Start – Cascade Springs picnic ground at J. H. Keith Memorial Park along Hwy 71, 10:02 AM, 34°F
Blue sky! A welcome sight! This day was going to be fine after all.
Good thing, too. It had been a while, and Lupe was anxious to get back out in the hills. The forecast was for the first near normal temperature day since March, a vast improvement over April’s chilly start. However, on the way here SPHP had begun to wonder. The sky had been so darkly overcast and the clouds so low, that SPHP had driven through stretches of fog with the headlights on. The temperature had sunk to a pathetic 14°F. Mighty brisk for nearly a third of the way into April!
It was 20°F warmer here at the Cascade Springs picnic ground, though. Not a particularly bright day, but Looper was at least going to get some sunshine. She was eager to get going, and was soon happily sniffing her way along Hwy 71.
Loop left Hwy 71 at USFS Road No. 328. The dirt road followed Cascade Creek SW for 0.33 mile before turning N to climb out of the creek valley. The road brought the Carolina Dog up onto the low end of a long ridge. Devil’s Slide Mountain (3,965 ft.) was in view to the SE.
Once up on the toe of the ridge, USFS Road No. 328 turned NW following the ridge higher. Lupe was gaining elevation steadily at an easy pace. The broad ridge was mostly grassland, but pine trees were never far away. The views back to the S kept improving as Looper went higher.
Loopster was excited to see a small herd of deer. The deer noticed the Carolina Dog, too, but weren’t as thrilled to see Lupe as she was to see them. After a moment’s hesitation, they retreated to a nearby forest.
This was dry country at the far S end of the Black Hills. SPHP could see cactus hidden among the grass. The cacti weren’t super abundant, but were definitely a clear and present danger for Lupe. Loop must have sensed that cactus was around. Without any prompting from SPHP, she played it safe and stayed right on the road.
After the deer, Lupe didn’t see much else of interest until she had been on the ridge for nearly 0.75 mile. Here she passed between a couple of low hills, and came to a tiny reedy pond. The pond didn’t have much open water at all, but frogs were singing merrily. When Loop got close, they suddenly went silent.
Lupe kept going. 0.25 mile beyond the frog pond, the ridge narrowed down substantially. This area was forested, but didn’t extend far. Soon Lupe was emerging from the trees again. Ahead the road went up a very broad grassy slope.
When Loop was nearly 2 miles past the frog pond, the road crested. Past this point, No. 328 dipped slightly and bent N. From the crest, Lupe could see Horse Trap Mountain (4,682 ft.) 3 miles to the NW. She had been to Horse Trap Mountain once, more than a year ago.
Returning to Horse Trap Mountain was tempting, but not the plan. Lupe’s actual peakbagging objective was in sight from here. From the little crest, the road curved N toward Roundtop Hill (4,469 ft.).
Lupe and SPHP had first seen Roundtop Hill from Horse Trap Mountain on Expedition No. 197. However, there hadn’t been time enough to get over to Roundtop then. Loopster was going to get there today, though!
Before continuing on to Roundtop Hill, Lupe and SPHP took a break at a stand of pines W of the crest in the road. Along the SW edge of these trees was a grouping of yucca plants. The yuccas looked pretty snazzy, so Lupe thought she might like a photo. SPHP helped her watch out for the plentiful cacti growing nearby.
Roundtop Hill was still 1.5 miles away as the crow flies. After a short break, Lupe and SPHP hit the road again.
USFS Road No. 328 headed straight for Roundtop Hill until it got close. Then it swung around the W side of the hill. Instead of going directly to the summit, or at least the saddle W of it, Lupe stuck with the road. As she approached the W end of Roundtop Hill, the Carolina Dog had some nice views of Falls Canyon.
Circling the W end of Roundtop Hill the road became steeper. By the time Lupe was around to the N side, she had already gained almost all of the elevation she needed to in order to reach her objective.
The summit of Roundtop Hill was now 0.5 mile ESE. Leaving the road, Lupe approached a deadfall strewn slope beyond a power line. The trees had all died in a wildfire a long time ago. Only one dead tree was still standing. A Devil Tree stood slightly below the top of the slope. Lupe headed for it.
Past the Devil Tree, Lupe came upon a surprisingly flat grassy area. She could now see the summit of Roundtop Hill ahead. Getting there looked easy. As it turned out, there was virtually no cactus up here, either, which made the trek to the summit ridge both simple and fun.
Roundtop Hill’s summit ridge runs NW/SE, and is hundreds of feet long. It’s quite narrow at the NW end where big boulders of pockmarked sandstone are prominent, and much wider toward the lower SE end. Lupe started her quest for the true summit by climbing up among the boulders at the NW end.
The top of Roundtop Hill used to be forested. However, a fire had killed every living tree. When Lupe reached the summit ridge, the bleached white trunks and branches of the small trees that used to live up here were scattered all over among the rocks. The jumble of dead wood made moving around more difficult than it should have been.
The true summit of Roundtop Hill (4,469 ft.) was a large flat boulder 40 feet from the big rocks at the NW end. A couple of other rocks along the SW edge were also in contention for the title. Lupe ultimately visited all of the highest rocks.
A chilly 20 mph NW breeze was blowing. The temperature couldn’t have been much more than the mid 40’s °F. After tagging the true summit, Lupe and SPHP went to the lower SE end of the summit area. This area was protected from the wind, so it was a good place to take a break.
Pockmarked sandstone was plentiful. Standing water filled many of the holes in the rocks. Lupe and SPHP took a break at Lake Rock. Loopster enjoyed drinking freely from the tiny lakes. SPHP supplied her with Taste of the Wild.
The best views from Roundtop Hill were generally toward the S. Lupe could see a number of peaks she had been to before.
It would have been fun to go back to Horse Trap Mountain, but a check of the maps showed that it was probably best to just stay here and enjoy Roundtop Hill. Getting past Falls Canyon would take too much time. So Loop and SPHP lingered up on Roundtop Hill for well over an hour just chillin’ and enjoying the views.
Lupe and SPHP wandered slowly along the SW edge of Roundtop Hill gazing at the views. When Loop reached the last big boulder up at the NW end, it was time for a final dramatic Dingo pose.
On the way back to the G6, Lupe simply retraced her original route to Roundtop Hill. She returned to USFS Road No. 328 near the Devil Tree, then just followed the road back. Getting back to the Cascade Springs picnic ground was close to a 5 mile trek, but it was a pleasant, easy stroll. Lupe had gained nearly 1,100 feet of elevation on the way to Roundtop Hill. She now had gravity on her side.
Roundtop Hill had been fun! The views had been impressive for no higher than it was, and this far S end of the Black Hills is an area Lupe had only explored occasionally before. Now she’d seen another piece of the puzzle.
Plenty of daylight remained when the American Dingo reached the G6. (4:20 PM, 57°F) Cascade Falls, one of her favorite places in this part of the Black Hills was only a few miles from here. So SPHP drove Loop to Cascade Falls for a little while to sniff around and see the clear water tumble into the swimming hole. No one else was around.
In an over-crowded world, that just made it seem that much better.
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