Lupe was happy and excited. She was on her way to another Black Hills Expedition. On USFS Road No. 256, SPHP stopped the G6 along the road. There was a very nice stand of yellow aspens, and SPHP wanted a photo of it. This late in the season, most of the aspens higher up were probably past their prime already, but these still looked good. Their golden glory wouldn’t last long, though. Leaves fell by the thousands with every gust of the NW breeze.
Lupe’s chance to sniff around along No. 256 didn’t last long. Soon it was time to continue on. Lupe enjoyed the long ride through the hills. She rode with her head out the window in the wind, barking ferociously at cows and horses along the way. By the time most of them even looked up to see what the commotion was all about, she was already past them. It didn’t matter, Lupe was satisfied she had done her barking duty.
At 10:59 AM, SPHP parked the G6 at the Old Baldy trailhead off USFS Road No. 134 . It was 67°F, overcast and breezy. Old Baldy Trail No. 66 goes to Old Baldy Mountain (6,096 ft.). There is a W route and an E route to get there, the W route being a little longer. Both routes meet up again 0.8 mile from the summit for the final climb. Both trails go up and down through the hills, but there really isn’t all that much net elevation change – the trail is pretty easy.
Lupe and SPHP took the E route to Old Baldy Mountain. This trail is a bit unusual for the Black Hills. It goes through a forest consisting mostly of aspens with some scattered pines. Usually it is the other way around, and the pines dominate. Most of the aspens were well beyond their peak for fall colors, but there was still enough color around for a very pleasant journey. The trail and forest floor were now decorated with the speckled browns, pale yellows and golds of the fallen aspen leaves.
At the low point along the E route of the Old Baldy Trail, there was a sign for Baldy Lake. Beyond the sign was a big beautiful pasture and a tiny stream, but no lake. Baldy Lake couldn’t have been more than just a stock pond, even when it did exist. The tiny creek trickled through a breach in a low earthen dam where Baldy Lake used to be. After crossing the tiny creek, it didn’t take Lupe long to reach the junction of the E and W routes to Old Baldy Mountain.
The trail up to the summit of Old Baldy Mountain gains only about 300 feet of elevation. It didn’t take Lupe long to reach the top. The NW breeze was still blowing, but the clouds were gone. Now it was sunny, clear and rather warm out, especially for 1/3 of the way through October. Lupe was thirsty! She had a big drink of water up on Old Baldy, one of many this day.
Old Baldy Mountain isn’t particularly high for the area, but there were some pretty nice views. Terry Peak (7,064 ft.) could be seen about 11 miles to the ESE. The Beaver Creek valley was just S of Old Baldy. Lupe’s next destination, Cement Ridge (6,674 ft.), was several miles to the WSW.
Lupe and SPHP went back down Old Baldy Mountain. This time Lupe took the W route on Old Baldy Trail No. 66. Lupe followed it quite a long way as it wound around through the forest. She came to one spot where there was an unobstructed view of Old Baldy Mountain from the S.
When the W route of the Old Baldy trail started taking Lupe SE, she left the trail and plunged into the forest. Lupe needed to head W to get to Schoolhouse Gulch Road, USFS Road No. 222. Going W through the forest was a short cut. Lupe was happy in the forest. She likes being off any road or trail. It really wasn’t very far to No. 222. Soon Lupe and SPHP were there. Lupe may have been disappointed the shortcut was so very short.
Lupe and SPHP headed N on No. 222. Part of the time, Lupe and SPHP just paralleled the road out in the field to the W. Lupe got a drink out of Beaver Creek where she crossed it still heading N. No. 222 curved to the NW. As a road hike on a fairly major gravel road, Lupe wasn’t all that thrilled with it, but it was still quite pretty. Lupe dashed in and out of the forest checking for squirrels. SPHP started collecting some of the inevitable trash along a main road.
