Flag Mountain – Page 5 – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 140 – Bittersweet Creek, The Northwest Passage, Dingo of the Mists (10-5-15)

Nearly all of September, 2015, the Black Hills of South Dakota were hot and exceptionally dry. Relief came the first weekend of October. The hills were socked in with clouds, fog, and at least some much needed rain. Lupe was bored, bored, bored spending long hours looking out the front window. An occasional squirrel was about all the excitement there was.

By Monday, October 5th, the forecast was better. When SPHP started getting the backpack ready, Lupe brightened up and looked very hopeful. SPHP did not disappoint her. When she realized an expedition was really in store for her, Lupe raced around leaping and barking with excitement encouraging SPHP to hurry up!

Although the great day for Expedition No. 140 had arrived, SPHP hadn’t really given much thought as to where Lupe might go. The decision wasn’t made until almost the last minute. The plan was to explore Bittersweet Creek down to Castle Creek, head upstream to the Castle Creek Campground, and then climb Castle Peak (6,358 ft.). The maps didn’t show any reasonably short alternative routes back, so Lupe would have to return the same way.

About 0.5 mile N of Signal Knob (6,200 ft.), SPHP parked the G6 at 10:13 AM (49°F) near the top of the highest hill on USFS Road No. 187 (Golden West Road). SPHP had expected sunshine, but the sky was still mostly overcast. The clouds were starting to break up, though. Here and there, patches of sunshine came and went.

Lupe and SPHP headed N on No. 187. Off to the NW, the high ridges at the E edge of the Limestone Plateau country, still mostly in the clouds, attracted SPHP’s attention. Lupe eagerly sniffed around in the fields near the road.

Looking NW towards the ridges of the Limestone Plateau country.

Looking N near No. 187. Lupe is very happy to be out exploring the Black Hills again.

Although the fall colors are mostly past their prime already, Lupe did come to some stands of aspens that still looked pretty nice.

SPHP wasn’t paying enough attention. Almost right away, SPHP missed the turn E on Deerfield Trail No. 40. A mile N of the G6, SPHP realized Lupe was already well beyond the trail. It didn’t matter. Lupe and SPHP just turned E and wandered through the forest. Lupe went up over a very small ridge and down into a valley on the other side.

There was a road down at the bottom of the valley. Lupe followed it SE to a junction with USFS Road No. 429. A marker there showed that Lupe had been on side road No. 429.1B. No. 429 was the road Lupe and SPHP had been looking for. The maps showed it following Bittersweet Creek about 3 miles NE from here to USFS Road No. 181 down by Castle Creek.

Bittersweet Creek is a minor tributary of Castle Creek. It was just a tiny stream at the intersection of No. 429 and No. 429.1B. As Lupe followed No. 429 downstream, Bittersweet Creek soon became more than a trickle. The road looked seldom used, but was in good shape. Following No. 429 down Bittersweet Creek was easy. Lupe ran up and down the road making forays off of it to investigate whatever interested her along the way. Gradually the creek got bigger.

On USFS Road No. 429 in the Bittersweet Creek valley.

After Lupe had gone a mile or more on No. 429, she came to an intersection with USFS Road No. 429.1D, which headed up a side valley. Near this intersection, there was a series of very small waterfalls along Bittersweet Creek. Just below the first waterfall, the creek bed was orange. Naturally, SPHP dubbed this first waterfall Orange Falls.

While Orange Falls was kind of pretty, Lupe recommends that you NOT cancel your trip to Niagara in favor of Orange Falls. Orange Falls is perhaps one foot high and about the same width. Below Orange Falls, the area was rather swampy. There were some very nice displays of vibrantly green moss growing close to the creek. Below Orange Falls, the creek bed remained orange the entire rest of the way Lupe followed it.

The color of the creek bed was not the only thing that changed at the intersection with No. 429.1D. As Lupe continued down Bittersweet Creek on No. 429, the road started to deteriorate rapidly. The ground was all churned up like the road had been purposely destroyed. No. 429 was no longer an easy hike. The ground wasn’t the real problem, though. Soon there started to be more and more deadfall timber that had fallen across the road.

Deadfall starts to make its appearance on USFS Road No. 429 in the Bittersweet Creek valley.

Lupe, of course, had little problem working her way through the deadfall. SPHP, however, faced increasing difficulty. If Lupe wanted to climb Castle Peak, though, it was important to follow Bittersweet Creek all the way to Castle Creek. Once at Castle Creek, SPHP knew that USFS Road No. 181 was a good road. So SPHP persisted, but the going got steadily worse.

