Tag: New Year’s Eve Peak

12:47 PM, 37ºF, junction of Hwy 385 & USFS Road No. 710 – A little late in the day to be starting out on a Black Hills expedition, but that was by design.  Lupe was excited, though, and SPHP was too!  As soon as SPHP was ready, the American Dingo headed SW into the forest.  A skiff of snow was on the ground, somewhat surprising since the weather had been extremely dry and unseasonably warm for 2 months.

The slope quickly increased into a steady, relatively steep climb.  Lupe was already most of the way up Peak 5800 when she began coming to minor rock outcroppings and shelves.  Pausing briefly at a particularly open spot, she could see the rolling grasslands of the Bald Hills.

The climb got easier near the end.  Lupe reached Peak 5800’s big summit ridge near the SE high point.  Heading SE, she lost a bit of elevation on the way to a few big rocks for a look at the views in this direction.

Part of Sheridan Lake, which looked frozen over, was in sight.  Beyond the lake was Calumet Ridge (5,601 ft.).  Boulder Hill (5,331 ft.) and Silver Mountain (5,405 ft.) were easily recognizable, too.

Five Points (6,221 ft.) and False North Point (6,130 ft.) stood out to the SW.

Turning back, Lupe headed NW for Peak 5800’s true summit, stopping at both the SE high point, and for a look at Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) along the way.

Traversing the summit ridge was easy.  Lupe quickly reached the big gray rock formation near the NW end that constituted the true summit.  Light green and charcoal gray lichens decorated the stone.  Peak 5800 wasn’t as high as New Year’s Eve Peak (6,046 ft.), Loopster’s ultimate destination today, but the views here were actually better, since they were much more open.

Among other sights, New Year’s Eve Peak itself was visible nearly 2 miles NW as the crow flies.  Today’s late start had been driven by the intention of letting Loopster say good-bye to the Year of Perfect Vision over there.  A glorious sunset was hoped for, but the completely overcast sky was not encouraging.

However, all was not lost.  The cloud cover appeared to be rather thin.  Would take a while to get over to New Year’s Eve Peak, so maybe there was still a chance a decent sunset would materialize?  10 minutes at the true summit of Peak 5800, and the American Dingo continued on.

The NW face of Peak 5800 was quite steep and very rocky.  A little better more toward the W.  This was Lupe’s 3rd time on Peak 5800.  She’d come down this way each time, but the descent seemed trickier than SPHP remembered it.  Might have gotten a little off course somewhere along the line this time around.

Fortunately, Lupe didn’t have to lose an awful lot of elevation here.  Even so, the descent took longer than expected.  By the time Looper reached much easier terrain, she had some good news!  Patches of blue sky were appearing and seemed to be spreading.  Weak sunlight illuminated golden fields ahead.

The journey through the sunlit fields was as gorgeous and fun as it was easy.  This region was a longtime favorite.  Ever since Lupe first climbed New Year’s Eve Peak on the last day of 2012, she had been coming here near the end of every year.  Poor weather often prevented Loop from returning right on December 31st, but she had usually been able to get here within a day or two.

The American Dingo roamed freely, having a blast as SPHP pondered this tradition and the sad imminent demise of the Year of Perfect Vision.  Two years since Lupe had come this way!  In 2019, SPHP had been far too sick to make the journey.  Great to be back!  Lupe hated fireworks, and this annual trek to New Year’s Eve Peak was her much preferred method of celebrating New Year’s Eve.  Beauty, solitude, and freedom!

By the time Loop made it to Pistol Point, hopes for a glorious sunset were fading fast.  Obliterating all blue sky in its path, a thicker bank of clouds was sweeping in from the NW.  Still not darkly overcast, but the sun was already reduced to a mere bright spot in the clouds.

Only 0.5 mile to go!  Leaving Pistol Point, Lupe headed W across open ground, but was soon turning N along New Year’s Eve Peak’s S ridge.  The ridge was narrow, rocky, and thickly forested.  Some up and down along the way, but nothing major.  Before long, Loop was coming up the S slope.

3:56 PM – For the 8th time in her life, and 3rd time right on New Year’s Eve, Lupe stood atop the true summit boulder on New Year’s Eve Peak.  Perfect timing!

