Smith Mountain – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 106 – Smith Mountain and Flag Mountain (11-28-14)

Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving. The day everyone celebrates being totally over-stuffed with delicious turkey and all the trimmings by spending a fortune Christmas shopping online or at the mall. Well, not quite everyone. American Dingoes neglect their patriotic duty to keep the economy humming. They prefer to go on adventures instead!

At 10:06 AM (50°F), SPHP parked the G6 at the Newton Lake (a pond, really) trailhead a few miles NW of Hill City just off Deerfield Road. Time to start working off a few zillion calories! The N end of Smith Mountain (5,897 ft.) was immediately to the W. Lupe couldn’t just go W, though, to get there. The Newton Fork of Spring Creek, too big to simply leap across, was in the way.

Lupe and SPHP crossed Deerfield Road and got on the Mickelson Trail heading WNW. The trail was covered with 6″ of snow. Lupe and SPHP trudged along, burning calories already. The trail soon crossed Newton Creek at a very nice bridge. 0.5 mile after Lupe got on the trail, she was a little N of the N end of Smith Mountain. Lupe and SPHP left the Mickelson Trail, climbed up the embankment to Deerfield Road, and crossed over to the S side of the highway.

Smith Mountain was the first of 3 peakbagging objectives Lupe had for the day. The other two, Flag Mountain (5,896 ft.) and Campaign Hill (5,800 ft.), were both S of Smith Mountain. Smith Mountain is a nearly mile long ridge running N/S. Lupe and SPHP started climbing the slope at the N end of the ridge. There was quite a lot of deadfall timber to work past, and snow everywhere, too. By the time Lupe reached the first little saddle where she could see over to the W side of the mountain, the sun was so warm SPHP had to stop and take off a jacket.

Lupe gained the top of the ridge close to the highest point at the very N end of Smith Mountain. If there had been fewer trees blocking the view, she would have gone to the very top of the N high point to take a look at Lowden Mountain (6,055 ft.) a mile to the N. Instead, Lupe headed S along the ridge looking for the true summit of Smith Mountain. She came to a couple of high spots definitely higher than the N high point. SPHP thought the second one she came to was likely the true summit.

Lupe at the 2nd high point S of the northernmost high point on Smith Mountain.

Lupe continued S along the Smith Mountain ridge. This part of the forest had been thinned before the pine bark beetle infestation started. There was far less deadfall timber to contend with. The remaining trees were healthier. More sunlight could reach the ground between them, so there wasn’t nearly as much snow around. It was far easier to move along, and Lupe and SPHP caught better glimpses of the views to E.

The ridge started angling a little more to the SSE. After having lost some elevation, Lupe was climbing again. As Lupe went higher and higher, SPHP began to realize that Lupe hadn’t actually reached the true summit of Smith Mountain yet; it was still ahead.

Lupe didn’t have very far to go to reach it. Soon she was sniffing around much bigger rock formations at the true summit of Smith Mountain. The highest rocks were so huge, she couldn’t actually get up on top of them, but she climbed up almost as high. SPHP lifted her up so she could put her front paws on the highest rock, just a foot or two below the very highest point, which was out of reach to the W.

Lupe at the true summit of Smith Mountain. She climbed higher than shown here, and SPHP lifted her up so her paws could touch the big rocks within just a foot or two of the very top. That was close enough! The American Dingo was claiming a peakbagging success! Dingoes are practical, not purists. Photo looks W.

From the true summit, Lupe and SPHP continued only a little way farther SSE along the ridge before turning more to the SSW to start losing elevation. Lupe stayed high enough on the mountain to avoid a couple of draws that drained W. Eventually the terrain sloped more to the SSW. Lupe and SPHP headed down.

Suddenly there was the sound of gunfire! Hunters were about. Lupe was instantly alarmed. She insisted on stopping. SPHP found a dry spot. Lupe and SPHP took a break just sitting on the pine needles on the forest floor. Lupe wasn’t hungry, but SPHP ate a tangerine and a few carrot sticks. The gunfire had come from quite some distance to the S or SW.

A little while after the gunfire ended, SPHP was ready to move on. Reluctantly, Lupe tagged along close by. Almost as soon as Lupe started off again, SPHP spotted a road ahead. SPHP didn’t realize it at the time, but this was USFS Road No. 386.1B. Lupe reached it at a bend at the NE corner of a big clearing. She could follow the road W or S. Lupe and SPHP headed S in the direction of Flag and Campaign mountains. There was quite a bit of snow and ice gradually melting on the road.

