Tag: White Tail Peak

9:49 AM, 54ºF – At the end of USFS Road No. 599, SPHP parked the RAV4 at a big circular turnaround.  Lupe hopped out.  Nice and warm for early November, but she was here a little later than she ought to have been if she wanted to climb both White Tail Peak (6,962 ft.) and Peak 6962.

No need to decide which peak to shoot for yet, though.  The first mile would be the same for either one.  Eager to get going, Lupe headed NW into a dense forest, following an old barbed wire fence up the valley of the North Fork of Castle Creek.

The forest was sort of a mess, full of deadfall.  SPHP’s progress was slow.  Fortunately, Lupe didn’t have far to go, before the forest opened up a bit.  Ducking through the barbed wire fence, she quickly came to the North Fork of Castle Creek.  Although small, the stream had decent flow.

Beyond the creek was a larger clearing with a big stand of aspens at the far end.  Turned out there was an open lane through the aspens.  A faint trail ran through it.  Following the trail, Lupe came to another meadow.  To the N were some limestone cliffs, part of the S end of White Tail Peak.

SPHP was surprised when the trail persisted instead of fading away.  Certainly made life easy!  A mile from the start, Lupe came to a place where the valley divided.  The North Fork of Castle Creek forked here, too.  At a muddy spot, the trail crossed one of the tributaries.

Decision time, Loopster!  White Tail Peak or Peak 6962?

Seems like an awfully long time since we’ve been to either one, SPHP.

Oh, it has been for sure!  4 years since we were last at White Tail Peak, and 6 since Peak 6962.

Either one is fine with me, SPHP.  Do you have a preference?  Maybe we can still get to both today?

We’ll give it a shot.  If I had to choose, I’d say White Tail Peak.  Best views, although we really ought to explore Peak 6962 more thoroughly.

Best views won out.  White Tail Peak it was!  The American Dingo left the divide bearing R as she continued up the branch of the valley to the NW.  This decision soon paid off with the discovery of the still considerable remnants of a melting snow bank to frolic on.

0.25 mile from the first divide, the valley split again.  What was left of the North Fork of Castle Creek came from the L.  The valley to the R (NE) was completely dry.  Loop was now 1.5 miles SW of White Tail Peak as the crow flies, so that was the way to go.

Soon after entering the NE branch, the valley deteriorated into more of a big, steep-sided ravine.  A dense forest grew here, partially choked with deadfall.  If it wasn’t for another unexpected path that wound through it all, passage would have been difficult.  Lupe came to a sign for a defunct research area.  A little farther on, she passed another.

The path in the ravine was steeper than the nearly level trek back by the North Fork of Castle Creek.  Before long, the path climbed partway up the L side of the ravine, well above a V-shaped bottom.  As Looper kept going, she got past the densely forested section into more open territory.  Here the ravine curved N and broadened out.

The path ultimately led to the S end of an old abandoned road. This was USFS Road No. 190.1O.  Lupe followed the road N to a large clearing, part of which held the charred remnants of a giant burn pile left over from a logging operation.

By now the ravine had virtually melted away.  This was a more gently sloping region.  Heading NE past the charred area, Lupe came to another old road that went E.  No sign, but this had to be USFS Road No. 190.1P.

Taking No. 190.1P, the road climbed E for a little way, then flattened out as it turned S.  Half a mile on No. 190.1P brought Lupe to a small, flat clearing where the road ended.  This was high territory near the end of White Tail Peak’s long SW ridge overlooking the valley of the North Fork of Castle Creek, but other than a partial view to the SE, trees effectively hid the views.

A higher part of White Tail Peak’s SW ridge was only a little farther NE.  Abandoning USFS Road No. 190.1P, Lupe crossed an open slope littered with deadfall.  This led to a somewhat steeper, but still easy climb in a live forest.  Near the top, Lupe began encountering small limestone outcroppings.

Lupe reached the S end of the upper portion of White Tail Peak’s long SW ridge.  Lots of trees up here, too, but also some nice views from rocks along the edge.

Beyond the valley of the North Fork of Castle Creek, peaks along the E edge of the limestone plateau were in sight.  Peak 6962 was closest.  Flag Mountain (6,937 ft.) was next, then Green Mountain (7,164 ft.) and Copper Mountain (6,920 ft.).  Even Medicine Mountain (6,878 ft.) could be made out.

