12:01 PM, 47ºF, start of USFS Road No. 359.3C along Playhouse Road – Wow! What a gorgeous day! Didn’t seem like January at all. Scarcely even any snow around. Perfect conditions had Lupe out in the hills again. Her Lists of John mini-blitz was in full swing. Going around a gate, she headed SE on USFS Road No. 359.3C through a sunlit forest.
The road descended gradually to a meadow where Loopster made a somewhat unusual discovery. An old abandoned house was closed off by a pole fence around its perimeter. Fairly large, it must have been quite the place once upon a time, but was in a sad state of affairs now.
After a good sniff around the house, Lupe returned to the road. Curving NE, it quickly led to a fork. SPHP checked the topo map. Didn’t quite match up with what the Carolina Dog was seeing.
Which way, SPHP?
Not entirely sure, Looper. Think we’re already on USFS Road No. 359.3D, which should get us in a roundabout way close to Peak 4900, if we stay to the L here. This other road looks like it might go over toward the Spokane Mine, but doesn’t seem to be in the right place. Should have been a road going that way closer to the house, but I never saw it.
Well, maybe the map is wrong, SPHP?
Yeah, maybe. Usually I’m the one that’s wrong, though.
Do we have time to go see the Spokane Mine, SPHP?
Oh, I think so. Shouldn’t be very far. Want to do that, Loop?
She did. Taking the road to the R, Lupe slowly gained elevation going ESE up a shallow valley. The road soon faded to a single track trail.
The trail led up to a fairly level region where more trails headed off in various directions. Turning S, because that was where the Spokane Mine ought to be, Lupe went over a small rise. On the other side was a sunny little clearing. No sign yet of the Spokane Mine, but there was something else.
A grave!
The lone grave was outlined with rocks. A flat headstone was so covered with memorabilia that SPHP had to move some of it to reveal the name.
What does it say, SPHP?
James Fernando Shepard. Says he was born on February 3, 1850, and died on June 21, 1908. Get this, Loopster! He was murdered for a mining claim! This headstone was set in memory from his grandchildren.
Murdered! For a mining claim! Must have been for the Spokane Mine, SPHP! Let’s get out of here!
Silly Dingo! He was murdered more than 113 years ago. Nothing to worry about now. Besides, we don’t have anything to do with any mining claims, for the Spokane Mine, or any other one.
Not taking any chances, SPHP! Forget the Spokane Mine. Let’s vamoose!
Slinking E through the forest, Lupe came to another abandoned house. This one was also large and surrounded by a pole fence, but appeared to be in considerably better shape.
This is giving me the willies, SPHP! Why all these abandoned homes?
Oh, I don’t know, Loopster. The mine probably played out, and Spokane became a ghost town.
Ghost town! We’re in a ghost town?
Well, sort of seems that way, doesn’t it?
What mountain are we going to, anyway, SPHP?
Peak 4900, Loop. Only 0.25 mile E of here, although we still have a mile to go, if we want to take advantage of USFS Road No. 359.3D.
Well, let’s get there before a ghost comes. I don’t care what route we take.
Heading N from the second abandoned house, Lupe traveled through open forest and occasional meadows. Big rock formations could be seen to the E high on Peak 4900’s W slope, which was quite steep. Eventually a minor pass appeared ahead. The Carolina Dog went up to it.
Looked feasible to go E from here, so Lupe kept climbing. Shortly after the terrain began leveling out she reached USFS Road No. 359.3D again. The road was fainter up here, but still easy to follow. It dipped a little, then flattened, as Loop followed it first S, then SE.
No. 359.3D eventually went by a big field. Shortly after that, Lupe came to a small clearing where the road appeared to end. A couple of trails left this point. Following the one that went straight, it soon disappeared. By now, Peak 4900’s summit couldn’t be too much farther SW.
Turning W, the American Dingo began climbing again. The ground started getting rocky as Peak 4900’s N ridge appeared ahead.