The creek bed of Bittersweet Creek remained orange below Orange Falls as far as Lupe went. SPHP doesn’t know what causes the orange color. It is not typical for Black Hills streams.

Although SPHP kept hoping the road would improve as Lupe drew closer to Castle Creek, it didn’t. Finally, the road completely disappeared in a tangle of deadfall timber. Lupe was probably only a mile from Castle Creek by now, but it looked like getting there would take SPHP hours.

Umm, yeah, thinking this isn’t going to work.

Clearly, staying on the valley floor down by Bittersweet Creek was no longer an option. Lupe and SPHP started climbing up the side of the valley. SPHP hoped maybe there was a way forward up there, or at least a view of what lay ahead. Lupe gained about 100 feet of elevation. Trees blocked any view of Bittersweet Creek and what, if anything, remained of USFS Road No. 429 below. Steep slopes rose another 150 to 200 feet higher. It wasn’t practical to try to move forward on the slopes, either.

SPHP gave up on the notion of Lupe reaching Castle Peak. SPHP decided to just continue climbing up the steep slope however far it took to reach more level ground. Once there, Lupe could just return to the G6. There should still be time to do something else. Sometimes adventures just don’t turn out the way one expects. It’s part of what makes them adventures.

At least the steep slope didn’t have much deadfall timber on it. Most of the dead trees seemed to have fallen clear down to the valley floor to choke No. 429. Instead, the slope was infested with thistles. After climbing 200 more scratchy feet up the slope, Lupe arrived unexpectedly at another USFS road.

This high road was nice and level. It was in good shape. There was almost no deadfall timber on it. Suddenly SPHP could make progress again. Lupe followed the high road a short distance NW and reached an intersection. None of the roads had any marker. SPHP checked the maps. The most detailed map showed a maze of side roads coming off USFS Road No. 187 up in here.

Lupe reaches the high roads hundreds of feet above Bittersweet Creek. It was much easier going up here!

While they got very close to Castle Creek, the map didn’t show any of the side roads ever connecting to USFS Road No. 181. SPHP knew that meant that they all probably ended high up on the ridges and steep slopes on the S side of the Castle Creek valley. Still, maybe one of them would lead to a reasonably easy way down. If Lupe could get to Castle Creek, she could still climb Castle Peak.

Like the explorers of old, but on a tiny scale, Lupe and SPHP started looking for the fabled Northwest Passage. This Northwest Passage only needed to take Lupe to a point where she could finish her journey to Castle Peak. Initial results were somewhat encouraging. Castle Peak was soon in view. Lupe was clearly already on the slopes just above the Castle Creek valley. All that was necessary was to find an easy way down.

From a ridge near the high roads Castle Peak was in view to the NW.

Looking E down the Castle Creek valley from one of the high roads.

Lupe and SPHP spent a couple of hours exploring various branches of USFS Road No. 187 looking for her Northwest Passage. Sometimes Lupe could see the Castle Creek valley floor and USFS Road No. 181 below. Some of the high roads lost considerable elevation. In the end, though, none of them got close to the valley floor. All of them ended at cliffs or steep slopes still at least 200 to 300 feet above Castle Creek.

The old explorers never found their Northwest Passage. It was there, but frozen solid and impassable. Lupe never found her Northwest Passage either. It may have been there, but on some side road there wasn’t time to explore. By now so much time had passed that even if Lupe found a way through, she wouldn’t be able to climb Castle Peak and return before dark. And SPHP wasn’t about to scramble up some steep hillside in the dark.

Of course, Lupe was having fun the entire time. She wasn’t worried about getting to Castle Peak. She was looking for squirrels and other interesting things in the forest. While SPHP tried to figure out which of the many branches of USFS Road No. 187 to take to get back to the G6, Lupe had her own little adventures in the forest. SPHP managed to find the junction of USFS Roads No. 187.2E and No. 187.2F. From there the way back was clearly indicated on the maps.

On the way back to the G6 on USFS Road No. 187.

The sun wasn’t down yet when Lupe got back to the G6 at 4:31 PM (59°F). There was more than an hour yet before sunset. What now? Lupe and SPHP drove NW to Reynolds Prairie. From the S end of Reynolds Prairie, SPHP took USFS Road No. 189 heading N. Just N of Nipple Butte (6,800 ft.), near the junction with USFS Road No. 599, was a beautiful stand of aspens that hadn’t even reached the height of their fall colors yet. Lupe agreed to pose for a few pictures.