Eventually, No. 386.1B began turning E to go around the S end of Smith Mountain. Lupe left the road continuing S. Before long, she reached a big field extending E/W down in the Patterson Creek valley. Lupe crossed the field. Patterson Creek meandered along the S side of the field. It had plenty of water in it, and was flowing along quite nicely. Fortunately, the creek was just small enough to leap over. Both Lupe and SPHP made it across without difficulty.

Near the S side of Patterson Creek was a snowy road going E/W. A quick check to the W revealed a dead end. The road went farther E following the Patterson Creek valley downstream. Lupe went just a little way E on the road, before turning S to start the climb up Flag Mountain. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground here, and some deadfall timber, too. Lupe succeeded in avoiding most of the snow and some of the deadfall timber by climbing up a little ridge approaching Flag Mountain from the NNE.

The last 200 feet of elevation gain up the N slope of Flag Mountain was different. It was fairly steep, full of snow and choked with deadfall. Lupe had lots of time to sniff around in the shattered forest while SPHP struggled up the mountain. Meanwhile, the sunnier skies Lupe enjoyed earlier in the day disappeared. A cold breeze started up out of the WNW. The mood had turned a bit gloomy by the time Lupe and SPHP made it to the top of Flag Mountain.

The summit area was a little surprising. It was as big as several houses, and mostly level. The biggest part was toward the E where the ground was mostly grassy, with trees along the N and NE perimeters. The very highest point was near the W end, where the summit was much rockier and narrower. The rocks weren’t very large. Lupe hopped up on top for a look around. There were quite a few trees around, but she could see Harney Peak (7,242 ft.) to the SE.

Lupe reaches the summit of Flag Mountain. Photo looks SE toward Harney Peak.

Harney Peak (L) with a little help from the telephoto lens.

The most wide open views from Flag Mountain were toward the E and S from the larger E portion of the summit area. There were a few bushes, but no trees along the SE perimeter to block the view. The most impressive view was SE toward Harney Peak, but Lupe also had a pretty good view off to the ENE toward Five Points (6,221 ft.).

Harney Peak from Flag Mountain. Photo looks SE.

Five Points is the wavy ridge on the R. Privately named False North Point is the pointy peak on the L. Looking ENE from Flag Mountain. — **Five Points** is the wavy ridge on the R. Privately named False North Point is the pointy peak on the L. Looking ENE from Flag Mountain.

Lupe had now climbed 2 of her 3 peakbagging goals for the day, Smith and Flag Mountains. Her 3rd goal, Campaign Hill was supposed to be just 0.5 mile S of Flag Mountain, but at first glance, SPHP did not see it. After looking more carefully from the SE edge of the Flag Mountain summit, SPHP saw the E end of a low forested hill to the S. It seemed too low to be Campaign Hill, but after consulting the maps again, that had to be it.

Campaign Hill wasn’t very far away, but the S slope of Flag Mountain was too steep to go directly down that way. SPHP got cold feet. No, really, truly cold feet. SPHP’s old boots leaked badly. After tramping around for hours in melting snow, SPHP’s feet were totally sopping wet. They had been that way essentially the whole day. Now, standing around on Flag Mountain in the cold breeze, SPHP’s feet felt like they were freezing up.

The sun was low in the sky, but there were still a couple of hours left before sunset. Lupe and SPHP hadn’t gone all that far as the crow flies, but it had taken a long time to get to Flag Mountain with all the snow and deadfall timber along the way. It might take quite a while to get back, too. SPHP needed to start moving to get the circulation going again. Decision time.

Well, no sense risking frostbite. Campaign Hill would still be there another day. Lupe and SPHP started slowly back down the N slope of Flag Mountain through the snow and deadfall timber again. Lupe went all the way back down the mountain to the Patterson Creek valley again.

Looking W up the Patterson Creek valley on the way back to the G6.

Lupe and SPHP crossed Patterson Creek and went over to the N side of the field. Since there was no need to climb Smith Mountain again, Lupe and SPHP followed the fence along the edge of the field heading W up the valley to see what was there. The field branched out into two even bigger fields, one to the SW and one to the NW. Two big spruce trees stood near an old abandoned cabin where the fields met. It was a pretty spot.