Upon gaining the ridge, Lupe turned S. The climb was relatively easy. Soon a high point was directly ahead.
1:11 PM, 50ºF, Peak 4900 – Lupe had come up at the NW end of a 400 foot long summit region. This was the highest part of the mountain. One of these flat, blocky boulders had to be the true summit, but several were nearly the same elevation. Hard to say for certain exactly which one was it.
So many trees were around, that views were extremely limited. To the NW, a narrow look at Mount Rushmore (5,725 ft.) was available from one of the likeliest true summit candidates. Other than that, a partial view of big forested ridges to the SW was about it.
Chocolate coconut bar time, SPHP!
As usual, after taking a seat on one of the big rocks, and congratulating Lupe on her successful ascent, SPHP split one with her.
Gone in an instant.
Sheesh, Loop. Do you always have to wolf it down like that?
Dingo it down, you mean, SPHP. And yes, as a matter of fact, I do!
Whatever. Guess I sill have all my fingers. Anyway, see that biggest hill to the SW, Loopster? I bet that’s Peak 5160, where we’ll be going next.
Don’t rush me, SPHP. I’m not done with this mountain yet. We are going to explore Peak 4900’s summit ridge, aren’t we?
Of course! Ready whenever you are, Loop.
SPHP harbored hopes that Peak 4900 had some better viewpoints, but Lupe got all the way to the lower SE end of the summit ridge without catching more than glimpses in this or that direction. Rocks near the SE end offered limited views of the prairie beyond the Black Hills, but no sweeping panoramas.
Pleasant enough, but nothing too amazing. Ready to head back, Looper?
Soon Lupe was back at Peak 4900’s true summit. After lingering briefly to admire what views did exist and bask in the Peak 4900 ambience for the last time, the Carolina Dog headed back down the N ridge.
This time Lupe explored farther N along the ridge before leaving it for USFS Road No. 359.3D. Found a nice viewpoint along the way where both Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) and Mount Rushmore were in sight.
Once on No. 359.3D, Looper stuck with it until the road entered posted private property, which forced a detour. Lupe wound up wandering so far S on various trails through the forest that she got quite close to the grave again. From there she retraced her earlier route back to the first abandoned house and No. 359.3C.
Despite this second foray past the ghost town of Spokane, the luck of the Dingo held. No ghost materialized to haunt her.
We didn’t get murdered, either, SPHP! Made it back to the RAV4 in one piece. Don’t forget that!
Oh, thanks for the reminder, Loop. A crucial point! (End 2:26 PM)
2:35 PM, 47ºF, start of USFS Road No. 753.1A along S Playhouse Road – Having escaped the terrors of Peak 4900, Lupe was ready to take on her second Lists of John peak of the day. There was another gate to get by, and beyond it was a road less traveled. A mere grassy lane, USFS Road No. 753.1A turned S just past the gate.
Loop had barely gotten started on No. 753.1A, when No. 753.1B branched off to the E. That was the way to Peak 5160, but the road didn’t look all that promising. A short distance from No. 753.1A, No. 753.1B was choked with deadfall as it curved SE entering a narrow, shaded valley.
After almost 0.25 mile, the valley broadened out. The road was fainter here. If not for the topo map, SPHP wouldn’t even have realized that there was a fork. USFS Road No. 753.1C branched off to the NE (L), going up a sunlit hillside. No. 753.1B turned S (R), continuing up the valley.
The Carolina Dog stuck with No. 753.1B, which improved and started to climb more aggressively. Soon there were glimpses of towering granite formations off to the E. Kind of a red flag! Although a bit farther S, Peak 5160 was in that general direction. If it looked like that, Lupe was never going to be able to get to the top.
A gate in a wire mesh fence was ahead. Would have been a problem, since the gate was locked, but a gap near one of the posts allowed Lupe to slip through.
Think we’re in Custer State Park now, Looper.
No. 753.1B continued higher, but was looking like it would soon level out. The road curved SSE, then W, as Lupe neared a sunlit ridge. Near a saddle, the road forked again. One branch went back to the NNW, the other continued S over the saddle, and on down into another valley.