After following USFS Road No. 222 for a couple of miles, Lupe reached USFS Road No. 103. This road was more to Lupe’s liking. It was more like a jeep trail or logging road. It wound around to the S before turning W to connect with USFS Road No. 850 up on Cement Ridge. Before reaching Cement Ridge, Lupe crossed the border from South Dakota into Wyoming.
From where Lupe reached No. 850, the Cement Ridge lookout tower was still a mile or more off to the NW. Lupe and SPHP mostly stayed NE of the road following the highest part of the ridgeline. There were big views off to the NE over the northern Black Hills of South Dakota. The prairie could be seen beyond the hills.
Vehicles started coming and going on the road. Lupe was going to have company up at the lookout tower. As it turned out, Lupe was never alone up there. Four or five carloads of people with kids and dogs arrived. Lupe was a bit overwhelmed with so many dogs, so Lupe and SPHP went a bit W of the lookout tower to an old picnic table. Lupe panted and rested in the shade of the table.
Cement Ridge is located at the NW end of the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is so far NW, that the lookout tower is actually a mile into Wyoming. The hillside surrounding the lookout tower is barren, and has a commanding view of a good deal of territory. Crow Peak (5,787 ft.) was off to the NNE. Warren Peaks (6,650 ft.) and Sundance Mountain (5,824 ft.) were far away to the NW. Inyan Kara (6,360 ft.) was on the horizon to the SW.
Unfortunately, there was a fair amount of smoke haze in the air. The views, especially to the W towards the sun, were not as distinct as they normally would be. The camera just didn’t want to pick up the hazy peaks in the distance towards the W.
The topo maps on Peakbagger.com show the true summit of Cement Ridge more than a mile to the SE of where the lookout tower is. Peakbagger shows a high point there of 6674 feet, compared to 6647 feet at the lookout tower. It doesn’t really look higher than the lookout tower, especially from the lookout tower. SPHP doubts that it really is higher.
Lupe did not say what she thought. She seemed unconcerned by this issue. Nevertheless, when Lupe was done at the lookout tower, Lupe and SPHP went and climbed up to this other high point. There was what might of been a small limestone cairn next to a bush, but nothing else of note. The only view from the purported true summit of Cement Ridge was back to the NW towards the lookout tower.
By now it was time to start making tracks back to the G6. The sun was still above the horizon, but only for another 30 or 40 minutes. Lupe and SPHP left the controversial summit of Cement Ridge. Lupe explored the rest of this ridge, which trended to the SE. The ridge remained quite high for at least 0.25 mile. Although this ridge was all forested, there were some small NE facing cliffs at regular intervals. There were often quite nice views in that direction from these cliffs.
The ridge didn’t lose much elevation until it curved to the S, then it went steadily downhill. Lupe loved following the ridge. There was no trail at all. She played wild forest Dingo, running here and there exploring everything. The sun went down a little while before the ridge ended at a pasture full of cows. The cows made way for Lupe. Just beyond their pasture was a dirt road.
SPHP was looking for USFS Road No. 105, but knew this wasn’t it. Lupe and SPHP started following the dirt road S. When it curved to the SE, suddenly there was rather loud gunfire. The sound was coming from over the ridge to the W. Lupe was immediately anxious. She wanted to stop and hide. SPHP made a number of short stops to encourage the nervous Carolina Dog, but mostly urged her to just keep going.
Lupe reached USFS Road No. 105. A marker showed she had been following No. 105.1D. There was a nice red barn in the field to the S of No. 105. SPHP now knew for certain where Lupe was. She was maybe 3 miles from the G6. The gunfire continued for 30 minutes. Finally it ended, but Lupe wasn’t immediately relieved. She kept begging to stop. SPHP even carried her a couple of times, but only for short distances. Lupe made slow progress in between many stops along the way.
When it got dark enough for the stars and flashlight to come out, Lupe finally felt better. The gunfire was long gone. Under cover of darkness, her confidence was back. When she reached the G6 at 7:44 PM (47°F), she wasn’t ready to get in and go home. Instead, she wanted to stay out under the stars and play wild forest Dingo all night.
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