Lupe continued along the NE edge of the field heading N along the fence line. The field soon divided again. One arm of it went off to the W. The other arm turned and went N a long way. SPHP could see a home way up toward the far N end. The fields were probably private property. Lupe and SPHP decided to angle NNE through the forest, hoping to find USFS Road No. 386.1B again somewhere W of Smith Mountain.

Lupe did find No. 386.1B again near the big clearing where she had first reached it earlier in the day on the way to Flag Mountain. This time, Lupe followed No. 386.1B going N. The road wound around a little, but most of the time made steady progress to the N. Along the way, Lupe was exploring new territory W of Smith Mountain. She saw deer and squirrels in the forest, so she was having some fun.

After a little while, SPHP saw an intersection up ahead. As Lupe got close to the intersection, her fun suddenly ended. A shot rang out very close by. Hunters again! This time much, much closer. Lupe wanted to hide near a big tree close to the intersection. SPHP complied. Several more shots rang out. SPHP knew Lupe wasn’t going anywhere until they stopped.

Ten minutes of silence went by. SPHP headed for the intersection. Lupe didn’t want to go, but was scared to be left behind. The side road was marked No. 386.1F. It went NNE and looked like a shortcut back to the G6 compared to No. 386.1B, which would take a very long way around to the NW. From the intersection, SPHP saw the hunter’s pickup truck parked not too far away along No. 386.1F.

Another shot rang out. Lupe and SPHP retreated SW to a big rock. SPHP sat and looked at maps, while Lupe huddled as close as she could get. The maps showed it would have been faster to take No. 386.1B around the E side of Smith Mountain from Patterson Creek. Too late for that! No. 386.1F was definitely a shortcut back to the G6 from here. It would save at least a mile compared to staying on No. 386.1B.

After it had been quiet for a while again, Lupe and SPHP returned to the intersection and started NNE on No. 386.1F. Within a few minutes, Lupe was past the hunter’s pickup truck. The road was snowy and icy. There were lots of tracks in the snow. There must have been quite a few hunters. Lupe saw a couple of them to the E higher up on Smith Mountain. One waved. SPHP waved back, but did not stop. No more shots were heard.

No. 386.1F led down into a big draw NNW of Smith Mountain. Lower down, the road became so choked with deadfall timber, Lupe and SPHP left it. The mountain slopes seemed easier going than the road. The sun set. For just a few minutes, there was a beautifully colored sky to the SW.

It was 4:59 PM (41°F), and getting pretty dark by the time Lupe and SPHP reached the G6 again. SPHP’s feet were still cold, but moving on the long march back had helped. They weren’t as cold as they had been standing around on top of Flag Mountain. Carolina Dogs have great circulation. SPHP felt Lupe’s paws. They were practically burning hot! It felt good just holding them! Lupe just grinned.

Sunset from down in the draw along USFS Road No. 386.1F near the NW end of Smith Mountain.

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Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 148 – Smith Mountain, Flag Mountain & Campaign Hill (12-5-15)

The Black Hills experienced a cold snap over Thanksgiving and the following long weekend. Several nights there was light snow. At the very end of November, there was about 4″ of additional new snow overnight at Lupe’s house. Then it started to warm up. SPHP decided to wait for a few days to let some of the snow melt before Lupe’s next expedition.

Finally, on December 5th, Lupe and SPHP headed out for adventure again. Lupe was excited. She could hardly wait. At 9:29 AM, SPHP parked the G6 at the Newton Lake trailhead. It was 37 °F and overcast. Lupe leaped over SPHP to get out of the G6 at the first possible moment. She was expecting great things!

SPHP had 4 peakbagging goals in mind for Lupe. The first was Smith Mountain (5,897 ft.), which was very close at hand. Soon Lupe and SPHP were heading up the fairly steep NE slope. It was very slow going. There was still some snow on the ground, which made it a bit slippery. The real problem, though, was the terrible condition of the forest. There were lots of dead trees, killed by the pine bark beetles, that had fallen over.

For SPHP, it was a struggle getting over, under or around all the deadfall timber. At one point, SPHP lifted Lupe over a dangerous barbed wire fence that was partially collapsed by the dead trees. Lupe only needed to gain a little over 600 feet of elevation to get up on the ridge, but it was taking SPHP a long time to get up there. Finally, the ground began to level out a bit, and there was somewhat less deadfall around.

