A warmish forecast on a day in early December meant an opportunity for Lupe to go on one of her Black Hills Expeditions. SPHP parked the G6 at Newton Lake (just a pond, really) along Deerfield Road a few miles NW of Hill City. It was 9:46 AM, but still only 32°F. The sky was all overcast. It didn’t look threatening at all, but maybe things weren’t going to warm up as much as advertised.
Well, it didn’t really matter. Conditions were good enough, and Lupe was already here. There was no way the American Dingo was going to let SPHP back out now! Lupe and SPHP crossed Deerfield Road, and got on the Mickelson Trail heading SE for Burnt Fork Road. Almost immediately, though, SPHP decided it would be more fun to just cut through the forest instead. Lupe and SPHP left the trail to plunge NE into the forest.
It wasn’t far at all to Burnt Fork Road, but Lupe came to a fence. SPHP decided to just follow the fence N, staying on the W side of it. Union Hill (6,120 ft.), Lupe’s first peakbagging goal of the day, was to the NE. By heading N a little bit, maybe Lupe could find a route that avoided crossing the fence line.
Lupe wasn’t concerned about the route to Union Hill. She was looking for a route to squirrels. She soon found one, too! A whole lot of barking commenced. To Lupe’s surprise, her barking was answered – not by the squirrel, but by a couple of dogs who must have lived nearby. One of them, a big black and white dog, made an appearance at the edge of a clearing to the E.
The black and white dog approached Lupe warily. One can’t be too careful when dealing with a Carolina Dog, you know! Lupe and the black and white dog had a good sniff. The black and white dog seemed friendly, but was suspicious of SPHP. When SPHP tried to get close, the black and white dog slunk off barking and growling.
Lupe had come to an old road on the W side of the clearing. Lupe and SPHP followed it N, and soon came to an intersection. A marker showed that Lupe had been on USFS Road No. 389.1Q. The other road SPHP recognized as No. 389.1B, which ran E/W here just to the S of Lowden Mountain (6,055 ft.). SPHP had intended for Lupe to climb Lowden Mountain, but only after climbing Union Hill first.
However, with Lowden Mountain so close already, the plan changed. Union Hill could wait. Lupe and SPHP started climbing up the S slope of Lowden Mountain. The first half of the climb was steepest, but really not bad. About halfway up, Lupe started coming to rock outcroppings, but they were pretty easily traversed or avoided. The second half of the climb gained elevation more gradually. Lupe had to go farther N than SPHP expected, but it wasn’t too long before Lupe was at the summit.
The very highest part of the mountain was in a relatively small area. Pine trees blocked the view in most directions. However, a little way to the E was a mostly bare ridge offering wide open views. Union Hill was on display about 1.25 miles almost straight E.
This was actually Lupe’s 3rd time at the summit of Lowden Mountain. Way back on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 54 on 4-6-13, Lupe had climbed Lowden Mountain twice on the same day. SPHP remembered that by going down a bit to the NW of the summit, it was possible to reach a very rocky high ridge that extended out the W. Lupe and SPHP left the summit to go over and check out the views from the rocky ridge. The best views were to the WNW and S.
Lupe left Lowden Mountain going down the steep N slope. For some reason there wasn’t any snow until Lupe had lost quite a bit of elevation. Lupe and SPHP angled toward the NE as Lupe descended. When she reached a forest of quite young pines, there was plenty of snow around. The young Ponderosa pines were growing very tightly packed together, making the going a little difficult for SPHP.
By the time Lupe was out of the thick stand of young trees, she was so far down the mountain that the terrain was leveling out fast. Lupe came to USFS Road No. 389.1K, which wound around, but generally made its way NNE. No. 389.1K led Lupe to USFS Road No. 389.1A, where SPHP stopped to check the maps. The maps showed a bewildering maze of roads in this area. Lupe had gone so far N that Union Hill was now off to the SE.
The partially restored ruins of the old Gold Mountain mine weren’t too far away to the E. Lupe had seen them once before back on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 54, but it would be fun to see them again on the way to Union Hill. As SPHP put the maps away, SPHP suddenly realized that one of the water bottles SPHP always carries was missing. It must have fallen out of the pocket of the backpack somewhere along the way.
It was only a water bottle, but Lupe would go back to look for it. Not until she climbed Union Hill first, though. Sheesh! It looked like Lupe was going to make a tradition out of climbing Lowden Mountain twice each time she came here. Oh, well. In the meantime, onward to Gold Mountain mine!
The roads were snowy and slippery. It was actually easier just heading ENE through the forest. Lupe lost elevation as she went, and soon came to a rather snowy little valley with a small creek flowing SE in it. She stayed on the N side of the valley where the ground was snow-free due to the southern exposure. The creek flowed down to a snow-filled meadow. The ruins of the old Gold Mountain mine sat up on a hillside to the N of the meadow.
The Gold Mountain mine was first claimed in the late 1870’s, and actively worked until 1942. It is one of the few old mines still standing in the Black Hills. SPHP remembered that there was an old boiler or kiln up on the hill. Lupe and SPHP went up the hill to see if it was still there.
It was. So was a bunny! The bunny saw Lupe coming, made a mad dash for the S end of the kiln, and hopped inside. The kiln immediately became an item of great interest to Lupe. She circled around it sniffing carefully, but the bunny was safe inside. SPHP suddenly seemed to remember from Expedition No. 54 that there was broken glass scattered somewhere around this area. Lupe had best just leave the kiln and bunny alone, before something tragic happened.