Far to the SE, Black Elk Peak (7,231 feet) was visible way beyond Reynolds Prairie.

White Tail Peak (6,962 ft.) is located along the E edge of the limestone plateau country, a large elevated region of the western Black Hills, much of which lies close to the Wyoming border.  It’s a complex peak involving multiple ridges extending out from an unremarkable summit.  Some of the best views are from two ridges, a long one and a short one, that both extend out to the SE.

The end of the long SE ridge was a favorite spot on White Tail Peak.  Lupe had a good view of it from here.

The plan was to visit both of the SE ridges.  On the way there, Lupe could tag White Tail Peak’s summit, which was still more than 0.67 mile away.  After lingering a few minutes at the S end of the SW ridge, the American Dingo headed  N.

For a little way, Lupe continued to gradually gain elevation.  Eventually the ridge leveled out.  Forest hid most of the views, although Loop did come to one spot with a view to the W.  Nothing too scintillating, just more forested ridges not quite as high as White Tail Peak.

Toward the N end, as the SW ridge merged into the rest of the mountain, the terrain began to rise again curving toward the NE.  Lupe came to a little high point, but this wasn’t the top yet.

Beyond this high point the terrain was fairly flat.  The territory to the N contained the shattered remnants of a forest killed by pine bark beetles.  Staying in a live forest, Lupe went ENE along the edge of the dead zone.  Even the live forest contained plenty of deadfall, but she didn’t have far to go before reaching a road.

This road was USFS Road No. 190.1Q.  Following it E, the Carolina Dog quickly arrived at the true summit of White Tail Peak (6,962 ft.), a small, flat clearing full of broken limestone slightly elevated above the level of the surrounding terrain.

No. 190.1Q went right through the clearing.  Not much to see here, so Lupe paused only long enough for a photo before continuing on.  The good stuff was a little farther.  Gradually losing elevation, the road wound SE through the forest, finally coming to the end of White Tail Peak’s short SE ridge.

Lupe arrived to find an American flag wrapped around a tree.  Plenty of room to move around a level limestone platform here, and great views to the S and E.  In addition to all the major peaks Loop had seen from the SW ridge, both Custer Peak (6,804 ft.) and Terry Peak (7,064 ft.) were in sight, too.

A 30 minute break was taken for water, a shared chocolate coconut bar, Taste of the Wild, and an apple, all consumed while enjoying the views.  Pressed for time on a November day, Lupe then left the short SE ridge following No. 190.1Q almost all the way back to the summit.

100 feet before reaching the summit again, Lupe turned L (SW) onto a much fainter jeep trail leading down into the forest.  Heading S, the jeep trail soon leveled out just E of, and 40 feet below, a narrow limestone spine along the start of the long SE ridge.  The road continued another 0.25 mile, coming to an end at a viewpoint where Loop could see the short SE ridge which she had just been to.

This was not the end of the long SE ridge.  However, the jeep trail went no farther due to a minor, but sudden drop ahead.  Easily negotiating the drop on paw, Lupe continued on.  A short climb followed by a gradual descent and the forest gave way to a big clearing.  The end of the ridge was now just ahead.

Unobstructed, the views to the S from the end of White Tail Peak’s long SE ridge were wonderful!  Stretching from E to W, they encompassed a vast expanse of the central Black Hills.  Lupe enjoyed the marvelous scene from lofty perches along the edge of limestone cliffs.

1:03 PM, end of White Tail Peak’s long SE ridge – This was the premier viewpoint of the entire mountain, but whether Lupe could stay a while depended on what else was actually going to be on the agenda.

Gotta love White Tail Peak!  Magnificent view, isn’t it, Loop?  What do you want to do, though?  Still interested in Peak 6962?

Will we have enough time for it, SPHP?

Probably, but the sun will be down before 4:30 PM.  Sort of depends on how hard it is to get up there.  Coming from the W like we did the only other times we’ve been there, the deadfall was terrible.  If it’s like that coming from the N, we might not have enough daylight.  In any case, we’d have to get going right away, if we don’t want to be stumbling around in the dark on the way back.