View from the upper NE slopes of Smith Mountain looking SE towards Harney Peak. There is less deadfall timber here than lower down.

Once Lupe and SPHP were up on the ridge, the going was a bit easier. The deadfall wasn’t quite as bad, and the ground wasn’t so steep. Lupe and SPHP reached the ridgeline near the N end of Smith Mountain. There was a series of rock outcroppings spaced out along the ridge as Lupe headed S toward the summit.

Lupe on one of the rock outcroppings near the N end of Smith Mountain. It took so long for SPHP to get up here, by now the formerly overcast skies were almost clear. It was going to be a beautiful day! Photo looks W or SW.

Here Lupe is shown at another rock outcropping farther S on Smith Mountain. At first, SPHP thought this might be the true summit, but it wasn't. — Here Lupe is shown at another rock outcropping farther S on Smith Mountain. At first, SPHP thought this might be the true summit, but it wasn’t.

Lupe up on the false summit of Smith Mountain. Despite the pine bark beetle carnage, there were still too many trees standing to permit any really decent distant views.

The Smith Mountain ridge runs N/S for about a mile. The ridge was all forested, and provided only occasional glimpses of distant hills. It was pretty easy going along the ridge, since it was plenty wide. Although it went up and down some, it was overall pretty level. Lupe found the true summit of Smith Mountain at a big rock outcropping a bit S of the mid-point along the ridge.

Lupe reaches the true summit of Smith Mountain.

Although the highest rock on Smith Mountain was too steep for Lupe to reach the tippy top, she got pretty close. Close enough for Dingo work!

SPHP reached up to touch the top of the closest high rock. It was still a foot or two below the very highest point. Lupe and SPHP are both claiming success, though.

With her Smith Mountain peakbagging goal accomplished, Lupe continued S along the Smith Mountain ridge. It was easier going along in here, since there wasn’t nearly so much deadfall. This part of the forest seemed to have been thinned by loggers some years ago. Whatever the reason, the forest was in better condition. SPHP was a bit surprised to find some big rock outcroppings near the S end of the mountain, but is pretty certain they weren’t quite as high as the rocks farther N.

Lupe’s 3 remaining peakbagging goals were all mountains along a line S of Smith Mountain. Her next goal was Flag Mountain (5,896 ft.). To get to Flag Mountain, Lupe went down the S end of Smith Mountain, and crossed Patterson Creek. Patterson Creek isn’t very large, and didn’t have much flow at this time of year. Lupe and SPHP had no problem crossing it. S of Patterson Creek, Lupe started climbing the N slope of Flag Mountain.

Lupe on her way to Flag Mountain, seen to the S in the background. Lupe is developing a habit of taking picture time very seriously, kind of like they did back in the late 1800's. Here she strikes her very best stiff and serious historic 1870 Carolina Dog pose. She often starts smiling again as soon as SPHP turns off the camera. It's a bit frustrating sometimes! — Lupe on her way to Flag Mountain, seen to the S in the background. Lupe is developing a habit of taking picture time very seriously, kind of like they did back in the late 1800’s. Here she strikes her very best stiff and serious historic 1870 Carolina Dog pose. She often starts smiling again as soon as SPHP turns off the camera. It’s a bit frustrating sometimes!

The last part of the climb up Flag Mountain was the steepest. There was snow again on the N slope, but only a couple of inches. The situation on Flag Mountain was the reverse of what it had been on Smith Mountain. Most of the deadfall timber was up on the highest slopes. The first part of the climb went fast, but the last part was slow.

Despite the deadfall, Lupe and SPHP reached the top of Flag Mountain. Lupe had accomplished her 2nd peakbagging goal of the day. It was time for a break. Lupe had some water and a bit of Taste of the Wild. She licked herself for a few minutes, and laid down to rest, but SPHP didn’t think a thing of it.

The top of Flag Mountain is pretty flat. Unlike Smith Mountain, Flag Mountain is not a long ridge. There is no chance of mistaking the summit. Toward the E is a spacious open grassy area. The actual highest point is over at some slightly higher rocks toward the W.

There are trees around the summit, some of them dead, which effectively block the views from Flag Mountain in most directions. However, there were really nice open views to the SE toward Harney Peak (7,242 ft.) from the grassy area. There was also a pretty good view to the NW, from the highest rocks at the W end of the summit area.