Lupe and SPHP left Gold Mountain mine. A short road led SE down a hill, passed to the N of a little frozen pond, and met up with Burnt Fork Road (USFS Road No. 389). Lupe turned S on Burnt Fork Road, following it less than 0.5 mile to a primitive road coming steeply down a side valley from the E. Lupe turned E on this road and started gaining elevation.
A little stream flowed near the primitive road. Lupe had a great time exploring the woods along the stream. In some places, the stream had frozen, creating huge ice flows right on the road. SPHP had a less great time trying to get up the slippery ice flows. The primitive road led to a better road which came in from the N and turned ESE. Lupe continued ESE on this better road up to a snowy saddle.
By the time the better road reached the snowy saddle, it wasn’t better any more. In fact, it had almost disappeared. However, on the other side of the saddle, it looked like it got better again. It turned ENE down into a bigger snowy valley filled with aspens. Lupe wasn’t going that way. The saddle was due N of Union Hill. After a short rest break, Lupe and SPHP climbed the N slope. It was snowy and fairly steep, but soon Lupe was at the summit cairn.
The top of Union Hill was a long, broad, gently sloping ridge. It was mostly grassy and thinly forested. Lupe and SPHP went over toward the W end of the ridge to see what kind of view there might be back toward Lowden Mountain. The W end of Union Hill was more thickly forested, but there was one spot from which there was a relatively clear view of Lowden Mountain.
Lupe and SPHP returned to the summit of Union Hill on the way to do a little exploring of the E end of the summit ridge. Lupe agreed to pose for one more photo W of the summit, but she looked a bit stiff trying to hold her head up above the tall grass.
Lupe soon discovered that a road leads up near the top of Union Hill from the E. Lupe and SPHP followed the road for a little while after it turned NE. When it started bending SE, Lupe headed N into the forest. She followed a forested ridge to a little high point. Off to the W was the big snowy valley Lupe and SPHP had seen from the saddle N of Union Hill. Lupe and SPHP turned W and went down into it.
Down in the snowy valley, Lupe and SPHP went NW until Lupe found the road that had continued E over the saddle just N of Union Hill. Lupe and SPHP followed it N until it reached an intersection. SPHP was surprised. Lupe had been here before!
Back on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 82, Lupe and SPHP had come looking for Lowden Mountain from the Marshall Gulch area to the NE. Lupe had reached this intersection, but SPHP had been a bit turned around, and gave up on finding the mountain. Lupe had made it this far, though. If SPHP had persisted in heading just a little farther SW, Lowden Mountain would have come into view. Instead, Lupe and SPHP had gone N from this intersection, and eventually circled back E.
The roads at the intersection were variously marked with USFS Road No. 389 or 254. The markers didn’t really make any sense when compared with SPHP’s maps, but SPHP knew which way to go without any markers. Lupe and SPHP left the intersection heading N again, but this time looking for a road to the W.
Lupe soon found one. The road going W went over a little rise, slowly curved SW and gradually lost elevation. Lupe sniffed around in the forest, while SPHP enjoyed an easy hike. The area seemed pretty remote and secluded. Eventually, it dawned on SPHP that this road was going to come out back at the upper end of the primitive road with the frozen stream.
And it did! Lupe had gone clear around High Point 5921 N of Union Hill. Lupe and SPHP followed the primitive road W back down to Burnt Fork Road. The Carolina Dog then turned N and followed Burnt Fork Road to the road to the old Gold Mountain mine. Instead of returning to the mine, Lupe stayed on a lower branch of the road. It went right past the frozen pond.
It was time to start the search for the lost water bottle. Lupe and SPHP returned to where SPHP had first noticed it was missing near USFS Road No. 389.1A. The plan now was just to retrace Lupe’s route from earlier in the day until she came across the water bottle. It seemed easy enough.
However, it was harder than SPHP anticipated. Lupe and SPHP followed USFS Road No. 389.1K going SSW back toward Lowden Mountain. At first, SPHP wasn’t finding any of SPHP’s old footprints or Lupe’s paw prints. Lupe already had a good start on the climb up Lowden Mountain, by the time SPHP saw tracks in the snow.
Once the tracks were found, it was pretty easy to follow them up the N face of Lowden Mountain, at least until the snow ended. By then, it wasn’t that much farther up to the rocky W ridge, so Lupe and SPHP went there first to look for the water bottle. No luck. Lupe climbed up to the top of Lowden Mountain, completing her second ascent of the day. SPHP was really expecting to find the water bottle at the summit. It was nowhere to be found.
Since it wasn’t at the summit, the chances of finding the water bottle were now not very good. Lupe might still find it somewhere on the way back to the G6, but success seemed unlikely. Well, too bad, but it wasn’t exactly the end of the world. Lupe and SPHP stuck around at the top of Lowden Mountain for a little while enjoying the views again.
On the way back to the G6, Lupe and SPHP went back down the S side of Lowden Mountain again. There wasn’t much snow on this side of the mountain. Although SPHP saw tracks from earlier in the day a few times, most of the time there weren’t any tracks to follow. Going down, the terrain looked different than it had coming up. Unsurprisingly, SPHP did not find the lost water bottle.
The last chance to find it was along USFS Road No. 389.1Q S of Lowden Mountain, where Lupe had met the skittish black and white dog. SPHP kept watching for the water bottle, but neither SPHP nor Lupe came across it. Well, that was that. No telling where it had been lost.
At 4:53 PM (38°F), Lupe and SPHP were back at the G6. It was almost dark out. A full moon would be rising soon. Tonight, somewhere around Lowden Mountain, a water bottle bathed in moonlight was going to freeze and crack. SPHP had a much better fate in store – a long comfy snooze with a warm, soft, Alpo-stuffed American Dingo!
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