On a lonely stretch of Hwy 29 in NW Nebraska, someone with a big pack was hiking N. Lupe and SPHP were heading N, too. There was room for one more in the G6 with a little rearranging. Lupe and SPHP stopped across the highway from the backpacker.
Want a ride? Nope, he didn’t! Where are you going? Hiking the Great Plains Trail from Texas to the Canadian Border. Wow, that sounds awesome! Mind if Lupe gets a picture taken with you? No problem, that would be fine! Lupe and SPHP hopped out of the G6, and went across Hwy 29 to meet Luke “Strider” Jordan.
Lupe and SPHP had never heard of the Great Plains Trail before. Luke explained that parts of it were still being put together. He handed SPHP a business card with trail information on it. “The Great Plains Trail – Find a New Adventure! From Canada to Texas, 1800 Scenic Miles, Three National Parks, Three National Monuments, Ten National Forests/Grasslands, Five State High Points, Six State Parks”
Luke had started out on Guadalupe Peak (8,749 ft.), the highest mountain in Texas, (and also the S end of the Great Plains Trail) on Valentine’s Day. The Montana portion of the Great Plains Trail hasn’t been created yet, so Luke was going to hike through western North Dakota to reach the Canadian Border. He expected to get there sometime around May 12th.
This wasn’t the first long distance trail Luke had done. Three years ago he had hiked the entire North Country Trail from central North Dakota to Vermont. Clearly, Luke merited his “Strider” nickname!
Well, since Luke didn’t want a ride, how about a piece of fried chicken, a banana, or a Coke? The Coke sounded good. Yeah, Strider would take a Coke. SPHP retrieved one from the G6 for him.
SPHP gave Strider a phone number for Lupe, too. The Great Plains Trail goes through the Black Hills. If Strider wanted to, when he reached the Black Hills he could spend an evening with Lupe and SPHP, sleep in a bed, use the shower, etc. Maybe Lupe would even join Luke on a stretch of the trail?
After friendly goodbyes and a pat on the head for Lupe, Strider continued N. In the G6, Lupe and SPHP continued N, too.
About a dozen miles N of where she had left Strider behind, Lupe came to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. SPHP wasn’t sure how dingo-friendly it would be, but decided to take a chance and check it out. At the very least, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument was very wallet-friendly. There was no admission fee!
Most of the land that is now Agate Fossil Beds National Monument was once part of the Agate Springs Ranch owned by James and Kate Cook. In 1892, Erwin H. Barbour of the University of Nebraska was the first scientist to visit the ranch and examine the strange Devil’s Corkscrews, later recognized as the fossilized burrows of Palaeocastor, an ancient dry land beaver.
Near the entrance to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is the 1.0 mile long Daemonelix Trail, which heads up a hillside to a rocky area where the Devil’s Corkscrews can still be seen. This is the most scenic of two trails at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. However, SPHP was hoping Lupe could do a little peakbagging along the Fossil Hills Trail, which starts 3 miles farther in at the visitor’s center.
Lupe had to wait in the G6 while SPHP went in to find out if she could climb Carnegie Hill (4,600 ft.), one of two small hills at the end of the Fossil Hills Trail. In the visitor center, there was a pretty cool diorama featuring skeletons of ancient mammals that had lived in this area 20 million years ago.
SPHP talked to Ranger Steven Lawlor. Would it be alright if Lupe climbed Carnegie Hill? Ranger Lawlor was a bit hesitant, but said OK with some provisions. They were all very basic rules Lupe had no intention of violating. Lupe had to be on a leash, no collecting or disturbing of rocks, plants or fossils, watch out for rattlesnakes, and don’t fall off any cliffs.
Soon Lupe was on her way (2:23 PM, 66°F). The Fossil Hills Trail is a concrete sidewalk that leads all the way up to Carnegie Hill and nearby University Hill. Lupe liked that. No cactus at all to deal with!
University Hill and Carnegie Hill are very close together. The trail came to University Hill first. It was an easy climb to the top.
19 or 20 million years ago, this part of Nebraska was somewhat like modern Africa. It was the golden Age of Mammals. Ancient horses, rhinos, sheep, beardogs, hogs, camels and other animals roamed the area. Displays depicting how some of these creatures may have looked are located along the Fossil Hills Trail.
After climbing University Hill, Lupe climbed Carnegie Hill from the E.
After climbing Carnegie Hill, Lupe and SPHP returned to the trail to complete a circumnavigation of Carnegie Hill. On the way, Lupe came upon a display that intrigued her.
The display was about beardogs that used to live here millions of years ago. Lupe thought that beardogs might have been almost as ferocious and scary as Carolina Dogs are today.