Lupe reaches the grassy area at the E end of the top of Flag Mountain. Photo looks SE toward Harney Peak. — Lupe reaches the grassy area at the E end of the top of Flag Mountain. Photo looks SE toward Harney Peak, the highest point on the horizon.

Harney Peak from Flag Mountain. The E part of the top of Campaign Hill, Lupe's 3rd peakbagging goal of the day is seen in the foreground on the R. — Harney Peak from Flag Mountain. The E part of the top of Campaign Hill, Lupe’s 3rd peakbagging goal of the day, is seen in the foreground on the R.

Lupe on the highest rocks on Flag Mountain. Photo looks NW.

Lupe had now completed 2 of her 4 peakbagging goals of the day. Her next goal wasn’t very far away. Just to the S of Flag Mountain is Campaign Hill (5,800 ft.). Campaign Hill isn’t quite as high as Flag Mountain, so it didn’t look like a very impressive goal. Due to the trees, it was hard to get a very good look at it, except from the very SE edge of the summit on Flag Mountain.

Since the sun stays pretty low this time of year, even at mid-day it always feels like sunset isn’t very far off. Lupe and SPHP enjoyed a little time up on Flag Mountain, but didn’t linger up there too long before Lupe began descending the SW slope. She only had to lose a few hundred feet of elevation to get down to the saddle between Flag Mountain and Campaign Hill.

Down at the saddle, there was a USFS road junction. USFS Road No. 727 passes through the gap between the two mountains. No. 727.1F branches off to head N on the W side of Flag Mountain. Lupe crossed No. 727, and started climbing directly up the N slope of Campaign Hill. It was fairly steep, especially near the top. Again there was some snow, but SPHP was glad that this time there wasn’t much of the pesky deadfall timber. Lupe was soon up on the highest rocks at the E end of Campaign Hill.

Lupe reaches the highest rocks at the E end of Campaign Hill. This was not the true summit.

There were too many trees near the rocks at the E end of the Campaign Hill ridge to really see much. It proved not to be the true summit anyway. Lupe headed W along the ridge, which soon turned SW, and came to a big rock that was clearly higher. Beyond it was a grouping of rocks that were even higher yet. This was the true summit of Campaign Hill.

SPHP had to lift Lupe up to get her up on top of the true summit. The entire Campaign Hill ridge, which wasn’t terribly long, was all pretty heavily forested. There weren’t really hardly any views. There was a glimpse of Harney Peak, though, from where Lupe was up on top.

An American Dingo is just visible peering out from the rocks on top of Campaign Hill.

Lupe was very good about staying up on top of Campaign Hill for photos while SPHP scrambled around on the rocks below for position.

Usually Lupe just jumps down off rocks, when SPHP says it is OK after taking photos. The rocks up on Campaign Hill were a bit high, however. Lupe waited for SPHP to come back up to help get her down off the rocks. She was reluctant to jump down. Again, SPHP thought nothing of it.

Lupe’s 4th and last peakbagging goal of the day was Peak 6048, about a mile to the S of Campaign Hill. The sun was definitely getting lower, so Lupe was soon on her way. She enjoyed running around in the slanting sunlight filtering through the forest, as she and SPHP continued S along the ridge. Near the lowest saddle on the way to Peak 6048, there was a little opening with a glimpse of Peak 6048 ahead. It wasn’t going to be long before Lupe would be up there!

Looking S at Peak 6048, the high point on the L. Lupe would be there soon, to complete her 4th peakbagging goal of the day!

Except Lupe never made it to Peak 6048. Lupe raced ahead of SPHP into a thick forest of small trees at the low point of the saddle. When she came out again, suddenly SPHP saw red. There was blood between Lupe’s hind legs! SPHP made Lupe stop and lay down. SPHP lifted up a hind leg. There was a gash at least 2 inches long where her left hind leg and abdomen meet. A big area of flesh was exposed where the skin was peeled back.

Fortunately, it didn’t look like anything other than the skin had been pierced or torn. Lupe wasn’t bleeding much, and she could still walk and run around. In fact, if SPHP hadn’t seen the blood, there wasn’t anything at all alarming about her behavior. She showed no sign of pain or distress. She didn’t want SPHP to touch the wound, though. It had to hurt!

Expedition No. 148 was essentially over. There would be no continuing on to Peak 6048. The only thing left to do was to get Lupe back to the G6. She needed to see a veterinarian ASAP. It was 5 miles back to the G6 along the only road SPHP was certain about. Before heading for the G6, though, it was time for first aid! Lupe had been hurt back on Expedition No. 135. Since then SPHP has been carrying bandages and gauze in case of an emergency.

