Bright and early Lupe was all corked up. The lucky American Dingo’s enthusiasm soared higher yet when she realized another outing with Cousin Dusty and Uncle Joe was in the works. Flag Mountain (6,937 ft.) along the E edge of the western Black Hills limestone plateau country was today’s destination.
By 9:00 AM, Joe was parking the G6 at the start of a spur road off USFS Road No. 189. The spur road gains nearly 400 feet of elevation in a little less than a mile before ending near the summit of Flag Mountain. Lupe and Dusty could get a good romp in on the way to the top while Joe and SPHP chatted.
The trek up the spur road went by quickly. Before long the end was in sight. Leading the way, Dusty and Joe followed an old rock stairway to the top of Flag Mountain.
Flag Mountain (6,937 ft.) used to sport a fire lookout tower at the E end of the summit ridge. Part of the old rock foundation wall still exists. Lupe got up on the wall for a look around. Off to the W, the limestone plateau country was about as high as Flag Mountain, but the views to the N, E and S were fabulous.
No one else was around when Dusty, Joe, Lupe and SPHP first arrived, but that didn’t last long at all. This was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Within a few minutes the roar of engines could be heard. ATV’s appeared. People started coming and going. Dusty, Joe, Lupe and SPHP moved to the W end of the summit ridge to let others enjoy the views from the lookout point at the E end.
While a steady stream of people came and went, Joe began setting up his portable Ham radio. A small pine tree provided good support for a 16.5 foot long antenna.
The original plan had been for Joe to “activate” Flag Mountain using the Summits on the Air (SOTA) website. On prior trips to the Black Hills, Joe had activated Custer Peak, Boulder Hill and Silver Mountain. Joe had gotten a huge, essentially overwhelming response each time. Summits on the Air had been a blast!
Unfortunately, when Joe tried to schedule an activation alert for Flag Mountain on the SOTA website yesterday evening, there no longer seemed to be a way to do it. Something had changed. Despite best efforts, neither Joe nor SPHP could figure out the problem. The system now seemed to require a second password and wouldn’t take anything Joe submitted. Phooey!
Summits on the Air or not, Joe was planning on transmitting Morse Code from Flag Mountain. Of course, without an activation alert scheduled, whether anyone would pick it up was uncertain. Another potential problem was that the 11 year sunspot cycle is at its low point during 2018. Conditions for transmitting radio waves tend to be poor.
Dusty relaxed in the shade of the pine tree supporting the antenna. Lupe, however, stayed on alert near Joe. She knew how this worked. Her job was to bark a warning if anyone showed up and started getting too close to the thin lateral wires strung out from the antenna.
So he could hear better and wouldn’t get too many questions about what was going on, Joe waited until a quiet period when all the people and ATV’s had left before beginning to transmit.
Right away Joe had good news! Some sort of amateur radio contest was going on. Hundreds of people were on the airwaves! And despite the unfavorable sunspot cycle, the atmospheric conditions were excellent. Joe stayed busy making contacts from around the nation. He could even hear stronger stations in Europe and South America.
After a good half hour of Ham radio fun, Joe was satisfied. Time to pack it all up, and think about heading back down the mountain.
On the way back to the G6, there was some discussion about possibly climbing nearby Nipple Butte (6,800), too. However, the day was warm beneath a cloudless sky. Cooler activities sounded like more fun. Joe drove while SPHP gave directions on how to get to the Dragon Caves.
About 3 miles SW of Deerfield Reservoir on USFS Road No. 291 is a turn to the W onto a bridge over Ditch Creek. This is the start of USFS Road No. 385. Immediately past the bridge a dusty side road goes straight on up a little hill. The Dragon Caves are right around a bend to the R (N).
Apparently the Dragon Caves are no great secret. Hordes of ATV’s were coming down the hill when Dusty, Joe, Lupe and SPHP arrived. While the dust they stirred up settled, Dusty and Lupe gladly took advantage of this opportunity to cool off in Ditch Creek.
When the last of the ATV’s left, everyone headed up to the Dragon Caves. SPHP wasn’t sure what Joe was expecting of “Dragon Caves”, but he may have been surprised to see 3 huge horizontal shafts disappearing into the mountainside. The openings really were large enough for dragons!
No one else was around when Dusty, Joe, Lupe and SPHP walked into the middle cave. The air was much cooler than out in the sunshine only a few feet away. A vast dimly lit corridor led into the mountain.
Perhaps 100 feet in, the corridor met up with similar corridors coming from the other two cave openings. Several more passages went off in other directions. Despite the size of the openings, it was rather dark this far from the entrance. SPHP brought out a small flashlight. It helped, but the batteries were low. The huge caverns remained dimly lit.
Joe doesn’t really believe much in dragons. As a geologist, he puzzled over why anyone would go to such expense as to mine out huge passages like this in sedimentary rock? Lupe, however, wasn’t so sanguine.
None of the passages seemed to go much farther into the mountain. A few looked like they had caved in. The only clue to Joe’s question about why anyone would mine out a place like this was an odd discontinuity in the rock. A smooth, vertical wall of rock of a different color completely blocked one passage.
Lupe immediately suspected a magical door, but didn’t say so to avoid unnerving everyone else. What if the dragons were still actually at home just beyond it? Joe wondered out loud about that apparent fault line, too, but the notion of a magical door isn’t the sort of conclusion an experienced geologist is apt to leap to at first blush.
Fortunately, the magical door never did open. Although the outside world seemed very bright and hotter than ever, the American Dingo was relieved when the exploratory tour of the mysterious Dragon Caves was finally over. Joe wanted to go up on top of the hill over the Dragon Caves to see if any clues about the local geology could be discovered. Everyone made a brief foray up into the forest above the caves.
Disappointingly, nothing of geological note was really to be seen above, although stands of lovely wild irises were blooming on the way there.
Back down below, Joe noticed a pile of big brown rocks some distance from the front of the Dragon Caves. These large rocks showed signs of mineralization, but nothing significant enough to justify the amount of excavation evident here. The Dragon Caves remained a mystery.
As far as the Carolina Dog was concerned, that was fine with her. At least the dragons hadn’t returned to explain it all in fiery detail.
After visiting the Dragon Caves, enough time remained in the day for a couple more quick sightseeing excursions. Ditch Creek campground was only a mile S of the Dragon Caves. Maybe Dusty and Joe would like to see it? The whole place was packed with people when Dusty, Joe, Lupe & SPHP arrived, but Loop and Dusty managed to sneak in another quick plunge into clear, cold Ditch Creek.
Staying cool had become a theme on this warm day. The final stop was at Deerfield Reservoir. Dusty and Joe had seen Deerfield Lake for the first time only yesterday during Expedition No. 231 to Hat Mountain (6,779 ft.). The lake had been a hit then, and Cousin Dusty was looking forward to another refreshing swim while fetching sticks.
The afternoon wore on. The time came to return to Grandma’s house for dinner, and an evening of fun and relaxation. Tomorrow, Cousin Dusty and Uncle Joe were going with Aunt Andrea down to David & Mush’s 40 acre ranch in the southern Black Hills. Lupe wouldn’t see them again before they all left for home in Arvada, Colorado.
Lupe’s adventures with Cousin Dusty and Uncle Joe were over for now. Dull days laying around resting up at home were ahead, but not too many of them. June was almost here! The Carolina Dog didn’t know it yet, but soon she would be setting off on her first big Summer of 2018 Dingo Vacation to the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming and beyond!
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