At some point in the Miocene Epoch, the SW side of Carnegie Hill had been the site of a waterhole where herbivores gathered to drink. During droughts, when many animals were forced to congregate here, they had been easy prey for predators.
In August 1904, O.A. Peterson of the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh discovered a great bonebed here. Between 1904 and 1923, scientists from Yale University, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and other institutions also worked at these fossil beds.
After completing her circumnavigation of Carnegie Hill, Lupe started on her way back to the G6. It was getting close to 4 PM by the time she arrived (3:43 PM, 66°F). The visitor center was about to close. SPHP went in to see if Ranger Steven Lawlor would consent to having his picture taken with Lupe?
Ranger Lawlor was happy to have a couple photos taken with Lupe, but first gave SPHP a very quick tour. James and Kate Cook, owners of the Agate Springs Ranch, had been friends of Chief Red Cloud. Over time, the Oglala Sioux and Cheyenne gave them many gifts. The Cooks eventually donated their impressive collection of authentic Indian artifacts to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument.
After saying goodbye to Ranger Lawlor, Lupe and SPHP left Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Lupe returned to Hwy 29 and headed N to Harrison, Nebraska.
SPHP was hoping Lupe still had time to visit the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point (4,740 ft.) E of Harrison. The Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point is 3.5 miles N of Hwy 20 near the W border of the wilderness area about halfway between Harrison and Crawford, Nebraska. SPHP’s map showed a dirt road leading N from Hwy 20 to the high point.
Although SPHP drove E slowly on Hwy 20 looking for the dirt access road, nothing promising appeared. To complicate matters, the Soldier Creek Wilderness does not border Hwy 20, but is separated from it by private lands ranging from 0.25 to 0.75 mile wide. Looking N from the highway at the vast expanse of remote ridges and valleys, it wasn’t even possible to tell with any precision where the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point was.
Just before Hwy 20 started to lose serious elevation, there was a scenic overlook with a big parking lot on the S side of the highway. Lupe and SPHP pulled in there, so SPHP could take another look at the maps. SPHP was certain Lupe was now E of where the access road should have been.
The maps showed one more possible access route. Cottonwood Road leaves Hwy 20 several miles W of Soldier Creek Wilderness. It goes N and then winds NE to come within 1.5 miles of the wilderness boundary. Maybe it would be possible to get permission to cross the private property? It seemed like a real long shot, but what else was there to do?
Lupe and SPHP drove back W again. SPHP kept looking for an access road to the N, but still saw nothing encouraging. Cottonwood Road was the only reasonable possibility left. It was too late in the day to consider trying anything else.
At least there was a green and white street sign along Hwy 20 when Lupe reached Cottonwood Road. Lupe and SPHP turned N. Soon Lupe was having a field day barking at cows! A huge herd was in the field to the W. They weren’t used to such abuse. The cows mooed as though annoyed, but they didn’t run off.
Cottonwood Road wasn’t all that great. Even though it is a county road, there was little gravel on it. It went N for 1.75 miles, then turned sharply E for a short stretch before winding NE for 1.5 miles. The road slowly deteriorated as it wound along. It was a good thing it wasn’t real wet, or 4WD would have been necessary.
A ranch came into view on the N side of the road. A couple of people were near some buildings. A sign said this was Banners Ranch. Lupe and SPHP stopped in. Lupe stayed in the G6, while SPHP chatted with the old rancher and his son. They knew about the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point, but were perplexed by the notion that any stranger would find it worth coming way out here to see it.
Another 0.5 mile farther E, Cottonwood Road would turn N. At that point, SPHP could park the G6 and go on foot to their neighbor’s ranch, owned by Emery Fox. Mr. Fox owned the land bordering the Soldier Creek Wilderness. SPHP would have to ask for permission to cross his land. A red gate in a fence line was the way to the high point. SPHP thanked the Banners for their help, and returned to Lupe in the G6.
Going E, the road didn’t get any better. At one point the G6 had to go off it entirely to miss a huge mud puddle left by melting snow. SPHP parked the G6 where Cottonwood Road turned N. There wasn’t much choice. A sign at the start of the driveway into the Fox Ranch said “No Unauthorized Vehicles Allowed Beyond This Point”. The sign was hardly necessary. There was no way the G6 would have survived that road.
This was the right place, though. A 12 foot long gently arching metal sign along the fence line said “FOX”. Lupe was on her best behavior leaving the G6 (6:00 PM, 58°F). A whole herd of cows was standing right outside. Lupe didn’t bark once. Good girl! Lupe and SPHP headed E on the Fox’s high-clearance 4WD authorized vehicles only driveway.