Well, if we don’t try for Peak 6962, what are our other options?

Oh, we’ve never really fully explored White Tail Peak’s N ridge.  That might be pretty interesting.  Could hang out here for a while then head that way.  Plenty of time to do that.

Right or wrong, ambition won out.  Peak 6962 had been more or less part of the plan all along.  Lupe was soon heading back N again.  Along the way she stopped briefly to admire a great view of the valley of the North Fork of Castle Creek, the same valley she’d explored earlier in the day that would serve as her return route, too.

After going over White Tail Peak’s true summit again, Lupe followed USFS Road No. 190.1Q farther N than where she’d reached it on the way up.  She then abandoned the road to turn SW down a broad valley.  This was a shortcut back to the burn area close to No. 190.1O, allowing Loop to avoid having to retrace her earlier exploration of the SW ridge.

The shortcut worked great!  Loopster made it back to the North Fork of Castle Creek where the valley first divided NW of Peak 6962 with time enough for a quick ascent.  Crossing the creek, she took the branch of the divide she hadn’t explored this morning.  A mile S, then a mile E, and the American Dingo would be back at Peak 6962’s summit for the first time in over 6 years!

Didn’t happen.  Should have stayed up on White Tail Peak enjoying the views and exploring the N ridge!  Lupe didn’t get far heading S through the valley before coming to serious deadfall.  No fortuitous, unexpected paths through it all here!  When a slow, miserable trek demonstrated no sign that the deadfall was going to end anytime soon, that was it.

Sorry, Loop.  It’ll be dark by the time we can force our way through 2 miles of this nonsense.

Are we done then, SPHP?

Yes, afraid so.

A pleasant mile back E through the valley of the North Fork of Castle Creek was all that remained of Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 283.  Along the way, Lupe discovered the scattered bones of some big animal, which made for some interesting sniffing.  She still made it back to the RAV4 before the sun was down.

Guess, the good news is that we still have reasons to come back to visit both Peak 6962 and White Tail Peak another day, SPHP!

Come to think of it, that was good news!  (End 3:30 PM)

Links:

Next Black Hills Expedition                  Prior Black Hills Expedition

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 209 – White Tail Peak (10-1-17)

Want more Lupe adventures?  Check out Lupe’s Black Hills, SD & WY Expeditions Adventure Index, Master Adventure Index, or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures!

Start – 10:57 AM, 52°F, intersection of South Rapid Creek Road (USFS Road No. 231) & USFS Road No. 191.

Lupe’s summer of 2017 adventures were over.  Her friend, Australian adventurer Luke Hall, who had recently paid her a visit here in the Black Hills, was gone.  Things were finally back to normal!  For the first time since early June, it was just Loopster and SPHP setting out on a Black Hills, SD expedition.

This expedition was looking promising, too!  Cows, so many beautiful cows, were right here near the start!  Lupe was thrilled.  The cows less so.  In fact, they looked on with deep concern.  Wasn’t that one of those ferocious American Dingoes?!

The cattle needn’t have worried.  They didn’t get chased, barked at, or devoured.  Instead, SPHP started SSW on USFS Road No. 191, leading Lupe up Long Draw.  When Lupe reached an intersection 0.5 mile later, she turned W on No. 191.1A.

In the next 0.5 mile, No. 191.1A curved S, then W again.  Lupe reached another junction.  She had been this far once before over 2 years ago on Expedition No. 138.  That time she’d stayed in Long Draw, continuing W on No. 191.1A.  This time, just for something different, she turned SSW up Lessering Draw on No. 191.1C.

Lupe had seen a small stream in Long Draw.  A tiny, trickling tributary of it was here in the lower end of Lessering Draw.  When the road entered a pine forest, Lupe spotted an abandoned cabin near the tiny stream.  The Carolina Dog went to investigate.

SPHP wouldn’t let Looper go inside the old cabin for fear of rusty nails or broken glass, but she did peer in to see what it was like.  “Dilapidated” pretty much sums it up.  Clearly, many years had passed since this cabin was inhabitable, even in the most rustic sense of the word.

Lupe returned to No. 191.1C continuing SSW.