All to no avail.  Somewhere the sun was still up, but not for long.  Clearly, no sunset, whether grand and glorious or otherwise, was in the cards.  The sky was a uniform light gray, the mood merely a chilly, blah nothing.  Not a ray of sunshine anywhere.  Entirely out of character,  New Year’s Eve Peak (6,046 ft.) felt neither like the end, nor the beginning, of anything.

A disappointing end to 2020, the Year of Perfect Vision.

A few years ago, loggers had come and thinned out some of the pines to the S, both creating a mess and opening up the views, which used to be very limited.  Young pines were already growing all around the summit boulder.  A few more years, and the views would be vanishing again.

Before doing anything else, Lupe and SPHP performed a ritual task in keeping with tradition.  Sitting together, a short break was taken facing W.  Taste of the Wild, a couple of shared chocolate coconut bars, and an apple disappeared.  Quite a bit of territory was in sight, looking snowier and more wintery than seemed justified at the end of a December so warm and dry.

In the past, Lupe had always arrived here earlier in the day.  In fact, she’d always completed her New Year’s Eve Peak tour well before the sun went down.  By sunset she was on her way back to the G6, out in open country where the final gleaming rays and dazzling colors of the dying year could be better appreciated.

Knowing that the sun was already on the horizon, but unable to glimpse it, simply felt wrong.  No moment of anticipation.  Nothing was going to happen.  What was the point?

None really, except to maintain the tradition, to be here together as whatever remaining light of the old year faded, to remember the year that had been.

Grandma finally moved this year.  Then months spent working on her house getting it ready to sell.  The sale itself, which went so fast.  The last of more than 1,000 trips to the cul-de-sac.  Then summer.  A late start to it, but Lupe had climbed some fabulous peaks, among them some of the highest she had ever been to.  An early end to those happy times, as the smoke of countless wildfires blanketed and obscured the W.  Through it all, the trials of Covid-19 which had prevented the Most High Exalted Dingo of the Arctic Sisterhood from returning to Canada and Alaska.

Each day is precious, unique, never to return.  Lupe and SPHP stirred.  A quick New Year’s Eve Peak summit tour was in order, even if other plans had been denied.

Done.  Mission complete.  Onward!  Puppy, ho!

Ironic.  By the time the flashlight had to come out, stars were twinkling above.  So where did all those infernal clouds go?  The Dingo didn’t care.  No brilliant sunset before 2020 vanished forever?  So what?  Peak 5800 and New Year’s Eve Peak!  She’d had a great time.  (End, 6:00 PM, 32ºF)

At home, dinner then early to bed, very early.  For hours, Lupe laid close to SPHP for protection while sporadic fireworks boomed in the night.  With each thud, the Carolina Dog glanced up in fear and wonder.  Near exhaustion and final collapse, the Year of Perfect Vision was still hanging on, still fending off the dread uncertainties of 2021.

Oh, don’t worry about it, Loopster!  Gonna be OK!  You’ll still be climbing mountains in 2021.  You might as well enjoy that Busy Rib Hide!

Stroking her soft fur, SPHP gave Lupe another kiss.  Reassured yet again, the American Dingo went back to chomping away.

Links:

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Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 242: New Year’s Eve Peak, Peak 6070 & Peak 6043 (12-17-18)

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Start – 8:43 AM, 31°F at the junction of Horse Creek Road (USFS Road No. 243) & USFS Road No. 257

Not a cloud in the sky on this beautiful, crisp December morning!  Lupe set out from Horse Creek Road heading N on USFS Road No. 257.  Snow was on the road and in the fields, but not on the hills with a S exposure up ahead.

Several central Black Hills peaks were on Lupe’s agenda today, each one for a different reason.  No. 257 would bring the Carolina Dog practically right to the first one.  A saddle W of Peak 6046 was a little less than 2 miles away.

Lupe kept a sharp lookout for squirrels, as SPHP trudged along the road.  Now and then she dashed off into the forest to check out particularly promising trees, but she wasn’t having much luck.  No. 257 curved around High Point 5284.

W of High Point 5284, the road forked.  No. 257 was unmarked, but all Lupe had to do was stay to the R.  The road went E of a minor hill, then straightened out heading NNW.  Soon the Carolina Dog was approaching the saddle W of Peak 6046.  The rate of climb increased as Loop got close to the pass.