From there, Lupe and SPHP drove up to the end of USFS Road No. 599. At it’s N end, No. 599 is just S of White Tail Peak, which Lupe had climbed on Expedition No. 138. SPHP had hoped to get a view of White Tail Peak (6,962 ft.) from the S, but by the time Lupe got there, fog was rolling in. Lupe and SPHP turned around, and returned to USFS Road No. 189 where there were more pretty aspens.

The fog started rolling in before Lupe even reached the side road to Flag Mountain. This photo was taken near USFS Road No. 189. — Fog above aspen trees near USFS Road No. 189.

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 140 ended with a climb up the spur road to Flag Mountain (6,937 ft.) from USFS Road No. 189. Normally Flag Mountain has great 180° views to the E. Lupe has seen them before. This time, Flag Mountain was enveloped in fog.

Lupe loved the fog. She raced through the now mysterious forests, sniffing madly. For an hour, as the gloomy fog thickened and the light faded, Flag Mountain was haunted by the wild Dingo of the Mists.

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Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 133 – South Castle Rock, Castle Rock, Nipple Butte, Flag Mountain & Peak 6962 (6-13-15)

Lupe continued her peakbagging along the E edge of the limestone plateau country in the western Black Hills on Expedition No. 133, but somewhat farther N than on Expedition No. 132. It was 9:57 AM and 69°F under mostly clear skies when SPHP parked the G6 at the first pullout along Castle Creek beyond the intersection of Deerfield and South Rochford roads. Lupe immediately crossed the road and started heading NE up through forests and meadows toward the S end of South Castle Rock.

Lupe at the start of the day near Castle Creek.

South Castle Rock (6,840 ft.) was Lupe’s first peakbagging goal of the day and the one that would require the most elevation gain since Lupe started from down by Castle Creek. The other four peakbagging points were all at similar elevations along the E edge of the limestone plateau country. Some elevation had to be lost between each of the peaks, but not nearly as much as Lupe would gain just getting to South Castle Rock.

Lupe approaches South Castle Rock from the SSW.

Lupe had done essentially this same peakbagging trek once before on Expedition No. 90 on 5-24-14, so SPHP knew pretty much what to expect. The best views from South Castle Rock are not at the summit, but from the limestone cliffs at the SE end of the mountain. Lupe stopped here first for some photos. There were beautiful views of the E edge of the limestone plateau country to the S and Reynolds Prairie to the E. Parts of Deerfield Lake were visible too. Heading N through the forest, Lupe also got her picture taken on the highest boulder at a false summit a short distance S of the true summit.

Lupe at the cliffs at the S end of South Castle Rock. Green Mountain is the highest ridge in the distance above her head. The lower ridge just to the left is Copper Mountain where Lupe was on Expedition No. 132. — Lupe at the cliffs at the S end of South Castle Rock. **Green Mountain (7,164 ft.)** is the highest ridge in the distance above her head. The lower ridge just to the left is **Copper Mountain** **(6,920 ft.)** where Lupe was on Expedition No. 132. A small section of Deerfield Lake is visible.

Another view of Lupe at the cliffs at the S end of South Castle Rock. She hasn’t moved from where she was in the previous photo.

Lupe still near the S end of South Castle Rock. This photo looks N towards the ridge that is Castle Rock.

This photo shows some of the S end of Reynolds Prairie and a bit more of Deerfield Lake.

At the false summit S of the true summit of South Castle Rock.

The true summit of South Castle Rock is on top of a large section of limestone sitting mostly 10-20 feet above the surrounding area. The best way up and down is from the SW. The whole area is forested, including the summit. Due to the trees, there really aren’t any great views from the summit of South Castle Rock. SPHP did take one photo of Lupe on the summit with nearby Castle Rock in the background. Castle Rock (6,783 ft.) and South Castle Rock are all basically part of the same mountain. South Castle Rock is actually the highest point on the mountain. Lupe lost a little elevation on the way to Castle Rock.

Here Lupe is actually on the flat true summit area of South Castle Rock. Photo looks N at Castle Rock. — Lupe on the true summit of South Castle Rock. Photo looks N at Castle Rock.

