Busy Carroll Creek Road (County Road No. 313) wasn’t a very good place to park, but would have to do. SPHP pulled as far over on the W shoulder of the wide county road as possible. With so much snow around, this was as good as it was going to get for the G6. Lupe bounded out, eager to begin her day of fun in the Black Hills (9:59 AM, 49°F).
Only 100 feet back to the N, Lupe reached the intersection with Fox Ridge Road. A short trek on Fox Ridge brought Lupe to her originally intended starting point at USFS Road No. 685. The road was unmarked and snowy. Fortunately, some vehicle with knobby tires had packed the snow down in a couple of tracks, making the hike along the road a lot easier than it otherwise would have been.
Lupe was about 5 miles SSW of Custer, SD. Her mission on Expedition No. 190 was to climb 3 more Brian Kalet peaks. Peaks 5846, 5880 & 5840 were all strung out along a line running roughly NW/SE. None of them were in view yet. Lupe would have to follow USFS Road No. 685 more than 2 miles, just to reach the pass between Peaks 5846 & 5880.
With so much snow around, Lupe couldn’t easily go running off exploring the forest like she usually does. She tried a few times, but bounding through snow almost up to her neck was hard work. Like SPHP, Lupe soon resigned herself to trudging along in the tire tracks on the road. She alternated between leading and following, often pausing right in front of SPHP to sniff the air, thereby forcing a temporary halt.
SPHP tried switching tire tracks frequently to avoid trampling the Carolina Dog, but each time SPHP switched, Lupe switched, too. She wanted to be in the exact same tire track as SPHP. Sigh. Good thing there wasn’t any big rush. Between the snow and Dingo delays, Expedition No. 190 was off to a leisurely start.
After the first big bend in the road, Lupe was out of sight of any sign of civilization other than the snowy road going forward. A S breeze was blowing. The sky was blue with a few thin clouds. Despite the snow, at close to 50°F, this was a warm day for early February. The road hike was a nice one, winding mostly SW through the forest.
No. 685 gained elevation gradually for a while before leveling out. Eventually it started a long, slow decline into a valley. By now, Lupe could see part of the middle mountain, Peak 5880, ahead through the trees.
A little farther on, Lupe left the road briefly to climb up on a rock formation to the N. SPHP thought she might have a good view of Peak 5846 from here. She could see it, but the vantage point wasn’t as good as SPHP had hoped.
As the road descended, Lupe lost all of the elevation she had gained, and then some. At the lowest part of the valley, the road skirted the S side of a big field of private property. When the road curved S away from the field, Lupe started seeing deer in the forest. Deer aren’t quite as much fun as squirrels, but they do hold Lupe’s interest.
After leaving the big field behind, No. 685 gained elevation again. Lupe eventually reached the pass between Peaks 5846 & 5880. The pass wasn’t as snowy as the road had been. Perhaps that was why a large herd of deer was hanging out here. The deer promptly fled into the forest as Lupe approached.
Only Peak 5846 was NW of the pass. SPHP decided Lupe should climb it first. Peak 5846 has two high areas. Lupe climbed the closest S one first, coming up near the NE end of this area from the SSE. The climb was steep, but only required Lupe to gain a few hundred feet of elevation. When Lupe got up to where the terrain started leveling out again, she had a halfway decent view of Peak 5880 back to the SE.
The highest part of the S high area is at the far S end of Peak 5846. Lupe wasn’t anywhere near the S high point where she came up. However, the true summit of the mountain was in the opposite direction at the N end of the N high area, anyway.
Lupe’s first task was to reach the true summit. Off to the W, Lupe saw a thinly forested snowy hillside. To the R of the hillside appeared to be a saddle leading over to the N high area.
Lupe went to the top of the snowy hillside, before crossing the saddle to the NW. The NE side of the saddle was full of snow, but the ground to the SW was largely snow-free. Unfortunately, a hazardous downed barbed wire fence was in the saddle. SPHP lifted Lupe over it, but kept finding more barbed wire on the ground ahead. The barbed wire made this a dangerous place for Lupe! SPHP made her stay close.
The N high area of Peak 5846 is irregularly shaped. The highest ground is near the NE edge of the mountain along a ridge leading NW. Right away, Lupe came to a line of small cliffs along a narrow, rocky part of this ridge.
Although the ridgeline was quite narrow immediately N of the saddle, Lupe and SPHP had no problem following it NNW. Lupe still had to be careful, though. SPHP found one more section of downed barbed wire partially hidden in the snow.