The saddle was forested, but the valley leading to it was grassy.  As Lupe neared the trees, she left the road to start climbing toward Peak 6046.  From the upper end of the grasslands, she paused for a look back to the S.  Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) and Five Points (6,221 ft.) were in view.

Lupe still had more than 250 feet of elevation to gain to reach the summit of Peak 6046.  She headed E up a steep slope to Peak 6046’s S ridge.  By the time Loop reached it, she wasn’t far from the top.  She turned N, and soon came to a rock formation where she had a clear view of her next objective, Peak 6070, off to the NW.

Lupe reached the summit of Peak 6046 early – two whole weeks early!  For Peak 6046 is none other than New Year’s Eve Peak!

This was Lupe’s 7th ascent of New Year’s Eve Peak.  Her first was on the last day of 2012 on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 41, when she had come here by essentially the same route.  That was the day when Peak 6046 became New Year’s Eve Peak.  Loopster had been here in late December or early January on an annual basis almost every year since.

It was the middle of December.  Christmas was coming!  Being here now didn’t feel the same as being here right on New Year’s Eve.  After all, 2018 still had a couple of weeks to go!  There wasn’t that same sense of finality or of a new beginning.  Yet it was good to be here.  New Year’s Eve Peak has become both a tradition and a favorite place.

Lupe and SPHP lingered a while.  SPHP managed to pick out Peak 6043 off to the W.  Peak 6043 was going to be the American Dingo’s third and final peakbagging objective of the day.  Peak 6167 was right behind it.  Old Bald Peak (6,130 ft.) was in the vicinity a bit to the N, too.

Satisfied with her traditional winter visit to New Year’s Eve Peak, Lupe moved on.  Her next objective, Peak 6070, has 2 summits separated by 0.33 mile.  The SE summit was the closest, only a little more than 0.5 mile WNW of New Year’s Eve Peak.

Lupe headed straight on down New Year’s Eve Peak’s steep W slope to the saddle leading to Peak 6070.  She arrived to find 6″ of snow.

Loop crossed the saddle, then continued W up a snowy, forested slope.  She was looking for a ridge that would lead her to a power line.  The SE summit of Peak 6070 would be only a short distance beyond it.  As much as possible, the Carolina Dog tried to avoid the steeper slopes with the deepest snow.

When Lupe reached the ridge, the power line was in sight.  A short trek NW along the rocky spine of the ridge got her to the power line, where she crossed beneath it.

A bare spot on a hill just beyond the power line provided some nifty views to the NE and E.  Lupe could see quite a few peaks she had been to before including Scruton Mountain (5,922 ft.), Norris Peak (4,982 ft.), and, of course, New Year’s Eve Peak (6046).

Lupe had been to the SE summit of Peak 6070 once before on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 81.  That was nearly 5 years ago now.  The topo map would lead one to believe that the SE summit is lower, but not by much.  Even if it was lower, Lupe remembered some excellent views.  Time to go find the high point, then have another look at those splendid views!

The SE summit was only a little SW of where the Carolina Dog was now.  She followed a relatively narrow rocky ridge offering many viewpoints, and soon came to the highest rock.  The NW summit was in view.  If it was higher, it couldn’t have been by much.

The best views were from SW of the summit out on a point where there were reasonably level rocks to hang out on.  Loopster had panoramic views here.  Unfortunately, what had been a tolerable 10 mph SW breeze up on New Year’s Eve Peak, was now more like 15 to 20 mph.  It was warm out for December, close to 50°F, but the Carolina Dog didn’t care for the wind.

After a good look around, Lupe and SPHP retreated SE a bit below the ridgeline to escape the breeze.  The day was quite comfortable out of the wind.  SPHP ate an apple.  Lupe was content to curl up in the sun.  Part of Sheridan Lake could be seen off to the SE.

After the demise of the apple, it was time to think about tagging Peak 6070’s NW summit.  Lupe liked it right here, but was willing to move on.

Lupe left Peak 6070’s SE summit heading W down a steep slope.  She lost 100 feet of elevation before the terrain flattened out.  She found herself at a snowy open area rimmed with pines.