SPHP tried a bandage first. Lupe was cooperative and let SPHP work on her, but the bandage was of no real use. Lupe’s fur was kind of long where her wound was, and the bandage wouldn’t stick to the wound. It stuck to her fur, but hung below her belly. The bandages were going to be useless without a way to shave the fur off around the wound.

SPHP tried using gauze wrapped up over Lupe’s back to hold the bandage in place closer to the wound. This would have worked, but it didn’t feel right to Lupe. She took a few steps and sat down. She just looked piteously at SPHP and refused to move. Maybe it hurt. Maybe it just felt weird. Probably both. Whatever. It was clear Lupe would not go on under her own power with the gauze wrapped around her like that. SPHP took the gauze off.

Injured Lupe with gauze wrapped around her back. She refused to move with it on.

What had happened to Lupe? SPHP didn’t see the injury occur, but it is almost certain she was impaled by a sharp broken limb sticking up from one of the hundreds of deadfall trees she had jumped over. It is a constant threat in the Black Hills these days. Perhaps the original injury was small, but once the wound was opened, it would have been easy for the edges of the broken skin to get caught on other sticks and twigs and tear further each time.

Thinking back, SPHP wondered if Lupe hadn’t been injured coming over the deadfall timber while climbing Flag Mountain. She had licked the area where the wound was up on top of Flag Mountain during her break. Up on Campaign Hill, she hadn’t wanted to jump down off the rocks like she usually does. Perhaps the poor injured Carolina Dog had been putting on a brave front for quite some time.

She was still putting on a brave front. Once the gauze was off, she was ready to go again. With nothing to protect her belly where the wound was, though, it was vitally important to stay away from any more deadfall timber. The last thing she needed was to get the broken skin caught on anything else and torn some more. Lupe needed to get to a road.

Lupe and SPHP headed down through the forest to the W of the saddle. Fortunately, USFS Road No. 727 wasn’t very far away. Lupe and SPHP reached the road very quickly. Lupe followed it N. She took No. 727.1F at the intersection between Flag Mountain and Campaign Hill, staying W of Flag Mountain.

No. 727.1F ended before reaching Patterson Creek. Lupe and SPHP had to continue off-road down to the creek. Fortunately, there wasn’t much deadfall in this area. N of the creek was another road, USFS Road No. 386.1B. Lupe and SPHP had explored No. 386.1B once before heading around the W side of Smith Mountain on a prior expedition. Upon reaching the road, SPHP stopped and looked at the map.

It was still close to 4 miles back to the G6 by the route around the W side of Smith Mountain. The map showed No. 386.1B also curled around the E side of the mountain, though, too. It didn’t show the E route going all the way to the highway, but it looked like it got pretty close. The E route would be less than half as long. It might easily save 1.5 hours, if it worked.

It was hard to know what to do. If the E route ended in a tangle of deadfall, Lupe and SPHP would have to come all the way back. She would then still have go clear around the W side of Smith Mountain. On the other hand, time was of the essence. Just because Lupe seemed happy enough didn’t mean things were fine. With nothing protecting the open wound, no doubt infection was setting in. The longer it took to get to the vet, the worse it would be for Lupe.

The road to the E looked pretty good. SPHP hesitated only a minute or two, before Lupe and SPHP took it. Thankfully, the shortcut worked. At 4:10 PM, Lupe was back at the G6. SPHP drove her directly to the Emergency Veterinary Hospital in Rapid City. Emergency veterinarian Dr. David Christensen saw Lupe almost right away. She was soon led away for wound cleaning, anesthesia, and stitches.

SPHP waited for Lupe to return. And waited. And waited. The clinic staff and Dr. Christensen were busy early on a Saturday evening. A woman brought in a black and white dog that was trembling all over. She thought her dog had been poisoned. A man brought in a little white dog that had a badly abscessed tooth. One side of its face was all bloody.

Eventually, a staff member told SPHP that Lupe was waking up from the anesthesia, and it would be another 5 or 10 minutes. Nearly an hour passed, though, with no further word. Finally, Lupe returned. She was walking, but looked dazed from the experience. Her fur on her chest was all wet from drooling. She was all stitched up, though! She was going to be fine!