The summit of Castle Rock is with 100 feet of the E end of the ridge. The summit is forested, but there are some good views near the edges of the ridge. Lupe posed for a few photos, including one looking N towards her next two objectives, Nipple Butte (6,800 ft.) and Flag Mountain. After the photo session, Lupe headed back W along the Castle Rock ridge. When she got to the main N/S ridge line coming from South Castle Rock, she turned N onto a ridge SPHP dubbed “Skinny Ridge”.

Lupe at the E end of Castle Rock less than 100' E of the actual summit. Photo looks E towards Reynolds Prairie. — Lupe at the E end of Castle Rock less than 100′ E of the actual summit. Photo looks SSE towards Reynolds Prairie and Deerfield Lake.

South Castle Rock from the N rim of Castle Rock. The true summit of South Castle Rock is toward the right of this photo. Better views are attainable, however, from the cliffs toward the left edge. — South Castle Rock from the S rim of Castle Rock. The true summit of South Castle Rock is seen at the right of this photo. Better views are attainable, however, from the cliffs toward the very left edge.

Nipple Butte and Flag Mountain beyond are Lupe's next peakbagging goals. Photo looks N from the N rim of Castle Rock. — Nipple Butte (left center) and Flag Mountain (center) beyond are Lupe’s next peakbagging goals. Photo looks N from the N rim of Castle Rock. The road is USFS Road No. 189.

Skinny Ridge heads N from the main portion of Castle Rock. It is not all that skinny until it reaches its N end, but is skinnier than the main E/W ridge of Castle Rock. Skinny Ridge is actually broad and flat. There will be some really great views of the huge valley to the W of Castle Rock from Skinny Ridge someday when the dead pine trees along the ridge finally fall over. On Lupe’s prior adventure here on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 90, SPHP had learned that following Skinny Ridge to the N eventually leads to a dead end with cliffs on all sides. The easiest way around Skinny Ridge is to descend to the E near the start (S end) of the ridge.

Lupe on Skinny Ridge which projects N from Castle Rock. Nipple Butte is seen in front of Flag Mountain.

So Lupe headed N on the way to Nipple Butte below and to the E of Skinny Ridge. Lupe started encountering some large yellow flowers in this area that were attracting bumblebees. There was a fair amount of deadfall timber in this area, but it wasn’t too bad. When Lupe got past the N end of Skinny Ridge, she went on up to the saddle between Castle Rock and Nipple Butte. She gained some elevation approaching Nipple Butte from the S. The easiest route to the summit, however, is on the WNW slope. Lupe swung around to the W side of the mountain before making the final ascent.

Lupe among the pretty yellow flowers N of Castle Mountain. — Lupe among the pretty yellow flowers N of Castle Mountain and Skinny Ridge.

Don't sniff too closely - those flowers are full of bumblebees! — Don’t sniff too closely – those flowers are full of bumblebees!

A short steep scramble is required to get up to the summit of Nipple Butte. No equipment at all is required to reach the top. The platform at the top of Nipple Butte is not very large. There was a small area Lupe and SPHP could walk around on, but cliffs were never more than a few feet away. The cliffs aren’t all that tall, but they are still cliffs. One limestone boulder at the very top with orange lichens growing on it is presumably the nipple of Nipple Butte. There aren’t any trees up on top of Nipple Butte, so there were great views in every direction.

Lupe on the W side approach to the top of Nipple Butte.

Lupe stands on the nipple at Nipple Butte.

N end of Reynolds Prairie from Nipple Butte.

Looking S at Castle Rock from Nipple Butte.

Looking N at Flag Mountain from Nipple Butte. Flag Mountain was Lupe’s 4th and next peakbagging objective of the day.

Another look N at Flag Mountain from Nipple Butte. The road is USFS Road No. 189.

"OK SPHP, so how do I get down, without having to trust you not to be a total klutz and dropping me over the cliff?" Lupe actually made it down just fine after some hesitation. She took a route down by the bushes in the center of the photo. — “OK SPHP, so how do I get down, without having to trust you not to be a total klutz and dropping me over the cliff?” Lupe actually made it down just fine after some hesitation. She took a route down by the bushes in the center of the photo.

Lupe and SPHP stayed on Nipple Butte for a while to enjoy the scenes. Lupe had some Taste of the Wild and SPHP had an apple. When it was time to leave, Lupe was a bit concerned about how to get down. SPHP had lifted her up a 6 foot wall of rock so she could get up on top, but Lupe wouldn’t let SPHP help her down. Lupe finally took an alternate route down through some bushes that worked just fine. After a trek down the NW slope of Nipple Butte, Lupe came to a little side road leading to USFS Road No. 189. There was a great mud puddle along the side road and Lupe made use of it.