Half a mile later, Lupe and SPHP arrived at the Fox Ranch headquarters. The Banners had said there would be two houses. Emery Fox lives in the bigger home to the N farthest up the slope. His son, Evan, lives in the smaller home to the W. Mr. Fox was home. SPHP requested permission to cross his ranch so Lupe could go to the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point.
Emery Fox seemed just as surprised as the Banners had been that anyone would be interested in seeing the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point. He was a quiet, soft-spoken man. Apparently he saw no harm in it, so he gave Lupe permission to go.
SPHP’s maps showed a road going S from the Fox’s home that would eventually turn E toward the high point, before turning S again. SPHP could see the road S and intended to take it, planning to just continue E to the high point when the road turned S again.
However, Mr. Fox pointed out two tracks in his field going up a grassy ridge to the ESE. Mr. Fox said to take the track to the left. He also talked about a red gate prior to reaching the high point. SPHP never did fully understand the directions offered by the Banners or Mr. Fox, but not wanting to disobey instructions, Lupe and SPHP headed SE taking the left track up the ridge as Mr. Fox indicated.
SPHP feared that this route was going to take Lupe too far N. There wasn’t enough daylight left to waste too much of it, either. Fortunately, when Lupe reached the top of the ridge, the road (just a pickup truck path through a big field) continued ESE toward another barren ridge with a couple of high points on it. Maybe one of them was the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point? There was also a barren ridge farther S, and one with trees on it to the N, but both seemed too far away to be right.
Lupe and SPHP stayed on the road, except once when Lupe spotted 3 pronghorns. After crossing the ridge, the road slowly lost elevation, eventually coming to a fence at a low point. There wasn’t any red gate, which was a bit disturbing. On the other side of the fence, the road made a short jog to the S going up a little rise before turning ESE again back up on the high ground. The two high points were back in view. The road was heading almost straight for them.
Just a little W of the high points, Lupe reached another fence. This time there was a red gate! Signs also indicated that this was the border of the Soldier Creek Wilderness. On the high point farthest to the SE, a post was sticking up.
The road continued E skirting to the N of the highest point where the post was sticking up. SPHP left the road heading directly for the post. Lupe, however, didn’t budge from the road. SPHP hadn’t seen any cactus here, but Tenderpaw Lupe wasn’t taking any chances. SPHP had to carry her several hundred feet to the post.
A couple of feet S of the post were some white rocks. Down in the middle of them was a survey benchmark. It said “Summit”. Lupe really was at the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point!
Although it was getting pretty late in the day, there was time to relax for a few minutes to enjoy Lupe’s success. Only 1.5 hours ago, SPHP had been rather pessimistic about Lupe’s chances of getting here.
Lupe’s luck had held, though! The Banners and Emery Fox had been friendly and helpful. The road going through the pastures to get here had led right to the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point. It was an easy hike, too, all out in the open with very little elevation change over gently rolling terrain. Now that Lupe was here, it all seemed pathetically easy.
Lupe relaxed at the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point so much that when it was time to leave this remote and peaceful place, she forgot to worry about cactus. She trotted back to the road under her own power.
The sun was going down, but there wouldn’t be any beautiful sunset. Instead the sun sank into a cloud bank on the horizon. It was still a wonderful easy evening trek back to the Fox Ranch HQ.
When Lupe and SPHP reached the top of the ridge SE of Emery Fox’s home, Lupe looked back at the Soldier Creek Wilderness one last time. SPHP now realized it was possible to see both the Fox Ranch HQ and the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point from here.
Emery Fox was waiting for Lupe and SPHP to return. It was his turn to take a picture of Lupe. Mr. Fox and SPHP chatted for a while. Emery’s son, Evan, came along and joined in. Emery said his grandfather homesteaded this ranch in 1905. Emery had been born here, and has lived here all his life.
Back at the red gate, there had been a sign on the fence facing E toward those entering the Fox Ranch. It was about an open fields and waters program. None of the gates in the fences had been closed. SPHP asked about the program.
Mr. Fox said all of his land was enrolled in the open fields and waters program. (He did not want to talk about how much acreage he owns.) Hunters and fishermen with the proper licenses can legally walk in on his property to hunt and fish in season. Mr. Fox gets some financial reward from the state of Nebraska in exchange for enrolling his property.
Lupe and SPHP weren’t here to hunt or fish, just to pass through on a peakbagging mission. SPHP thanked Mr. Fox and Evan for making Lupe’s success in reaching the Soldier Creek Wilderness High Point possible. Then Lupe and SPHP headed W back to the G6 as stars began to twinkle above (8:01 PM, 50°F).
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