11:21 AM, 46ºF, Horse Thief Lake – Cabin fever! That was what had been ailing Lupe all through a 10 day long cold snap of absolutely frigid weather, even for January. However, that was all history now. Going to be a nice day today, and the American Dingo was in high spirits as she leapt out of the RAV4. A Black Hills expedition is a always a sure-fire cure for cabin fever!
Sheesh! Checked the snow depth maps before we left home, Loopster. Only supposed to be 2″ of snow up here. Actually more like 6″!
Oh, please! We’re still going, aren’t we, SPHP? It’s been so boring at home!
Yeah, don’t worry, Loop. We’re still going. All this snow isn’t going to make things any easier, but we’ll be OK.
A short trek from the parking lot got the Carolina Dog to the start of Horse Thief Lake Trail No. 14. SPHP barely glanced at a posted map of the Black Elk Wilderness trail system. Lupe had been here plenty of times before.
Well, you ready, Looper? Days are mighty short in January, and we’re off to a rather late start. It’s Onward! Puppy, ho! time.
SPHP didn’t have to say it twice. The American Dingo set off heading S on Horse Thief Lake Trail No. 14. The first part of the trail climbed a bit. Didn’t amount to much except that in some places the small stream that ran along the trail had flown over it and frozen into a sheet of ice. Lupe did fine, but the ice was so slick that SPHP had to exercise caution.
After passing a frozen waterfall on the L, the trail leveled out and wasn’t so icy. Even SPHP was making great time. Soon Lupe was approaching some of the towering granite formations common throughout the Black Elk Wilderness.
After 0.7 mile, Lupe reached the first trail junction. To the L, Centennial Trail No. 89 headed S. To the R was a section of trail comprising part of both the Horse Thief Lake and Centennial trails.
Go R here, Loopster. We need to head W.
Fine, SPHP, but what’s our destination, anyway? You haven’t said.
Heh, not likely to reach our destination, Loop. More than likely we’re on a wild goose chase. Intend to solve a Black Elk Wilderness mystery today.
Intriguing. Sort of. Care to quit beating around the bush and clue me in on what you’re thinking, SPHP?
I thought you were a mind reader, Loopster.
Sometimes I am, SPHP. You’re being mighty cryptic, though.
Only 5 minutes on the shared section of trail, and Lupe made it to the point where Horsethief Lake Trail No. 14 and Centennial Trail No. 89 parted ways again. No signage here.
Go R again, Looper. We’re taking Centennial Trail No. 89 from here.
Only a few tracks in the snow went that way, none of them recent, as the Centennial trail immediately climbed toward a big boulder.
Once past the boulder, Centennial Trail No. 89 wove its way W, climbing along the S side of a fairly shallow valley. As Lupe got higher, granite spires she’d passed on Horse Thief Lake Trail No. 14 were visible back to the E. However, since she was now going the opposite direction, for the most part, the Carolina Dog saw only trees.
After roughly 0.33 mile, Lupe reached Pass 5380. Nothing to be seen here except snow and forest. Continuing W over the pass, glimpses of a high hill capped by a massive granite formation soon appeared ahead.
Awesome, but I hope that’s not where we’re going, SPHP! We’d never make it to the top. That’s genuine rock climber territory to be sure, at least from this side.
No, we’re not going there, Loop, but that’s sort of what I expect Peak 6057 will be like from the looks of the topo map.
Really? Peak 6057 is a fail already then, SPHP. Why even bother?
Because it was already in the Peakbagger.com database when we started your account in May, 2014, and we’ve never checked it out. In fact, no one else on Peakbagger has ever reported an ascent of Peak 6057, either. Zero ascents, zero attempts.
OK! And what does that tell you, SPHP? Everyone takes one glance at the topo map, and very sensibly says it ain’t happening!
Yes, and no doubt they’re most likely right, but that’s not 100% certain. Besides, Peak 6057 has been on your list of places to go, bugging me for nearly 10 years now. About time we solved the mystery of whether or not we can climb it, Loopster. Even if its not possible, we’ll still enjoy a great off-trail Black Elk Wilderness adventure!
Doesn’t sound as mysterious as you’re letting on, SPHP.
Be that as it may – Onward! Puppy, ho!
Continuing W, Centennial Trail No. 89 descended into a valley. As soon as Lupe crossed the drainage at the valley floor, SPHP called a halt.
OK, this is it. We leave the trail here, Loop.
Simply fabulous! In addition to being doomed to failure, we’re in for one heck of a bushwhack, aren’t we, SPHP?