After going a few hundred feet, the ridge broadened out greatly. Lupe was now gaining very little additional elevation as she continued NW. Right out in the open, she soon discovered a small cairn in the snow.
Was Lupe at the true summit of Peak 5846 already? SPHP wasn’t sure. The map showed the true summit at the far N end of the peak. It looked like Lupe might still have farther to go. Continuing onward, only 50 feet N of the little cairn, she came to a great open view to the NE.
Lupe entered the forest again, still going N. Yes, there was higher ground ahead! Lupe didn’t have much farther to go, though. Soon she was up on a big snowy level area at the highest point on the mountain. She had reached the true summit at the N end of Peak 5846!
The most dramatic view from Peak 5846 is toward Black Elk Peak off to the NE, but Lupe had already seen the best view of it from the viewpoint near the little cairn before she even reached the true summit. Lupe and SPHP wandered over to the W end of the summit area, to see what Lupe could see over that way.
She had quite a nice view of Twin Sisters 2 miles to the NW. Beyond Twin Sisters, Lupe could see higher hills in the distance.
A little down the NW slope was a patch of snow-free ground. Even though the wind had shifted to the W now, Lupe and SPHP took a break here. SPHP ate an apple while enjoying the view. Lupe wasn’t too hungry yet, but she had a little Taste of the Wild.
The W breeze wasn’t terribly strong, but still felt chilly. The day wasn’t getting any warmer, that was for sure. Lupe was happy when SPHP wrapped a spare purple Columbia pullover around her.
Lupe still had two more mountains to climb. Break time was limited to 15 minutes. When it was over, the American Dingo returned briefly to the true summit of Peak 5846. She then started S, retracing her route past the great NE viewpoint, the little cairn, along the narrow rocky ridge, and across the saddle leading back to the S high area.
However, Lupe did not turn E here to go back down the SE face of the mountain. Instead, she continued S all the way to the S high point of Peak 5846, which she found at the top of a small forested knoll. Lupe paused only briefly here before beginning her descent. The S face of the mountain was steeper than where she’d come up, but had very little snow.
Lupe went all the way down to the pass where she’d left USFS Road No. 685 earlier. She crossed the road a little SW of the high point of the pass, and began climbing from the NW up to the N ridge of Peak 5880. The N face of the mountain was all forested, snowy, and fairly steep. As Lupe reached the N ridgeline, the terrain started leveling out, although Lupe continued to gain some elevation.
Shortly after the slope of the terrain decreased, Lupe made a most interesting discovery. Proceeding S along the ridgeline, the American Dingo found tracks – really big tracks – in the snow. These weren’t the normal deer, wild turkey or rabbit tracks that Lupe usually comes across. Not at all! Lupe sniffed very carefully – mountain lion!
No doubt about it. A very big kitty was around here somewhere! The lion tracks looked fairly fresh, perhaps only 2 or 3 hours old. The lion had been heading S along this same N ridge. Lupe started following the mountain lion’s trail.
Fortunately, the N ridge was short. To continue on to the summit of Peak 5880, Lupe soon needed to make a loop toward the E in order to stay on the high ground. The lion hadn’t gone this way. Lupe was disappointed when she had to quit following the lion, but SPHP thought perhaps it was best not to make a mountain lion’s acquaintance anyway.
Lupe was still gaining elevation as she followed the ridge ESE. On her way, she came to a snowy clearing where she had a good view off to the N. To the NW, she could see Twin Sisters again, poking up behind Peak 5846, where she had just been.
The Peakbagger.com topo map showed 3 small areas on Peak 5880 enclosed by the 5,880 ft. contour. Lupe was now approaching 2 of them midway along the ESE trending portion of the ridgeline. Theoretically, any of these 3 areas might be the true summit of Peak 5880, although Brian Kalet had marked the 3rd, slightly larger area as the true summit.
Lupe came to only one high spot in the region where the topo map showed 2. It was clearly the highest point around this part of the mountain. This NE high point was located very close to a junction of ridges where Lupe needed to turn SW to reach Brian Kalet’s chosen summit.
From the NE high point, Lupe followed a broad ridge going SW intending to find Brian Kalet’s true summit. She lost a little elevation at first, but the terrain soon leveled out and began a gradual rise again. Lupe came across another set of mountain lion tracks, but they were older than the tracks she had been following earlier.
