9:03 AM, 37ºF, Camp 5 Road trailhead off Hwy 14A W of Boulder Park – Overcast, but warm for the middle of January. Last warm day before a giant Canadian air mass was supposed to come howling in out of the N. Dead calm at the moment, and about time to get New Year 2021 off to a good start! The American Dingo was rarin’ to go!
Lupe had been here once before, years ago. SPHP couldn’t remember exactly when, but the big, empty trailhead seemed completely familiar. Anxious to get underway, Loop set off heading SE down Camp 5 Road. She soon crossed a dry wash at the bottom of the Box Elder Creek drainage. Camp 5 Road then curved SW on a short uphill stretch, before leveling out at a meadow 0.25 mile from the trailhead. Roads branched out in various directions.
This place seemed familiar, too.
Camp 5 Road resumed its SE course here, branching off to the L. Lost Gulch Road continued straight ahead, while a lesser road curved off to the NW a bit beyond this junction.
Which way, SPHP? Where are we going?
Straight ahead, Loop! Lost Gulch Road! Thought we’d kick off 2021 with a mountain you’ve never been to before, mighty Peak 5400!
What’s so mighty about it?
Who knows? We’ll find out when we get there. Lists of John says it has 360 feet of prominence, which is about all I know about it, unless you remember what it looks like?
Remember what it looks like? Have we seen it before, SPHP?
Yeah, a long time ago, from Pillar Peak (5,469 ft.).
Pillar Peak (5,469 ft.)! Pillar Peak had been ages ago! Well, maybe just one age ago. Lupe had first climbed Pillar Peak an overcast day way back in February, 2015. Pillar Peak had the distinction of being the first post SPHP had ever written for The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe.
Of course, Lupe had already gotten up to Black Hills expedition No. 120 by then, so there had been an illustrious, still little known prior age, too.
Lost Gulch Road curved W heading up into a forested valley. Had Loop been this way before? SPHP was almost certain she had, but nothing along in here rang a bell. After going 0.5 mile W, Lost Gulch Road curved S (L) at a snowy junction with USFS Road No. 804.
0.25 mile farther, and Lost Gulch Road bent E as it passed a ravine. SPHP stopped to check the map. Yeah, this must be it. Time to leave the road. Lupe headed SW up the SE side of the ravine.
The Carolina Dog didn’t get far at all before reaching a narrow, deep side ravine coming down from the S. Since Loop was already well above the bottom of this drainage, it was blocking further advance SW. Instead of descending into it, Lupe turned S climbing along the side of the steep hill E of this new ravine.
No point in going all the way to the top of this first hill, though. What Lupe really needed was to get over to the W side of the ravine. Avoiding additional elevation gain, Loop continued S on a steep slope littered with loose pine needles. The ravine soon rose to Loopster’s level, permitting her to follow the bottom of it higher.
Loopster got only a little higher before the ravine widened and started leveling out to some degree. She could easily continue SW from here, and began a moderately steep climb. Before long a clearing with a bit of a view appeared. Crook Mountain (4,930 ft.) was in sight off to the N.
Lupe was now somewhere ENE of unseen HP5082 way out near the far NE end of Peak 5400’s long N ridge. Continuing SW, she soon came to the S edge of the ridge. Veteran Peak (5,333 ft.) was visible among other hills to the SE.
Continuing W along the S or SE edge of the ridge, Lupe came to a series of rock outcroppings providing viewpoints. She caught a glimpse of Bear Butte (4,422 ft.), and shortly after that a half-way decent look at Peak 5400 itself.
Although Peak 5400’s summit was still 0.67 mile away, Lupe had already gained most of the elevation she needed to in order to get there. As a result, the remaining ridge trek was pretty easy. Surprisingly scenic, too! Lots of nice views to enjoy from interesting rock formations along the SE edge. Even the middle of the ridge was often much more open than SPHP had been anticipating.
Somewhere along the way, Lupe passed or went over HP5082, but exactly when and where that occurred wasn’t entirely clear.
As the ridge turned S, it broadened out and the rate of climb decreased. Soon the forested summit came into sight beyond a big open region.
Windy up here! That Canadian air mass must be moving in sooner than expected. Carolina Dogs don’t care much for wind, but the terrific views from Peak 5400 were so totally unexpected that Lupe was willing to put up with it to some extent.
The panorama encompassing Bear Butte (4,422 ft.), Deadman Mountain (4,933 ft.), and the prairies E of the Black Hills was incredible, but Pillar Peak (5,469 ft.) and Terry Peak (7,064 ft.) off to the W were even more eye-catching.
Leaving the scenic, but annoyingly windy W edge of the mountain, Loop headed SE intent upon finding both shelter and Peak 5400’s true summit hidden somewhere not too far away in the pine forest. SPHP figured the top would probably be just a big non-descript flat spot buried among the trees, but that turned out not to be the case at all.
The Carolina Dog didn’t have to go very far into the forest before the terrain sloped sharply up to a long, narrow ridge of rock. Reaching it near its WNW end, Lupe immediately discovered a loose collection of rocks piled against a much bigger rock perched at a sharp slant. On the other side was a precipitous 20 foot drop.