Not far from the old cabin, Lupe re-emerged from the forest.  The road curved W passing through a lovely large meadow surrounded by low forested hills.  Aspen trees, greatly in the minority along the edge of the pines, were showing a bit of fall color.

As Lupe proceeded through the meadow, No. 191.1C faded away to little more than a grassy track.  At the far end was a barbed wire fence.  An opening in the fence brought Lupe to USFS Road No. 125.

The Carolina Dog and SPHP continued W on No. 125.  The road passed through a narrow, forested part of upper Lessering Draw, which soon divided.  Lupe stuck with No. 125, as it curved N up one of the ravines to a minor pass.

Right at the pass was a barbed wire fence running roughly SW/NE.  Lupe went over a cattle guard to get past it.  (American Dingoes are highly skilled at crossing cattle guards!)  From here, No. 125 went N down the other side of the pass.  SPHP surmised it was heading for Maitland Draw.

Lupe needed to go more W than N.  White Tail Peak (6,962 ft.), her objective for the day, was 1.5 miles WNW of the pass.  Lupe left the road to follow the fence line WSW up a forested slope.  Upon reaching a ridge, she abandoned the fence to follow the ridge NW toward High Point 6346.  On the way, White Tail Peak came into view.

Loop easily leapt up onto the rock formation at the top of the ridge.  She stood astride High Point 6346.  That done, she pressed on to the NW toward White Tail Peak.  She was looking for the easiest way to get there with minimal elevation loss.  As it turned out, she could soon turn W toward the mountain without having to lose much at all.  She even came across a road leading W.  The road soon forked at Point 6424.

The road Lupe had been following was USFS Road No. 190, which angled NNW from here.  A side road going SW was marked No. 190.1A.  Lupe and SPHP had been on No. 190 before on prior expeditions to White Tail Peak.  Lupe could eventually work up and around to the summit that way.  A more direct route, though, would be to scale the mountain’s SE slope.  Today, Lupe had a special reason for doing so.

It looked feasible.  Lupe and SPHP left both roads behind, heading NW up a grassy slope of open forest.  Scattered deadfall provided the only obstacles.  The Carolina Dog purposely headed for the area between the mountain’s short and long SE ridges.  After traveling some distance, Lupe arrived at the edge of a golden forest.

Lupe happily sniffed her way through the magical forest of gold.  Above the golden forest, her climb steepened.  Would she would encounter a blocking line of limestone cliffs?  SPHP knew cliffs rimmed large portions of the upper E and S sides of White Tail Peak.

No cliffs appeared.  The American Dingo’s ascent didn’t even get all that steep before the terrain started leveling out again.  Lupe came to a faint road.  She followed it a little S, reaching a line of ragged limestone outcroppings.  This had to be it!  The spine of White Tail Peak’s long SE ridge.

This was Lupe’s 4th Black Hills, SD Expedition to White Tail Peak.  Yet to SPHP there had always been something lacking on her prior visits.  Long ago, so long ago it had been before there was a Carolina Dog, SPHP had been here alone.  Tattered, cobwebbed memories existed of a grand viewpoint at the end of a long march S.

To SPHP those memories were the essence of White Tail Peak.  SPHP had always wanted Lupe to see those sweeping views, but she had never run across them again.  Were the memories real, dreams, or confused with some other place?

On all of her prior expeditions here, Lupe had visited a limestone ledge SE of the summit where she’d enjoyed some very nice views.  However, they had never seemed as dramatic as SPHP’s old memories of White Tail Peak.  A sense of disappointment always lingered.

On one occasion, Lupe had specifically gone looking for the site of SPHP’s old memories.   Somewhere W of her usual limestone ledge, she’d found a much longer ridge going S.  Her exploration of it revealed some different vantage points.  However, none seemed familiar or measured up to SPHP’s expectations.  This wasn’t the place, either.

Today the plan was for Lupe to find out the truth.  SPHP had never allowed her to do a truly thorough search before.  And most helpfully, for the first time, SPHP had brought along a topo map.

The topo map revealed that White Tail Peak has 3 ridges protruding to the S – a short SE ridge, a long SE ridge, and a long SW ridge.  Studying it had convinced SPHP that Lupe had never been to White Tail Peak’s long SE ridge.  The long ridge she had visited must have been the long SW ridge.  The other times she had only been to the limestone platform near the end of the short SE ridge.