It’s the Black Elk Wilderness, Looper. Expect no less.
Abandoning the trail, SPHP led Lupe SSE through a thicket of tall, thin bushes. Pushing through them was an annoyingly slow process, even on this level terrain. Once through the worst of the initial tangle, Lupe took the lead.
Ah-ha! Not so bad now, is it, Loopster? Just keep going up this valley. Plan is to follow it all the way to its upper S end, turn W climbing up and out, then swing around to the N to approach Peak 6057 from the S.
It was a terrific plan, extremely well thought out as readily confirmed by the topo map, except for one thing. At the first bend, the valley ahead was choked with deadfall and endless thickets of the tall, thin trees or bushes. Furthermore, the valley floor was no longer flat.
Hemmed in by a near vertical granite wall on the R, and a steep, forested slope on the L, Lupe was forced to keep leaping over one obstacle after another amid belly deep snow and rough terrain, occasionally crossing a tiny tributary of Pine Creek.
Even though Lupe never complained, it wasn’t long before SPHP devised a new most excellent plan.
Dingo feathers! Enough of this, Loopster! Peak 6057 isn’t that far, but it’s going to take us forever and a day to get there this way. Let’s get up out of these dang bushes down by the stream, then I’ll check the map to see what our options are.
Continuing only far enough to get to where some room opened up below the rock wall on the R, Lupe climbed just high enough into the forest to get above the jungle down by the stream.
How’s this, SPHP? You can check your map here.
Perfect, Loop. Give me just a moment.
Hmm. Well, looks like we ought to be able to head W from here, Looper. Actually a shortcut, if it works. On the other paw, if the terrain gets too steep, we might still be able to head S paralleling the valley floor, thereby sticking more or less to the original plan.
The American Dingo’s ascent of Peak 6057 began in earnest as Lupe headed W, now climbing steadily. Early on, she passed a region of big boulders. A long stretch of uniformly steep open forest came next. Quite a bit of deadfall strewn about here, but it wasn’t too bad.
After gaining 160 feet of elevation, a huge granite hill hundreds of feet higher appeared ahead. Approaching a much lower ledge that looked like it might provide initial views, the snow deepened. Bedrock under the snow was very slippery, but by staying toward the R, Lupe found an easy way up onto this first ledge.
The sky was clouding up, a bit of a chill in the air, as Lupe reached the top of the ledge. She could see a long way E, but the most striking view was of several enormous granite formations 0.5 mile SSE.
Wow! Gorgeous up here, SPHP, but if any of those rugged formations is Peak 6057, your mystery is solved. It’s a no go.
Splendid, aren’t they, Loop? Typical Black Elk Wilderness. And no, none of them are Peak 6057. They’re all off in the wrong direction.
Can we take a break here, SPHP? I’m getting hungry.
Kind of snowy. Let’s get a little higher, Looper. Maybe we can find a dry spot that isn’t solid rock?
Leaving the ledge, a deep valley to the S forced the Carolina Dog to angle WNW in order to keep climbing. Lupe sometimes had views of the much higher massive granite formation across the valley, but it wasn’t Peak 6057, either. SPHP was becoming concerned over whether or not Lupe was going to be able to get across the valley, because she was eventually going to need to, when a snow-free dry spot appeared by a big pillar.
This looks good, Loopster. Let’s take a break here.
1:58 PM, at the rest break pillar 1/6 mile ENE of Peak 6057 –
Chocolate coconut bar, Loopster?
Don’t mind if I do, SPHP, but why so generous? We haven’t even made our attempt on Peak 6057 yet.
Yeah, well, I’ve already been catching glimpses of Peak 6057. What I’ve seen of the E side looks utterly impossible.
Oh, sorry to hear that, SPHP. Disappointing, but even you were expecting it to be that way.
That’s the way the Black Elk Wilderness mystery crumbles, Loop. Haven’t completely given up hope yet. The highest ground I’m confident we can get to is over on the SW side of Peak 6057. Distance-wise, we’ll actually be close to the summit. Elevation-wise, not so much, unless the situation looks a lot different over there.
The chocolate coconut bar had vanished in a flash. Lupe had a silver bowl full of Taste of the Wild. SPHP munched the usual apple. Apple consumed, it was time.
Onward! Puppy, ho!
Still climbing, although not as steeply as before, Lupe steadily closed in on Peak 6057. None of the what could be seen of the E face looked the least bit encouraging – nothing but towering vertical walls. The Carolina Dog hadn’t reached them yet, when an opening appeared to the WSW.