After a 5 minute trek to the SW, a snowy hill became visible to the W through the forest ahead. Climbing it from the E, SPHP was quickly convinced that Lupe was indeed about to reach the true summit of Peak 5880. This hill was easily higher than where Lupe had been before. Brian Kalet was right!
Lupe found the true summit of Peak 5880 in a large, flat, thickly forested area at the top of the hill.
The snow was nearly a foot deep on the densely forested hill. Lupe had no views of anything except more forest from the true summit. She sniffed around the area for only 5 or 10 minutes. The day was wearing on. If Lupe was still going to try to climb Peak 5440, as well, she needed to get going.
Lupe retraced her route back to the NE high point, then turned ESE staying near the NE edge of the mountain. An annoying barbed wire fence went this direction, too. SPHP had to help Lupe across it several times.
Lupe was now gradually losing elevation. She came to small cliffs at the ESE end of the ridge. However, the way was open to turn S. Lupe lost more elevation crossing a wide expanse of forest. A fair amount of deadfall timber in this area forced lots of little detours.
By the time Lupe reached the last high point toward the S end of Peak 5880, she had seen 4 sets of mountain lion tracks, although only the first set had looked really fresh. At the S high point, Lupe was ready for another break. SPHP found a small snow-free spot among a stand of little pines. Lupe had more Taste of the Wild. SPHP wrapped her in the purple Columbia pullover again. After 10 or 15 minutes, she was ready to continue onward.
Following a ridge that curved around to the SW, Lupe lost elevation steadily. The topo map showed a minor road ahead, and Lupe reached it at a saddle. This whole area was full of snow. Lupe crossed the road going S. The road was heading ESE and about to lose elevation. Lupe plunged onward through the snowy forest, trying to maintain elevation up on the hillside. The terrain forced her SE.
The topo map showed another lower pass a short distance ahead. Lupe successfully maintained elevation until she reached the slope leading down to this second pass. She found another road down here, and an intersection just to the E. Lupe left the roads, and began her climb up the N ridge of Peak 5840.
At first, Lupe was climbing from the NW along a fairly steep snow-covered slope. She gained a couple hundred feet of elevation before the slope became more gradual and the ridgeline turned S. Higher up, Lupe came to a couple of halfway decent viewpoints along the way, but she didn’t linger long this late in the day.
Lupe reached the true summit of Peak 5840 at a junction of three ridges. The summit area was much smaller than on Peaks 5846 & 5880, but had plenty of room to move around. Once again, forest prevented Lupe from getting more than a glimpse of any distant views from the top of the mountain.
Upon reaching the summit of Peak 5840, Lupe had successfully concluded her mission to climb 3 more Brian Kalet peaks today. Even though the sun was getting quite low by now, she still had a little time to relax up on top of the mountain. SPHP put the purple Columbia pullover back around her to keep her warm while she rested.
Lupe had a couple of requests.
First, she wanted love. SPHP gave her a generous dose, and praised her for her 3 latest peakbagging successes earned despite having to spend so many hours in the cold, deep snow.
All the tender love made Lupe happy. Next, she thought more Taste of the Wild would hit the spot.
The Taste of the Wild disappeared. Lupe begged for a little more loving, because, well, Carolina Dogs give away tons of love and enjoy receiving lots, too. SPHP was most happy to comply with Lupe’s request. Soon Lupe was feeling pretty good about the situation.
After a relaxing break on Peak 5840, it was time to get going again. The sun would still be up for a little while, but the G6 was miles away. Lupe posed for her final summit photo before heading down the mountain.
On the way down, Lupe and SPHP paused briefly at one of the viewpoints.
There wasn’t time enough left in the day for Lupe to retrace her original route to Peak 5840 back over Peak 5880, and then back along USFS Road No. 685. When Lupe reached the pass N of Peak 5840, she turned NE following USFS Road No. 308.1F (Reservoir Road).
SPHP was surprised when No. 308.1F quickly led Lupe into a residential area. The road eventually took Lupe N of these homes before winding NE through the forest again.
The light of day was fading, and so was No. 308.1F, by the time Lupe reached Carroll Creek Road. SPHP was glad No. 308.1F hadn’t disappeared entirely in the dark forest. The short cut back to Carroll Creek Road had worked! Lupe had saved a lot of time and distance.
Lupe’s adventures on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 190 were almost over. Together, Lupe and SPHP started the 1.5 mile trek N along Carroll Creek Road back to the G6. As stars began to appear overhead, Lupe and SPHP wondered if somewhere up on Peak 5880, a giant cat was beginning its nightly prowl? (5:41 PM, 41°F)
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