Her successful ascent from the SE up a visible gap between ridges made SPHP confident Lupe now stood on the long SE ridge’s limestone spine right at this very moment!  All that remained was to follow the ridge however far S or SE it went.

It was exciting to think Lupe was on the verge of discovery!  First, though, SPHP thought it best to go find White Tail Peak’s non-descript summit.  May as well make certain of locking in a successful full ascent before doing anything else.  Peakbaggers think like that.  Instead of going S, Lupe followed the faint road N.

Within minutes, the American Dingo reached a junction.  Ahh, so this was the turn SPHP had always missed or dismissed before!  Lupe was practically at the summit, it was only 100 feet to the NW.  She went up to claim her peakbagging success.

Lupe had visited the short SE ridge every other time she’d come to White Tail Peak.  Though the views didn’t completely measure up to SPHP’s old memories, they were still impressive for the Black Hills.  It wasn’t far away.  Lupe might as well go take another look at them while she was here.  It was tradition now!

Looper and SPHP followed a familiar winding road SE through an immature pine forest.  A few minutes brought Lupe to her usual White Tail Peak viewpoint.  Time for a break and a look around.  This was still a favorite place!

SPHP relaxed munching an apple.  Lupe devoured Taste of the Wild.  Water for all, though it wasn’t much needed.  The day had gone from mostly cloudy to overcast and noticeably cooler than before.  While Lupe and SPHP watched, even lower clouds streamed in from the NW.  A chill breeze blew way up here.  The incoming clouds were low enough so wisps of fog sailed by.

The low gray clouds were all part of one huge one.  The monstrous cloud fanned out rapidly, spreading gloom across the Black Hills.  Sunshine fled its influence, retreating far to the SE.  The apple gone and Lupe satisfied, it was time for a few photos.

The photo session over, Lupe and SPHP left the short SE ridge, retreating NW back to White Tail Peak’s summit.  Enveloped in a thickening fog, the mountain was growing colder and gloomier by the minute.

Good grief!  After coming all this way, suddenly there wasn’t any point in exploring the mountain’s long SE ridge.  Even if it led to the views SPHP remembered, Lupe wasn’t going to be able to see a thing.  Disappointment reigned.

Nothing could be done about it.  May as well forget about the whole thing.  Another time.  Would have had some nice fall colors, too.  Should have gone there first!  Sigh.

Reluctantly, SPHP led Lupe on the road N, away from the still unexplored long SE ridge.  May as well head for USFS Road No. 190.  It would take her E down off the mountain.  Maybe Lupe could explore some sort of an interesting loop on the way back to the G6?

Lupe went all the way N to No. 190, and began following it E.  She’d already lost some elevation, and was about to lose a bunch more, when suddenly the sky brightened.  Uncertain, Lupe and SPHP paused.  The trend continued.

Apparently conditions weren’t going to continue deteriorating after all.  It wasn’t going to be so bad.  The monstrous cloud wasn’t as dark or low as before.  The breeze was dying down and the air felt warmer.  Maybe Lupe could see something from the long SE ridge after all?

Worth a shot.  Back Lupe went.  To the summit again and beyond.  Lupe made the turn onto the faint road, which wasn’t so faint near the intersection.  She reached the limestone spine of the long SE ridge where she’d been before.

OK, this was it!  The moment of discovery was at hand.  Lupe explored S.  Up and down, onto and off of the discontinuous limestone spine.  Multiple times.  For a while, the forest hid everything.  Lupe went on, now heading SE.  She lost elevation, but not too fast.  Didn’t this have to be it?

Then there it was.  A first small limestone ledge with a view to the SW, a view worthy of what SPHP remembered.  Lupe was on the right track!  Naturally, she went over to see this glorious sight.

To the SW, Lupe saw a broad canyon, created over eons by the North Fork of Castle Creek.  The creek wasn’t visible, but far below aspen trees glowed with the fleeting glory of early autumn.

Across the gaping canyon was Peak 6962, a remote mountain so alike to White Tail Peak (6,962 ft.), the summit was even the exact same elevation.  Just below its forested upper reaches, limestone cliffs extended around the N and E edges of the mountain.  Cliffs like those Lupe now perched above.