Think we’re past that valley to the S now! The terrain doesn’t look bad at all. Quite a bit of deadfall, but we’ll get through it. Head that way, Loop. We can start circling around to the SW side of Peak 6057 from here.
The snow was belly deep on Lupe, the deadfall ghastly. SPHP’s progress was dreadfully slow, but Lupe didn’t complain. SPHP soon concluded that the fastest way around the S side of Peak 6057 would be to go right up next to its soaring granite walls.
As expected, the territory next to the granite walls proved to be a maze of deadfall and boulders, but this was the shortest route, likely no worse than circling more widely through the almost equally challenging region farther from the peak.
Working along the S side of the mountain eventually revealed the high ground Lupe intended to explore SW of the summit. Although difficult territory due to all the deadfall, it was actually very scenic, featuring several separate enormous spires.
Scrambling amid all the boulders and deadfall along the S side of the mountain, it had already become clear that Lupe wasn’t going to find any magic route to the top. Already mentally prepared, it wasn’t such a terrible disappointment. No regrets. Seldom seen by Dingo or human, this Black Elk Wilderness scenery was fantastic!
Funny how nature can be such a mess, SPHP, and yet the overall effect is absolutely gorgeous!
True enough, Loopster. Wish it worked that way at home. Never does, though. Quite the opposite!
As Lupe got around to the SW side of Peak 6057, the potential arose to explore a couple of narrow regions between the spires and the main mass of granite.
Want to explore one of these cracks, SPHP? We’re here now!
Might as well see how high we can get, Loop!
A faint flicker of hope that maybe there really was a way to the top of Peak 6057 stirred as Lupe entered a narrow passage. That would be so awesome!
A short climb, and Lupe reached a spot that was a dead end for her, but after giving the Carolina Dog a boost, SPHP scrambled up, too.
This is so cool! It keeps going, SPHP!
It does, but be careful, Loopster, and don’t get too far ahead. Might easily come to a sheer drop in here.
Lupe quickly reached the top of the crack. No sheer drop. No route to Peak 6057‘s summit, either. Beyond its high point, the crack widened out, revealing a view of Elkhorn Mountain (6,440 ft.), another giant knob of granite.
And that was it. Standing there at the upper end of the crack, Lupe was done. The American Dingo couldn’t go any higher.
How far below the summit do you think we are, SPHP?
Hard to say, Loop. Your GPS track claims we’re at 5,927 feet, which agrees pretty well with the topo map, but neither one’s completely accurate.
130 feet below Peak 6057’s summit then? Well, we can still get there, SPHP. All you have to do is rent us a helicopter!
Yeah, guess that should have been the plan all along. Not happening today, no helicopter rentals around here. Getting late, anyway. We better find our way back to Centennial Trail No. 89, Loopster. No sense in getting ourselves stranded way out here on a January night!
A short scramble down to the SW from the wide end of the crack was an incredible jumble of boulders and deadfall.
Couple more things before we go, Loopster. Let’s head SW far enough to get a photo of Peak 6057 from that direction since this side was our best shot at finding a way to the top. From the end of the crack, I also caught a glimpse of Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) way off to the SW. Maybe we can find a spot with a clearer view of it, too?
Despite all the snow and deadfall, Lupe soon completed both missions.
The Peak 6057 mystery had been solved as far as Lupe was concerned, but her Black Elk Wilderness adventure wasn’t over yet. Exploring W, then N, through the snowy woods, the return to Centennial Trail No. 89 was a scenic and more challenging endeavor than expected.
Eventually heading NE down a long, surprisingly rugged valley, progress was awfully slow.
Light was fading fast, when Lupe came to an unexpected ancient trail running through the forest. This clearly wasn’t Centennial Trail No. 89, but greatly helped speed SPHP’s progress.
5:04 PM, dusk at Pine Creek – Suddenly, it was over. Lupe was standing on Centennial Trail No. 89, a veritable super highway through the Black Elk Wilderness.
Hah! Great job! We made it, Looper.
We always do, SPHP.
Yeah, in this business everyone bats 1,000, until one day you don’t.
The rest was easy. Lupe followed Centennial Trail No. 89 back to where she’d left it, then retraced her earlier route back to Horse Thief Lake.
6:09 PM, 37ºF – Emerging at the Horse Thief Lake trailhead, crusty snow crunched beneath SPHP’s boots. Moonlight streamed over the access road as Lupe trotted back to the RAV4 while the silent stars glittered overhead. At long last, Peak 6057 was done.
Links:
Next Black Hills Expedition Prior Black Hills Expedition
Lupe’s Scrollable Peak 6057 GPS Track
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