More big granite formations were in this region.
A massive rock formation SE of the saddle was concerning. Even if it wasn’t the true summit of Peak 5160, it might well be an indication of what to expect. A check of the topo map showed the summit NE of here. Oddly enough, it also showed USFS Road No. 753.1B dead-ending. None of these other branches of the road appeared on the map.
No choice, but to press on. Leaving the saddle, and all of the roads, Lupe passed N of the enormous granite formation heading E. Surprising SPHP, she soon came to a wide, forested ramp leading higher.
Oh, yeah! The news got even better! At the upper end of the ramp, Lupe came to a grassy field. Off to the NNE, it slanted up to an obvious high point, right where Peak 5160’s summit was supposed to be.
Nothing to it, SPHP! We’ll be there in just a couple of minutes!
3:32 PM, 45ºF, Peak 5160 – And so it was. A quick trek to the top, and there was Loopster, poised on the very highest rock.
Hah! Knock me over with a feather, Looper! Thought we were doomed!
Duck soup, SPHP! About time for another chocolate coconut bar, isn’t it?
That it was. Rather rocky up on this little ridge, but SPHP found a spot to sit down. Lupe curled up on SPHP’s lap.
The views were very nice! Nothing to the E was as high as Peak 5160. Lupe could see way out to the prairie beyond the Black Hills, a genuine panorama this time, not merely a glimpse. Peak 4900 was in sight off to the NE, but looked like a mere twerp of a hill from here. Due N on the horizon, Silver Mountain (5,405 ft.), Boulder Hill (5,331 ft.) and Storm Hill (5,192 ft.) were all on display.
The chocolate coconut bar vanished in an instant. SPHP offered Lupe some Taste of the Wild, but she didn’t seem interested until a helicopter appeared, flying this way out of the SW. At that point, Loopster gobbled all the Taste of the Wild down as quick as she could so the helicopter wouldn’t steal it, a maneuver which worked brilliantly. The famished helicopter flew away, cruelly disappointed.
Careful examination of the topo map showed two more tiny 5,160 foot contours along the ridge Peak 5160 was part of. Lupe was where Lists of John showed the true summit, but was that really the case?
The most distant of the competing contours represented the top of a hill visible 0.5 mile SSE. From here, that hill looked definitely lower.
However, the second tiny contour represented the top of the massive rock formation that Lupe had gone by on the way up. Trees hid the high point over that way from the summit where Lupe was, but it was visible from only a little way down the S slope.
Hmm. I don’t know, Looper. Mighty close call! In fact, if I had to put money on it, think I’d bet on that rock formation being the true summit.
Maybe so, SPHP, but that’s rock climber territory. We’ll never get up there!
Yeah, sure looked that way. Not even going to attempt it. Completely kosher or not, this was good enough for Dingo work. Lupe was claiming her second Lists of John success of the day!
Nearly an hour after arriving, Loopster was on her way back down the ramp. Upon reaching the roads over at the saddle near the problematic rock formation, she took a little time to sniff around exploring among the big rocks near its base. This was pretty cool territory! Might be fun to come back sometime for another look around.
But the sun was almost down, and the Carolina Dog ought to be, too. After a little fun among the big rocks, she returned to the saddle. This time, instead of taking USFS Road No. 753.1B again, Lupe explored the road going NNW.
The road soon wrapped around the end of the ridge. Curving W, it started a steep descent.
SPHP suspected this route might ultimately lead back to USFS Road No. 753.1A again, but it didn’t. Instead, Lupe reached S Playhouse Road 150 feet S of the N boundary of Custer State Park. An easy downhill trek along the paved road was all that remained.
Two more peaks climbed! No ghosts, and didn’t get murdered! Lupe’s Lists of John mini-blitz was going well. Little did the American Dingo suspect that it would all come to an end tomorrow. (5:05 PM, 36ºF)
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