Exiting the mud puddle NW of Nipple Butte after a big drink of mineral water and a mud bath.

From the mud puddle, Lupe followed the side road to USFS Road No. 189, which she simply crossed heading N. Lupe climbed up the ridge continuing N through the forest towards Flag Mountain (6,937 ft.). When she drew near the access road, she turned more to the NNE to stay in the forest. (One can drive to the summit of Flag Mountain via an access road off USFS Road No. 189.) Very near the top, Lupe got on the access road for the final stretch.

Flag Mountain features great views to the N, E and S, plus the remains of the foundation of an old lookout tower. From Flag Mountain, Lupe could get her first glimpse of Peak 6962 and Whitetail Peak to the N. Peak 6962 was Lupe’s 5th and final peakbagging goal of the day. White Tail Peak (6,962 ft.) is also along the E edge of the limestone plateau country, but it was just too far away to be included in Expedition No. 133’s day hike.

Lupe on the ruins of the lookout tower at Flag Mountain. Photo looks N towards Peak 6962 (left ridge) and Whitetail Peak (center ridge). — Lupe on the ruins of the lookout tower at Flag Mountain. Photo looks N towards Peak 6962 (left ridge) and White Tail Peak (center ridge). Peak 6962 was Lupe’s 5th and final peakbagging goal for Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 133. The road seen below is USFS Road No. 599.

Nipple Butte & Castle Rock from Flag Mountain. Photo looks S.

Lupe is almost camouflaged to blend in with the ruins of the Flag Mountain lookout tower foundation. She is on the wall just above the backpack.

Whitetail Peak from Flag Mountain. Whitetail Peak will be a future peakbagging goal for Lupe. She has already been there twice before, but it has been over 2 years since she was last there. — White Tail Peak from Flag Mountain. White Tail Peak will be a future peakbagging goal for Lupe. She has already been there twice before, but it has been over 2 years since she was last there.

Instead of going down to the Flag Mountain access road (yes you can just drive here!), Lupe left headed W along this rocky ridge. — Instead of going down to the Flag Mountain access road (yes, you can just drive here!), Lupe left headed W along this rocky ridge.

From Flag Mountain, Lupe headed W along the ridges. She crossed the access road to Flag Mountain, but did not follow it. Lupe and SPHP just went through the forest trying to stay on the high ground, while circling around the W end of the canyon between Flag Mountain and Peak 6962. This involved some up and down as various high and low points along the way were reached. Lupe did follow a very short section of USFS Road No. 189 just before heading N and then NE along the ridge to Peak 6962.

SPHP has no idea what kind of plant this is. It was full of bumblebees and looked like it was flourishing. Lupe came across it W of Flag Mountain.

SPHP considers Peak 6962 the most annoying peakbagging mountain in the Black Hills. It really shouldn’t be annoying at all. It is up at the edge of the limestone plateau high country that SPHP finds so appealing. The terrain undulates a bit, but there really isn’t much elevation gain or loss along the ridge extending out to the SW from the summit. This ridge is only a little over a mile long from USFS Road No. 189. There ought to be great views from Peak 6962 looking E and N towards Whitetail Peak. What should be a pleasant easy stroll through the forest along a high ridge with some views to a summit with great views isn’t that way at all.

The main culprit is the mountain pine beetle, which has decimated the forest in the area of Peak 6962. SPHP remembered that Lupe’s last trek to Peak 6962 back on Expedition No. 90 on 5-24-14 featured an annoying amount of deadfall timber. Over a year’s time gone by had only made matters worse, as more dead trees have fallen. It was a very slow march along the ridge on the way to Peak 6962 through all the deadfall timber. Lupe could sometimes use the fallen tree trunks as highways, but the prevailing NW winds had pushed most of the trees over at a 90° angle to the direction Lupe and SPHP needed to go.

Just to make things more aggravating, for the first half of the way along the ridge, there is an utterly useless barbed wire fence that has been broken down in countless places as trees fell on it. SPHP constantly worried that Lupe might get cut by the barbed wire. The best route forward seemed to zigzag repeatedly across the fence line. Despite the number of trees that have fallen, there are still enough dead and living trees still standing to block the views both on the way to Peak 6962 and at the summit. Perhaps there are views at the cliffs at the very S end of the mountain back towards Flag Mountain, but SPHP didn’t consider it worth the struggle to get there.

