Start (9:50 AM, 61°F), intersection of 7-11 Road & Red Valley Road several miles SE of Wind Cave National Park.
Wow! A perfect spring day for bagging a couple more Black Hills peaks – blue skies, calm, almost room temperature. Even though April was barely underway, it might even get a little too warm in another couple of hours.
Lupe was excited. She’d already had a great time barking at cows and horses from the G6 all the way to Buffalo Gap. She’d seen one of her two peakbagging goals for the day, too. SPHP had let her out of the G6 for a couple of minutes for a quick look at Unkpapa Peak (4,280 ft.).
Before taking on Unkpapa Peak, Loop had other business to attend to. For the past several months, she had been working on climbing southern Black Hills peaks Brian Kalet had added to the Peakbagger.com data base last May. Now she was almost done. One more Brian Kalet peak remained – Peak 4160. Lupe was going to get Peak 4160 over and done with first.
Crumbly and steep – a bad combination! The route SPHP choose to start off with was silly and unnecessary. The red dirt of the steep hillside was damp and messy. The white gypsum rock crumbled easily, providing unreliable support. Lupe didn’t have a problem negotiating the hillside, but it took SPHP a while to reach the more solid gypsum cap at the top of the hill.
On the other side of the hill was a pine forest and easier terrain. Unfortunately, Lupe had to lose nearly all the elevation she had just gained. The ground sloped down into a series of ravines she had to go around or through.
Once she was past the last of the ravines, Lupe started a steady climb up the W face of Peak 4160. The forest thinned out rapidly. On the upper slope few trees were left to block the steadily improving views.
Down in the forest Lupe hadn’t seen much cactus, but up on the sunny, barren, upper slope it was a different story. The higher Lupe went, the more cactus she found. By the time she reached the ridgeline, Lupe was not a happy Dingo. She begged SPHP to carry her, or at least scout out the route ahead.
Peak 4160 is a long ridge running almost straight N/S. The W face is quite steep, but the mountain slopes away only gradually to the E. Lupe had come up well S of the high point, which the topo map showed was somewhere quite close to the W edge. She headed N along the edge looking for the true summit.
Cactus was the only serious obstacle. With SPHP’s scouting help, and an occasional lift over the worst of the cacti, Lupe arrived at a line of small rocks of almost equal elevation. These rocks were the true summit of Peak 4160. It was a great moment. Lupe had done it – she had climbed the last of her Brian Kalet peaks in the southern hills!
The topo map showed two separate areas on the mountain within 4,160 foot elevation contours. Brian Kalet had marked the southernmost of these areas as being the location of the true summit. Lupe had reached this S area first, and she could see the next high point to the N from here. It definitely looked a little lower.
Lupe was glad! She was already at the true summit and could skip the remaining cactus-infested trek to the N high point.
The rocks of the true summit were 20 or 30 feet from the edge of the steep W face of the mountain. Of course, the edge was where all the best views from Peak 4160 were. Naturally, Lupe went over to check them out.
Happy with the last of the Brian Kalet peaks already in the bag, Lupe returned to the true summit briefly before starting her trek back down the mountain.
She began her return to the G6 heading S along the W edge where the views were best. Before leaving the ridgeline, Lupe stopped briefly at a couple of points along the way.
Although it had been sunny and warm earlier, by the time Lupe was down the skies were gray. A cool wind was blowing. Off to the NW, it looked like rain. Lupe passed by an ancient windmill, the old blades still capable of spinning in the breeze.
At 1:15 PM, Lupe jumped into the G6 when SPHP opened the door. Was she ever surprised when SPHP politely informed her she wasn’t going anywhere until she climbed Unkpapa Peak, too!
Loopster was fine with that! Carolina Dogs are always ready for the next adventure. Lupe abandoned the G6, and started for Unkpapa Peak. Her journey began below a line of low cliffs near the edge of a dry creek bed.
After crossing some easy open ground, the terrain became steeper as Lupe climbed up through a forest. Her route was steepest near the end of the climb where only scattered trees remained.
Lupe reached the top of the Unkpapa ridge at its northernmost point. The weather had continued to deteriorate. Up here it was windy and cool. SPHP was putting layers back on, but Lupe had to make do with the same lovely brown and white fur outfit she wears in all kinds of weather.
Like Peak 4160, Unkpapa Peak features two different areas contained within equally high elevation contours. That meant two possible sites for the true summit. On Unkpapa Peak, these two areas are separated by more than a mile. The topo map showed a survey benchmark at the N high point, which wasn’t too far away from where Lupe reached the N rim of the mountain. The name Unkpapa Peak was also shown at this point on the map.
While Lupe headed ESE along the edge of the N face on her way to the closest summit, SPHP kept an eye out for the survey benchmark.
Lupe hadn’t seen much cactus on the way up Unkpapa Peak, but when she reached the top of the ridge there was plenty of it around. SPHP’s scouting and Port-A-Puppy services were called into play again. Lupe still hates cactus, but with all the cactus-infested mountains she’d been climbing recently in the southern Black Hills, she was getting fairly used to dealing with it.
Lupe made good progress along the N rim toward the summit. SPHP was surprised when she found a survey benchmark a couple hundred yards before reaching the high point. The topo map only showed a benchmark at the top.