A road went through this area heading NW, the direction Loop needed to go.  She followed it, but it soon curved away to the SW, so the road had to be abandoned.  The American Dingo plunged on ahead through a snowy forest.  Significant amounts of deadfall timber slowed progress down considerably.  Fortunately, Peak 6070’s NW summit wasn’t far away.

Shortly before reaching the NW summit, Lupe came to a sunny open slope.  Here she had a grand view of Peak 6043, Peak 6167, and Old Bald Peak (6,130 ft.) all nicely spread out off to the SW.

The NW summit featured a clearing which extended a little toward the SE.  Minor rock outcroppings rimmed a small patch of snowy ground at the highest point.  If the topo map was correct, this was the true summit of Peak 6070.  Enough trees surrounded the area to block the views, but Lupe was happy!  She had now visited both of Peak 6070’s summits.

Lupe had climbed New Year’s Eve Peak because it was tradition to visit it near the end of each year or early in the next one.  She had come to Peak 6070 to visit both summits, but mainly to see those great views she hadn’t seen for 4.75 years now from the viewpoint SW of the SE summit.

Peak 6043 was next.  Lupe had never been there before.  She’d intended to get there on Expedition No. 239 nearly 1.5 months ago, but had only made it as far as Nugget Gulch Peak.  Peak 6043’s claim to fame was that it had 343 feet of prominence.  It was the only peak in this general vicinity with over 300 feet of prominence that Lupe had never visited.

Days are short in December!  If Loop was going to visit Peak 6043 today, she had best get on with it.  Lupe and SPHP headed down Peak 6070’s steep SW slope.

Peak 6043 is 1.5 miles SW of Peak 6070.  To get over to it, Lupe had to lose 675 feet of elevation.  She lost most of it just descending to the valley W of Peak 6070.  The valley floor was littered with deadfall timber.

Fortunately, Lupe did not have to fight her way through deadfall all the way down the valley.  USFS Road No. 244 runs N/S along the W side of this valley.  Lupe only had to make it over to the road.

No. 244 brought Lupe down to a junction with No. 675.2 by a large meadow.  This was familiar territory.  (Point 5396 on the topo map)  Lupe had been here on a number of prior expeditions, some long ago.  The lower slopes of Peak 6043 were just beyond the meadow.  Lupe crossed the meadow and No. 675.2 to get to them.

Beyond the road, forested terrain led the Carolina Dog up toward the W.  She eventually reached a saddle N of Peak 6043.  A big snowy field was on the other side of the pass.  Lupe turned SSW here and began a steeper climb.

Nearly 400 feet of elevation gain from the saddle to the top!  Peak 6043’s N slope was snowy.  Lupe swung over toward the NW where the snow wasn’t quite as deep.

The true summit of Peak 6043 proved to a little ridge of angular rocks.  To the SSE, a good-sized area of slightly lower open ground was buried beneath a foot of snow.  Lupe hopped up on the highest rocks of the tiny ridge to claim her final peakbagging success of the day!

Plenty of daylight remained.  Not enough to go chasing after more peaks, but enough to hang around up on Peak 6043 for a while.  Lupe and SPHP took a break where there was a big view to the S and SE.

Peak 6043 actually had a second high point S of the true summit.  Lupe visited it, too.

After more than half an hour on Peak 6043, Lupe returned briefly to the true summit where she’d originally come up.  A final look around, and it was time to depart.  The Carolina Dog went back to the S summit, then continued on down the S ridge.  Before long, Looper reached the same power line she had passed under near Peak 6070.

After a brief pause at the power line, Loopster continued S.  When the terrain became favorable for a turn to the E, a steep descent began.

Lupe reached USFS Road No. 243 again SW of Point 5329.  The rest was easy – a 2.5 mile march back to the G6 on Horse Creek Road.  The road was snow-packed and slippery.  The Carolina Dog barely noticed, trotting happily along ever watchful for squirrels and deer.  (4:10 PM, 38°F)

Links:

Next Black Hills Expedition                 Prior Black Hills Expedition

Expedition No. 221 – Peak 5800 & New Year’s Eve Peak (1-7-18)

Expedition No. 261 – Peak 5800 & New Year’s Eve Peak (12-31-20)

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