Although several stones along the crest of this minor ridge appeared almost as high, it was pretty clear that the American Dingo had already found the true summit of Peak 5400.
Not quite high enough to be above the treetops, the summit ridge did provide some protection from the wind, but it was still rather breezy. Views were open to the N and W, but not to the S or E. Nearby Pillar Peak and much more distant Terry Peak again stood out among many other hills and mountains in sight.
Finding a reasonably comfortable spot among the rocks, Lupe curled up on SPHP’s lap, enjoying a snack while taking it all in.
After nearly half an hour, Loopster was ready to move on. There was more to Peak 5400 that she wanted to explore. Traveling ESE along the summit ridge, she found a way down below the line of small cliffs, intent upon seeing what things looked like from down here. Sniffing her way along the base of the cliffs, she discovered they were tallest toward the W and gradually petered out toward the E.
With the summit ridge more or less fully explored now, Lupe headed S across a snowy field full of bushes and young aspens. Turning W, she quickly came to more rock formations. Custer Peak (6,804 ft.) was visible on the horizon.
A 15 foot scramble up onto the top of this rock formation revealed that Lupe was now perched along the upper rim of a line of much taller cliffs offering a slightly different perspective on Pillar Peak.
There was even more to see! Exploring back to the E now, Lupe came to yet another sweet view of Bear Butte (4,422 ft.).
Peak 5400’s SW ridge would get Lupe over to Pillar Peak, so she decided to explore it, too. Passing more nifty rock formations along the way, the Carolina Dog eventually made it to USFS Road No. 804, which went over the saddle leading to Pillar Peak.
Crossing the road, Lupe started up Pillar Peak’s SE ridge. After reaching an initial high point, she paused for a look back at Peak 5400.
Pillar Peak’s SE ridge was a lot different than Peak 5400’s SW ridge. Instead of easily avoided rock formations and a trek through a snowy pine forest, Lupe had to force her way through dense stands of bushes, young aspens, rotting deadfall, and a jumble of medium-sized rocks.
The slope was easy enough at first, leveled out for a bit, then steepened. Loop even had to do a bit of scrambling before she finally reached more open territory where things got easier again. A cake walk stroll up a gentle slope of small bushes and minor deadfall got her to the top of a rocky knoll. Pillar Peak’s summit was now in sight again just a few hundred feet away.
Nearly 6 years after climbing Pillar Peak (5,469 ft.) for the first time, Lupe again stood at the true summit. Nothing to block the views in any direction up here, but the Carolina Dog wasn’t having much fun. Braced against a 20+ mph NW wind, she just wanted SPHP to hurry up and take that blasted photo!
Time for another break anyway. After one quick shot, Loop and SPHP abandoned the top of the mountain, retreating 15 or 20 feet down the S side of the summit. With a wall of granite to block the wind, conditions weren’t bad at all. For a while, Lupe curled up on SPHP’s lap again, a couple of eagerly anticipated chocolate coconut bars making life sweet.
A pleasant break, but once supplies ran out, not much use in prolonging it. The wind was only supposed to get worse, turning into a complete gale later this evening. Pillar Peak was awesome, though! The roomy summit region featured a maze of grassy lanes running between minor rock formations providing a variety of excellent vantage points.
So Looper wasn’t going to just cut and run. Conditions would have to be worse than this for that to happen! Instead, she returned to the summit, for at least one good look around. The wind came in powerful sudden gusts, so she often really had to brace herself.
To the N, Whitewood Peak (5,120 ft.) and Crook Mountain (4,930 ft.) were easily identifiable. Off to the NW was a less readily recognized peak. Green Mountain (5,325 ft.)? Probably, but SPHP wasn’t certain.
In the opposite direction, Bear Den Mountain (5,642 ft.) was visible to the S. And, of course, Peak 5400 was off to the E.
And that was about all the wind Loopster was willing to put up with. A brief, final return to the true summit rock, and she was on her way.
Instead of going down Pillar Peak’s messy SE ridge the way she’d come up, the Carolina Dog went S down a steeper slope to the first saddle leading to Dome Mountain (5,512 ft.). From here, Lupe headed SE down a wide, snowy valley to pick up USFS Road No. 804.
Once on the road, the rest was easy. Lupe followed No. 804 over the saddle between Pillar Peak and Peak 5400, and started down the other side. No. 804 would eventually take her down Pillar Peak’s long NE ridge, before linking back up with Lost Gulch Road.
Well, it seemed the American Dingo’s first Black Hills expedition of 2021 had been a success! The wind was scarcely noticeable down here, and the return was a happy, peaceful time. No. 804 was a quiet, secluded trek, with a few whitetail deer thrown in for a bit of excitement.
4:13 PM, 52ºF, Camp 5 Road trailhead – Back to the G6 before sunset! Unusual this time of year. Twilight hadn’t completely faded by the time Lupe got home. Good thing the Carolina Dog had gotten out today! An hour after arriving home, the Canadian cold front arrived full strength.
80 mph gusts! All night long the world moaned. The whole house shook, as Lupe lay twitching as she dreamed. Dreaming, perhaps, of a mighty American Dingo astride a lonely summit forever battered by the breeze.
Links:
Next Black Hills Expedition Prior Black Hills Expedition
Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 120 – Pillar Peak (2-20-15)
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