The cactus was annoying, but could not stop Lupe from reaching the N summit. She arrived to find a couple of modest rocks at the very top. Lupe got on them to claim 1/2 of her peakbagging success on Unkpapa Peak (4,280 ft.). This summit was quite close to the N rim, but thankfully trees along the edge helped block the N wind.
After reaching the N summit, Lupe looked around the area close by for both the best view of Peak 4160 from Unkpapa Peak and another survey benchmark. A break in the trees along the N rim provided a great look at Peak 4160, but there didn’t seem to be a second survey benchmark.
Lupe and SPHP took a break under a big pine tree a little back from the N edge where the wind wasn’t so strong. Lupe had eaten some Taste of the Wild up on Peak 4160, too, but she was still kind of hungry. She had another helping.
Even under this pine tree there was cactus. Hopefully, Unkpapa Peak was to be the last of the lower southern Black Hills peaks with cacti that Lupe would have to climb for a long time. She sure wouldn’t miss the cactus. Neither would SPHP.
Yet it had to be admitted that despite the lower elevation of these southern peaks, the drier climate where cactus thrived and trees didn’t fare as well had provided Lupe many outstanding sweeping views unlike those found in the much more heavily forested Black Hills typical farther N.
After the short break beneath the pine tree, Lupe returned to the summit rocks, which were close by. On the way, SPHP noticed a second survey benchmark. So there was one here after all! It was a little S of the highest rocks.
The N and W faces of Unkpapa Peak are fairly steep, but the top of the mountain is a gently undulating plain. Looking SW across this plain from the N summit, it was possible to see several high points more than a mile away, but it was hard to tell which might be the S summit.
To really claim a completely valid peakbagging success on Unkpapa Mountain, Lupe would need to visit the S summit as well. If the topo map was correct, odds were that the S summit was also technically the true summit, since the area enclosed by the 4,280 foot contour was much larger over there.
Lupe headed SW across the undulating plain. Cactus was a constant threat, but wasn’t nearly as thick as it had been along the N rim. Lupe and SPHP enjoyed the easy stroll. The wind wasn’t nearly as bad here as along the N rim. The air was comfortably cool. Meadowlarks were singing.
Lupe discovered a huge bone.
Unfortunately, the huge bone had been completely picked over long, long ago. By all appearances, it had been laying here bleaching in the sun for years. What a glittering Dingo prize it would have been when fresh! Lupe was way too late for that.
The next thing Lupe found was of much more practical use. She came to a trail! The trail meant an almost guaranteed cactus-free path. Lupe was enthused. She took the lead, running back and forth ahead of SPHP. She was making rapid progress now.
Suddenly there was movement ahead! A small herd of deer had become aware of the approach of a ferocious American Dingo. They quickly bounded out of sight over the W rim of the mountain. Lupe raced over there. From the edge, she was disappointed to find the deer had vanished, but she did get a good look at the stormier conditions prevailing over the higher Black Hills to the NW.
It wasn’t much farther now to a rocky ridge that might be the S summit of Unkpapa Peak. Lupe stayed neared the trees along the W rim of the mountain as she traveled S toward the ridge. A disturbing amount of cactus was present whenever she ventured away from the trees. SPHP had to help her past it in a few places.
The ridge itself was barren, but didn’t have as much cactus. Upon reaching the top, it became clear this ridge was indeed the S summit. Lupe had made it! A 75 foot long line of modest to good-sized rocks and boulders of similar elevation formed the highest part of the ridge. Lupe got up on several of the highest rocks for a look around.
The most dramatic views were off to the W and N, but Lupe could see in every direction from the barren S summit.
Reaching the S summit meant that Lupe’s peakbagging tasks were complete on Unkpapa Peak. Whether the N high point or the S high point was the true summit didn’t really matter now. Lupe had been to both.
For 20 minutes or so, Lupe and SPHP remained up on the S summit. Looper had plenty of time to get back to the G6, but there was no rush. It was too late in the day for another adventure.
The wind blew, but not as strongly as it had earlier along the N rim. The sky tried to spit rain, but didn’t achieve much in the way of results. The air was cool, but not cold. Lupe and SPHP stayed together on the rocks, enjoying the panorama from Unkpapa.
Even though she wasn’t that far from home, it might be a long time before Lupe returned for another expedition this far S in the Black Hills. The Brian Kalet peaks Lupe intended to climb were finally complete. Except for the cactus, the last few months climbing them had been surprisingly fun.
On the way back N, Lupe took the scenic route staying near the W rim for the huge view. The farther N she went, the more cactus there seemed to be, but SPHP helped the Carolina Dog through it.
Lupe went back down the N face about where she’d come up. A colorful hill to the NW caught SPHP’s fancy.
It was still early when Lupe reached the G6 (5:11 PM, 47°F). She had plenty of daylight for enormously satisfying frenzied barking at the numerous cows and horses she saw on the drive home.
For the 3rd expedition in a row, Lupe celebrated the end of the day with a chocolate milkshake from the Sonic Drive-In. The milkshake was fancied up with whipped cream and a cherry on top.
American Dingoes love whipped cream! The cherry? It was graciously ceded to SPHP.
Links:
Next Black Hills Expedition Prior Black Hills Expedition
Want more Lupe adventures? Check out her Black Hills, SD & WY Expeditions Adventure Index, Master Adventure Index, or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures!
