That Brian Kalet! He does get around. Lupe’s 2017 had started off with visits to a number of southern Black Hills peaks Brian had added to the Peakbagger.com data base in the spring of 2016. SPHP hadn’t noticed until months later that about the same time Lupe was climbing in the southern hills, Brian had been visiting even more peaks along the NE edge of the Black Hills and adding them to the database, too.
So Lupe’s 2017 was going to end more or less the way it began, on the cold trail of Brian Kalet’s footsteps.
Loop had already been to one of the NE Brian Kalet peaks when she visited Peak 3950 near Sturgis a couple of weeks ago on Expedition No. 215. Today she would tackle two more near Whitewood. SPHP parked the G6 at Whitewood City Park (9:18 AM, 47°F).
Looper set off in search of Peak 4400 about 1.5 miles to the SW. She crossed a ravine, then started up a forested hill. She soon came to a dirt road, and followed it higher to a better one.
The better road took Lupe SW up to a level area where there was a big meadow. Loop was close to High Point 4238 on the topo map. Everything was going fine until Lupe heard gunfire. Hunters? The gunfire originated from somewhere off to the W, but sounded quite far off.
Lupe hates gunfire or explosions of any sort no matter how faint or far away. She was instantly a nervous wreck and wanted to forget all about Peak 4400. When the gunfire continued sporadically every few minutes, SPHP was certain it wasn’t from hunters. Someone must be doing some target practice. SPHP persuaded Lupe to continue, though she had lost all her enthusiasm. She slunk along, staying close to SPHP.
A maze of minor dirt roads went through the forest. Eventually, SPHP figured Lupe must be getting close to Peak 4400, and stopped to consult the topo map. Suddenly a man appeared, walking straight toward Lupe through the woods.
The man hailed SPHP. It turned out he was an employee of a company that leases 2,500 acres in this area. He said this was all private property, not national forest land. He was out with his young son checking cameras set up to monitor wildlife. Lupe was right next to one. The gunfire was indeed coming from a shooting range not terribly far NW of here.
The man was friendly, but insisted on taking Lupe and SPHP in his ATV winding N through the forest to a road that led out of the leased acreage down a valley to the E. He and his son then roared away in the ATV.
Well, shucks. Lupe started down the road to the E. She hadn’t made it to the top of Peak 4400. She hadn’t been too far SE of it either, from what SPHP had been seeing on the topo map. Now she was 0.5 mile N of it. Decisions. Maybe it wasn’t the thing to do, but Loopster was already here. This was the one and only time she would ever be, given the situation. Lupe and SPHP left the road, heading S through the forest.
It didn’t take long for the American Dingo to reach a hilltop that looked like it might be the summit of Peak 4400. This was just a high spot in the forest devoid of views, but Lupe posed on a tree stump for a couple of photos anyway.
Lupe had scarcely left the hilltop when she caught a glimpse of Bear Butte (4,433 ft.) through a small opening in the trees.
The topo map showed quite a large area inside the 4,400 foot contour on Peak 4400. In fact, there were two such areas 0.25 mile apart. Lupe was in the N one now, which was where Brian Kalet had placed the true summit without further comment.
Maybe Lupe should look around here a bit more, just to make sure she’d reached the actual high point in the N contour? She could then go check out the terrain in the S contour. It wouldn’t take long.
A short search of the N contour area did show a higher point than where Lupe had been on the tree stump. The true summit was actually a little farther SW, near the W edge of the mountain.
Satisfied that she’d reached the true summit of Peak 4400, because SPHP congratulated her and told her so, Loop was surprised to learn that she still had to visit a S 4,400 foot contour before she would be completely done with Peak 4400. However, she was glad to head off in that direction, because it meant getting farther away from the sporadic gunfire still heard coming from the shooting range.
Off Lupe went, heading SE. She reached the saddle leading to the S 4,400 foot contour, and crossed it. Soon she was at the S edge of the mountain, where the terrain dropped away rather sharply. Peak 4400’s S summit was nearby, close to a fence on a section line.
The S summit didn’t have much of a view, but shortly before reaching it Lupe had gotten a good look at Crook Mountain (4,930 ft.), and her next objective, Peak 4240.
Well, Lupe had done it. She had been to the true summit of Peak 4400. Whether the N or S summit had been highest was uncertain. Due to the forest, they couldn’t be seen from one another. Brian Kalet had picked the N summit as the highest. Both Loop and SPHP were happy enough to go along with that choice, right or wrong.