On Expedition No. 90, Lupe had come to an area along the ridge SW of Peak 6920 where there had been a large number of crocus flowers blooming. They were in such gloriously beautiful condition, SPHP had named the area “Perfect Crocus Ridge”. Sadly, there were no crocuses at all on this journey, although there were a few nice dark purple flowers here and there. What was flourishing among all the deadfall timber were low-lying scratchy juniper bushes.

Lupe and SPHP finally reached the summit of Peak 6962. The area was so flat, it was hard to tell where the exact summit might be. It all looked pretty much the same. Lupe and SPHP stopped here for a bit of a break after the battle with the deadfall timber, barbed wire fence and scratchy juniper bushes. Lupe had some more Taste of the Wild. SPHP ate the 2nd and final apple. SPHP was certain the forest looked worse now than in May 2014.

Wow, this view was worth more than a mile scrambling over and around deadfall timber, barbed wire and scratchy juniper bushes! Lupe at the summit of Peak 6962. Successful completion of her 5th peakbagging goal of the day!

After the break, even though more than a year ago Lupe and SPHP had explored some distance to the N along the E edge of Peak 6962 and found no decent viewpoints towards White Tail Peak, SPHP decided to try it again. The results were the same. There were a few places along the E edge of Peak 6962 with partial views to the E, but no views at towards White Tail Peak. On the way back to USFS Road No. 189, SPHP tried leading Lupe a bit to the N of the SW ridge to avoid the worst of the deadfall timber. This helped some and also helped avoid the broken barbed wire fence. It didn’t seem to take quite as long getting back to USFS Road No. 189 as the journey to Peak 6962.

Flag Mountain (L) from the high ridges SW of Peak 6962.

Once back to USFS Road No. 189, Lupe and SPHP started following it back towards Flag Mountain. The almost totally clear skies of the morning had given way to overcast conditions as the day wore on. It began to rain. It rained hard enough for Lupe and SPHP to take cover under a big pine tree. It didn’t last long. After 5 minutes the rain was almost over and Lupe continued on. At a bend in the road, Lupe and SPHP left No. 189 to follow a high ridge to the SW and then S. There was a fence along this area too, but there was little deadfall timber and the fence was in good condition.

Soon the ridge ended and Lupe and SPHP went down through the forest to reach USFS Road No. 239. For a short distance No. 239 climbed and reached a high spot with a very nice view to the S. From then on it lost elevation slowly and steadily. Both Lupe and SPHP liked the secluded valley that No. 239 descended into. There were lots of deer and some squirrels and chipmunks around. Birds were singing and a hawk kept flying around screeching. Everything was lush and green.

The view S from the high point along USFS Road No. 239.

No. 239 went almost straight S for 2 miles and then curved to the E. The road, which had been very good, deteriorated after reaching a wide, flat turn around spot. The road did go on, however, and Lupe and SPHP continued to follow it. The road became a wide grassy trail and started heading NNE. It looked like it might climb up a valley just W of Castle Rock. The road lost elevation though, so Lupe kept on. Before long, the road became a mud hole at a spring. Here Lupe and SPHP left the remnant of No. 239 to head E down to the floor of the valley.

At the bottom a small creek was flowing, which was probably Horsethief Creek. There was a rock wall on the E side of the creek. There was also a green grassy remnant of a road which followed the creek S again. This road was marked by orange diamond-shaped signs on trees or posts. In many places, the road was so close to the creek that it was rather boggy. There wasn’t the least sign for a considerable distance that any vehicles ever actually use this grassy road. Lupe and SPHP followed the creek and the orange diamond grassy road the rest of the way back to the road where the G6 was parked. The G6 was in view as soon as the gravel road was reached.

This part of the grassy orange diamond road was filled with wild irises.

Sunset back at the G6 near Castle Creek 6-13-15.

It was 8:22 PM and 60°F when Lupe reached the G6. She hopped right in. This time it was SPHP’s turn to linger outside. There was some promise of a nice sunset developing up Castle Creek valley to the NW. It was a gorgeous evening. SPHP took a photo looking NW up Castle Creek valley. The sunset hadn’t quite peaked yet. SPHP drove to a high point not far away just off South Rochford Road, but the sunset couldn’t be seen from there. So it was back to the original pullout along Castle Creek one more time for a final photo. Then it was time to head home. A happy dingo hung its head out the window sniffing the breeze for miles.

Black Hills, SD Expedition of 6-13-15 draws to a close.

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