the trail remaining quite level the entire way. Rocky portions of the flume bed were still ahead as Flume Trail No. 50 curved WSW.
The rushing sound Spring Creek was making down in the canyon meant one thing. Looper was getting close to Sheridan Lake! Before long, the dam appeared ahead.
Taking it’s sweet time getting there, the trail made one last foray to the S. Near the end, the trail was sort of messed up. Hard to tell exactly where it went. Lupe wound up overlooking the spillway from a spot that couldn’t have been part of the official trail.
A short steep scramble, tricky for SPHP with the slippery snow, got Lupe back on track. The frozen surface of Sheridan Lake came into sight. A few minutes later, Loopster reached Flume Trail No. 50’s junction with Centennial Trail No. 89.
Heading down to the lake, SPHP spotted another trail system map like the one back at the short tunnel.
Flume Trail No. 50 went on to a choice of 2 different trailheads from here. One route went SW paralleling the lakeshore for nearly a mile, all the way to the Calumet trailhead at Blue Wing. Another spur of similar length left the Sheridan Lake dam, winding NE down along Spring Creek to the Upper Spring Creek trailhead.
Which way, SPHP? Or are we heading back now?
Oh, no! We’re not done yet, Loop. You’ve still got a mountain to climb! Remember I said we would climb 2 or 3 peaks today? That big hill right across the lake is Peak 5200. We’re going over there next.
So, cross the dam? Is that how we get there?
Righto, Dingo!
The Sheridan Lake dam was as far as Lupe was taking the Flume Trail today. Crossing the dam, she came to a stone stairway at the N end that wound up onto a small hill. On the other side of the hill, an excellent footbridge spanned a narrow, vertical-sided gorge where Spring Creek left Sheridan Lake.
The intention was to follow a road going up the valley N of the bridge all the way to a pass before turning toward Peak 5200, but the road turned out to be muddy and soft. Lupe didn’t get far before SPHP was ready to abandon it. Turning W, the American Dingo started up a steep slope.
The shattered remains of a forest created a deadfall mess. Lupe leapt over it all, as SPHP tried to pick the easiest winding route higher. The more elevation Loop gained, the worse the deadfall seemed to be, but at last she arrived at a high spot at the end of Peak 5200’s SE ridge.
The true summit was still another 0.2 mile NW and 140 feet higher, but since this high spot was fairly open and closer to Sheridan Lake, the views might actually be better from here. Time for a break, in any case. The high point was small and rocky. Lupe found SPHP’s lap by far the most comfortable spot to enjoy the view.
Boulder Hill (5,331 ft.) and Silver Mountain (5,405 ft.) were in sight more than 3 miles SE. Lupe had actually traveled a lot farther than that to get here. The Flume Trail had done an enormous amount of winding around. The N end of Calumet Ridge (5,601 ft.) was less than 1.5 miles S. Bluelead Mountain (5,170 ft.), where Lupe had seen a mountain lion in 2016, was even closer, but was so small by comparison that it didn’t appear significant at all.
Most of the E third of Sheridan Lake was in view, including half of the dam. Mount Warner (5,889 ft.) stood well beyond the lake, 3 miles SSW.
An apple and some Taste of the Wild vanished. Loopster and SPHP split a chocolate coconut bar. This was a cool spot, but the sun’s angle was beginning to impart a certain degree of urgency.
Time to get to the top! Heading NW, Lupe pushed for the summit.
Some deadfall to deal with, and that was about it. Lupe arrived at the top of Peak 5200 to find it more open than SPHP expected. Two small collections of stones separated by 15 or 20 feet vied for absolute high point. Much roomier up here than on the SE ridge, and not very rocky.
Only a small piece of Sheridan Lake was visible to the S. More could be seen to the W, but just a tree-broken view.
Long ago a fire had wiped out the entire forest on Peak 5200’s N slope. In fact, smoke from a controlled burn was visible right now some miles away, drifting W toward Twin Sisters (5,244 ft.) and the grasslands of the Bald Hills.
Peak 5171, also on today’s list of possible climbs, was in sight to the NE. SPHP dithered. Yes or no? The Carolina Dog was completely in favor of pondering the question over the last chocolate coconut bar. The Taste of the Wild supply took another hit, too.
Nope. Too late in the day. Might be dark before Lupe could even get there. Peak 5171 was out. Another time.
45 minutes went by up on Peak 5200. Toward the end, Lupe ventured far enough down the S slope to get a better view of Sheridan Lake.
Her last act was to perch on Peak 5200’s N high point. Familiar territory was off to the NW. New Year’s Eve Peak (6,046 ft.), Peak 5917, and Peak 5800 were all in sight.
Onward! Puppy, ho!
The trek back commenced. Heading E, SPHP contemplated going down the N slope. Rejecting that notion due to the amount of deadfall, a clear view of Peak 5200’s S slope all the way down to Sheridan Lake appeared steep, but not all that bad.
Deceptive! Not the way to go! Not only steep, but choked with deadfall practically the entire way. A use trail ran near the lakeshore when Lupe finally got down there, but despite some decent stretches, it was up and down over rocks and deadfall trying to get past pinch points.
Happily, it all worked in the end. Loop made it back to Centennial Trail No. 89 and the footbridge over Spring Creek. The sun hung low in the W as she headed S across the dam. An hour until sunset max.
It was a long, winding march back on Flume Trail No. 50, but Lupe made good time. Even so, Orion was brilliant in the night sky long before all was said and done. (End 7:52 PM, 33ºF)
Links:
Next Black Hills Expedition Prior Black Hills Expedition
Flume Trail No. 50 – Map & Brochure
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