In any case, Lupe had been to both the N and S summits. Better skedaddle, and leave Peak 4400 once and for all! Going clear back to the road to the N that the nice man had shown SPHP as being the best route out of here would have been the long way around now. Instead, Loop returned to Whitewood on a route pretty similar to the way she’d come up.
Once back at the G6 (12:33 PM, 65°F), Lupe and SPHP left Whitewood driving SW on Crook City Road. SPHP parked the G6 again near the start of Oakbrook Road (12:45 PM). Lupe’s next peakbagging goal, the summit of Peak 4240, was scarcely 0.25 mile SE of here. Loop and SPHP took a stroll down Oakbrook Road looking for a way up.
At the W end of Peak 4240, an ATV trail left Oakbrook Road heading E up the narrow ridge straight for the summit. Perfect!
The ATV trail started out in pine forest climbing steadily. Soon Lupe came to a line of small S facing cliffs. The ATV trail stayed a little N of them. The cliff tops provided progressively better views, as the Carolina Dog journeyed up the hill.
The short climb didn’t take Lupe long. Soon she was at the top of the mountain. As she’d seen from Peak 4400, the top of Peak 4240 was mostly bare. The forest didn’t extend quite all the way to the summit. Even though Peak 4240 wasn’t as high as nearby surrounding hills, the views were pretty decent.
It was fun to see so many mountains Lupe had been to before from Peak 4240! She lingered, admiring the views. Loopster couldn’t stay too long, though, if she wanted to climb another mountain today. After a Taste of the Wild snack, the Carolina Dog was ready to move on.
The last mountain Lupe would be climbing today wasn’t a Brian Kalet peak. Lookout Peak (4,478 ft.) had been added to the Peakbagger.com data base a long time ago by Doug Melton, another prolific peakbagger. Lookout Peak is the dominant mountain E of I-90 at Spearfish, SD. When Lupe got back to the G6 (1:29 PM), SPHP drove her to Spearfish.
Late November, yet it was an amazing 72°F when SPHP parked the G6 at a little park at the S end of Saddle Horn Drive (1:57 PM). Lupe hopped out. Very few of her mountain ascents had ever started in a town, but this one was going to. Lupe and SPHP strolled 0.5 block N on Saddle Horn Drive, before turning W on Branding Iron Drive.
SPHP had no idea what the situation was on access to Lookout Peak, but on the way in from the SE had seen a road zigzagging up the mountain’s S slope above a residential subdivision. There were towers on Lookout Peak, so there must be a way up somewhere. Loop wasn’t far from that zigzagging road now. Would it really be as easy as simply sauntering through the neighborhood to get to it?
Branding Iron Drive curved SW. Loop took a R on Pony Express Lane. Ahead, at the upper end of this short street, a dirt road curved L out of sight. Most promising! When Lupe got to the end of the street, a sign showed that this was the access road to Lookout Mountain Park. The sign listed a few simple rules, none prohibiting Dingoes.
And it was as easy as that! Lupe trotted up Lookout Peak’s S slope on the zigzagging road. The road brought Loop to a forested high point ESE of the summit. From there, it continued across a saddle to the base of the summit knob.
At the base of the summit knob, a trail left the road going right on up to the top. The trail was rocky and a bit scrambly, but short. In minutes, Lupe was approaching the towers at Lookout Peak’s summit.
The area right around the true summit was crowded with towers and buildings. Approaching from the E, the summit had appeared like a big knob, but once Lupe was on top, she could see it was more elongated and ridge-like toward the W. The terrain sloped down in that direction, yet looked like it might be the best place to check out the views.
Lupe trotted W past the true summit to see what she would find.
Lupe came to exposed ledges of large flat rocks at the far WNW end of the summit ridge. Although at the low point of the entire summit area, the ledges provided some of the finest views from Lookout Peak.
On the way back to the G6, Lupe stopped by the true summit for a photo. Then it was all downhill from here. Some of the views on the way down were really nice, too.
While Loop had been up at the summit, she’d had the whole mountain to herself. Apparently, this was just a lucky fluke, at least on a gorgeous day like today. On the way down, she started meeting lots of people and dogs coming up. Lupe enjoyed all the sniffing that went on. She wagged her curly tail at the little dogs, and growled at the big ones.
The sun was still up, when Lupe got back to the G6 (3:34 PM, 62°F). Loop and SPHP spent the remaining hour of daylight driving around scoping out Peak 4433, another Brian Kalet peak of interest in the area. Perhaps someday Lupe will return to climb it, too. But that will be another Black Hills, SD Expedition and a different adventure.
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!