Looking SE along the edge of the long ridge Lupe was on revealed a series of similar viewpoints nearby.

Traveling onward, Lupe checked out viewpoints along both sides of the long SE ridge.

At the far SE end of the long ridge, Lupe finally found the big, nearly flat, open viewpoint SPHP remembered.  Even on an overcast day, the panoramic views were fabulous!

Perhaps on some bright sunny day, Lupe will return to White Tail Peak for a 5th time to see it all again beneath crystal blue skies.  For now, though, SPHP was content.  Lupe had rediscovered this glorious vantage point overlooking a vast portion of the central Black Hills.  White Tail Peak was everything dim memory had credited and cherished it as.

A cool breeze still blew.  Hours had flown by.  Time for the intrepid Carolina Dog to move on.  Puppy ho!  Lupe headed NW, back the way she had come.

As soon as practical, SPHP looked for a way for Lupe to get down off the long SE ridge.  She soon came to one.  Safely down, Lupe roamed the long slope to the SE, passing the same golden forest on her way back to the junction of USFS Roads No. 190 & 190.1A.

Lupe had fun on the way back to the G6.  SPHP led her N on USFS Road No. 190 hoping to make a nice loop.  The American Dingo wound up going much farther N than anticipated.  A trail or road shown on the topo map failed to materialize.  An unmarked side road SPHP did try did not turn E as hoped.  Instead it began to fade away somewhere W of High Point 6217.

The failing road had to be abandoned.  Lupe bushwhacked E a long way.  Deadfall slowed progress considerably.  The sun must have set or was close to it.  Light was fading.  Hurry, hurry!

Yes!  A road!  Good deal, and none too soon.  SPHP quickly figured out that it was leading toward Long Draw.  Immediately overconfident again, SPHP had Lupe take a turn into Maitland Draw instead.

In the dim light, Lupe saw, sniffed, or otherwise sensed a presence before SPHP realized it was there.  Cows!  Way out here.  Enthusiastic Lupe streaked off barking.

The American Dingo returned before long, panting hard and apparently well satisfied with her romp.  Certainly more pleased than the annoyed cows had been.

No more of that, Loopster!  It’s getting dark anyway.  Better stay close.

Just grand.  The road didn’t go all the way through Maitland Draw like the map showed!  It turned S instead of staying E.  Maybe that wasn’t so bad?  SPHP suspected Lupe was on USFS Road No. 125.  Sure enough, she reached the cattle guard back up at the minor pass.  The rest of the way to the G6 was known.  Lupe had come this way earlier.  She would soon be back in Lessering Draw.

A curious, and perhaps very sad thing had happened shortly before Lupe reached the minor pass.  At first it seemed simply strange and unexpected.  Lupe had quit barking at the cows some time ago, when suddenly there was an answer!  A wild barking or howling, from off to the NW.

A coyote?  Maybe.  Lupe listened, but showed little interest and did not respond.  After a few minutes, it was not heard any more.  On the long dark trudge back to the G6, SPHP reflected, and eventually felt guilty and sad.  Glittering stars in an ink black sky shone down with a cold, cruel light.

Maybe an answer should have been made?

The more SPHP thought about it, the more that wild sound had seemed desperate.  Perhaps desperately searching.  What if it hadn’t been a coyote?  A poor lost or abandoned dog way out here?  Maybe it had heard Lupe and thinking salvation was at hand, had come running a great distance with soaring hopes looking for her?  If so, the disappointment at not hearing a response, and not knowing which way to turn, must have been crushing.

White Tail Peak had been a great and successful day for Lupe, but the accusatory thought persisted.  Perhaps the day had also needlessly ended as a bitterly cruel one for an innocent, lonely creature in need of help?  The uncertain truth remained somewhere out there, shivering alone in darkness, now miles away beneath eternally uncaring silvery stars.  (End – 7:40 PM, 35°F)

Links:

Next Black Hills Expedition                     Prior Black Hills Expedition

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 283 – White Tail Peak (11-6-21)

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 138 – White Tail Peak (9-19-15)

Want more Lupe adventures?  Check out her Black Hills, SD & WY Expeditions Adventure Index, Master Adventure Index, or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures!