{"id":2256,"date":"2015-10-07T10:01:46","date_gmt":"2015-10-07T16:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=2256"},"modified":"2020-09-21T21:53:34","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T03:53:34","slug":"black-hills-sd-expedition-no-140-bittersweet-creek-the-northwest-passage-dingo-of-the-mists-10-5-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=2256","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 140 – Bittersweet Creek, The Northwest Passage, Dingo of the Mists (10-5-15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nearly all of September, 2015,\u00a0the Black Hills of\u00a0South Dakota\u00a0were hot and exceptionally dry.\u00a0 Relief came the first weekend of October.\u00a0 The hills\u00a0were socked in with clouds, fog,\u00a0and at least some much needed rain.\u00a0 Lupe\u00a0was bored, bored, bored spending long hours looking out the front window.\u00a0 An occasional squirrel was about all the excitement there was.<\/p>\n

By Monday, October 5th, the forecast was better.\u00a0 When SPHP started getting\u00a0the backpack ready, Lupe brightened up and looked very hopeful.\u00a0 SPHP did not disappoint her.\u00a0 When she realized an expedition was really in store for her, Lupe raced around leaping and barking with excitement encouraging SPHP to hurry up!<\/p>\n

Although the great day for Expedition No. 140\u00a0had arrived, SPHP hadn’t really given much thought as to where Lupe might go.\u00a0 The decision wasn’t made until almost the last minute.\u00a0 The plan was to explore Bittersweet Creek down to Castle Creek, head upstream to the Castle Creek Campground, and then climb Castle Peak<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(6,358 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 The maps didn’t show any reasonably short alternative routes back, so Lupe would have to return the same way.<\/p>\n

About 0.5 mile N of Signal Knob<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(6,200 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>, SPHP\u00a0parked the G6 at 10:13 AM (49\u00b0F) near the top of the highest hill on USFS Road No. 187 (Golden West Road).\u00a0 SPHP had expected sunshine, but the sky was still mostly overcast.\u00a0 The clouds were starting to break up, though.\u00a0 Here and there, patches of sunshine came and went.<\/p>\n

Lupe and\u00a0SPHP headed N on No. 187.\u00a0 Off to the NW, the high ridges at the E edge of the Limestone Plateau country, still mostly in the clouds, attracted SPHP’s attention.\u00a0 Lupe eagerly sniffed around in the fields near the road.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NW towards the ridges of the Limestone Plateau country.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking N near No. 187. Lupe is very happy to be out exploring the Black Hills again.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Although the fall colors are mostly past their prime already, Lupe did come to some stands of aspens that still looked pretty nice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SPHP wasn’t paying\u00a0enough attention.\u00a0 Almost right away, SPHP\u00a0missed the turn E on Deerfield Trail No. 40.\u00a0 A mile N of the G6, SPHP realized Lupe was already well beyond\u00a0the trail.\u00a0 It didn’t matter.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP just turned E and wandered through the forest.\u00a0 Lupe went up over a very small ridge and down into a valley on the other side.<\/p>\n

There was a road down at the bottom of the valley.\u00a0 Lupe followed it SE to a junction with USFS Road No. 429.\u00a0 A marker there showed that Lupe had been on side road No. 429.1B.\u00a0 No. 429 was the road Lupe and SPHP had been looking for.\u00a0 The maps showed it following Bittersweet Creek about 3 miles NE from here to USFS Road No. 181 down by Castle Creek.<\/p>\n

Bittersweet Creek is\u00a0a minor tributary of Castle Creek.\u00a0 It was just a tiny stream at the intersection of No. 429 and No. 429.1B.\u00a0 As Lupe followed No. 429 downstream, Bittersweet Creek soon became more than a trickle.\u00a0 The road looked seldom used, but was in good shape.\u00a0 Following No. 429 down Bittersweet Creek was easy.\u00a0 Lupe ran up and down the road making forays off of it to investigate whatever interested her along the way.\u00a0\u00a0 Gradually the creek got bigger.<\/p>\n

\"\"
On USFS Road No. 429 in the Bittersweet Creek valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After Lupe had gone a mile or more\u00a0on No. 429, she came to an intersection with USFS Road No. 429.1D, which headed up a side valley.\u00a0 Near this intersection, there was a series of very small waterfalls along Bittersweet Creek.\u00a0\u00a0Just\u00a0below the first waterfall, the creek bed\u00a0was\u00a0orange.\u00a0 Naturally, SPHP dubbed this first waterfall Orange Falls.<\/p>\n

While Orange Falls was kind of pretty, Lupe recommends that you NOT cancel your trip to Niagara in favor of Orange Falls.\u00a0 Orange Falls is perhaps one foot high and about the same width.\u00a0 Below Orange Falls, the area was rather swampy.\u00a0 There were some very nice displays of\u00a0vibrantly green moss growing close to the creek.\u00a0 Below Orange Falls, the creek bed remained orange the entire rest of the way Lupe followed it.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe near one of the falls below Orange Falls on Bittersweet Creek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The color of the creek bed was not the only thing that changed at the intersection with No. 429.1D.\u00a0 As Lupe continued down Bittersweet Creek on No. 429, the road started to deteriorate rapidly.\u00a0 The ground was all churned up like the road had been purposely destroyed.\u00a0 No. 429 was no longer an easy hike.\u00a0\u00a0The ground wasn’t the\u00a0real problem, though.\u00a0\u00a0Soon there started to be more and more deadfall timber that had fallen across the road.<\/p>\n

\"Deadfall<\/a>
Deadfall starts to make its appearance on USFS Road No. 429 in the Bittersweet Creek valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe, of course, had little problem working her way through the deadfall.\u00a0 SPHP, however, faced increasing difficulty.\u00a0 If Lupe wanted to climb Castle Peak, though, it was important to follow Bittersweet Creek all the way to Castle Creek.\u00a0 Once at Castle Creek, SPHP knew that USFS Road No. 181 was a good road.\u00a0 So SPHP persisted, but the going got steadily worse.\"Deadfall<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
The creek bed of Bittersweet Creek remained orange below Orange Falls as far as Lupe went. SPHP doesn’t know what causes the orange color. It is not typical for Black Hills streams.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although SPHP kept hoping the road would improve as Lupe drew closer to Castle Creek, it didn’t.\u00a0 Finally, the road completely disappeared in a tangle of deadfall timber.\u00a0\u00a0Lupe was probably only a mile\u00a0from Castle Creek by now, but it looked like getting there would take SPHP hours.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Umm, yeah, thinking this isn’t going to work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clearly, staying on the valley floor down by Bittersweet Creek was no longer an option.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP started climbing up the side of the valley.\u00a0 SPHP hoped maybe there was a way forward up there, or at least a view of what lay ahead.\u00a0 Lupe gained\u00a0about 100 feet of elevation.\u00a0 Trees blocked any view of Bittersweet Creek and what, if anything, remained of USFS Road No. 429 below.\u00a0 Steep slopes rose another 150 to 200\u00a0feet higher.\u00a0 It wasn’t practical to try to move forward on the slopes, either.<\/p>\n

SPHP gave up on the notion of Lupe reaching Castle Peak.\u00a0 SPHP decided to just continue climbing up the steep slope however far it took to reach more level ground.\u00a0 Once there, Lupe could just return to the G6.\u00a0 There should still be time to do something else.\u00a0 Sometimes adventures just don’t turn out the way one expects.\u00a0 It’s part of what makes them adventures.<\/p>\n

At least the steep slope didn’t have much deadfall timber on it.\u00a0 Most of the dead trees seemed to have fallen\u00a0clear down to the valley floor to choke No. 429.\u00a0 Instead, the slope was infested with thistles.\u00a0 After climbing 200 more scratchy feet up\u00a0the slope, Lupe arrived unexpectedly at another USFS road.<\/p>\n

This high road was nice and level.\u00a0 It was in good shape.\u00a0 There was almost no deadfall timber on it.\u00a0 Suddenly SPHP could make progress again.\u00a0 Lupe followed the high road a short distance NW and reached an intersection.\u00a0 None of the roads had any marker.\u00a0 SPHP checked the maps.\u00a0 The most detailed map showed\u00a0a maze of\u00a0side roads coming off USFS Road No. 187 up in here.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe reaches the high roads hundreds of feet above Bittersweet Creek. It was much easier going up here!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While they got very close to Castle Creek, the map didn’t show any of the side roads ever connecting to USFS Road No. 181.\u00a0 SPHP knew that meant that they all probably ended high up on the ridges and steep slopes on the S side of the Castle Creek valley.\u00a0 Still, maybe one of them would lead to a reasonably easy way down.\u00a0 If Lupe could get to Castle Creek, she could still climb Castle Peak.<\/p>\n

Like the explorers of old, but on a tiny scale, Lupe and SPHP started looking for the fabled Northwest Passage.\u00a0 This Northwest Passage only needed to take Lupe to a point where she could\u00a0finish her journey\u00a0to Castle Peak.\u00a0 Initial results were somewhat encouraging.\u00a0 Castle Peak was soon in view.\u00a0 Lupe was clearly already on the slopes just above the Castle Creek valley.\u00a0 All that was necessary was to find an easy way down.<\/p>\n

\"\"
From a ridge near the high roads Castle Peak was in view to the NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking E down the Castle Creek valley from one of the high roads.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and SPHP spent a couple of hours exploring various branches of USFS Road No. 187 looking for her Northwest Passage.\u00a0 Sometimes Lupe could see the Castle Creek valley floor and USFS Road No. 181 below.\u00a0 Some of the high roads lost considerable elevation.\u00a0 In the end, though, none of them got close to the valley floor.\u00a0 All of them ended at cliffs or steep slopes still at least 200\u00a0to 300 feet above Castle Creek.<\/p>\n

The old explorers never found their Northwest Passage.\u00a0 It was there, but\u00a0frozen solid and impassable.\u00a0 Lupe never found her Northwest Passage\u00a0either.\u00a0 It may have been there, but on some side road there wasn’t time to explore.\u00a0\u00a0By now so much time had\u00a0passed that even if Lupe found a way through,\u00a0she wouldn’t be able to\u00a0climb Castle Peak and return before dark.\u00a0 And SPHP wasn’t about to scramble up some steep hillside in the dark.<\/p>\n

Of course, Lupe was having fun the entire time.\u00a0 She wasn’t worried about getting to Castle Peak.\u00a0 She was looking for squirrels and other interesting things in the forest.\u00a0 While SPHP tried to figure out which of the many branches of USFS Road No. 187 to take to get back to the G6, Lupe had her own little adventures in the forest.\u00a0 SPHP managed to find the junction of USFS Roads No. 187.2E and No. 187.2F.\u00a0 From there the way back was clearly indicated on the maps.<\/p>\n

\"On<\/a>
On the way back to the G6 on USFS Road No. 187.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The sun wasn’t down yet when Lupe got back to the G6 at 4:31 PM (59\u00b0F).\u00a0 There was more than an hour yet before sunset.\u00a0 What now?\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP drove NW to Reynolds Prairie.\u00a0 From the S end of Reynolds Prairie, SPHP took USFS Road No. 189 heading N.\u00a0 Just N of Nipple Butte<\/strong><\/a><\/span>\u00a0(6,800 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>, near the junction with USFS Road No. 599, was a beautiful stand of aspens that hadn’t even reached the height of their fall colors yet.\u00a0 Lupe agreed to pose for a few pictures.<\/p>\n

\"Aspens<\/a>
Aspens N of Nipple Butte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"Aspens<\/a>From there, Lupe and SPHP drove up to the end of USFS Road No. 599.\u00a0 At it’s N end, No. 599 is just S of White Tail Peak, which Lupe had climbed on Expedition No. 138<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 SPHP had hoped to get a view of White Tail Peak<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(6,962 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0from the S, but by the time Lupe got there, fog was rolling in.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP turned around, and returned to USFS Road No. 189 where there were more pretty aspens.\"Lupe<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Fog above aspen trees\u00a0near USFS Road No. 189.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 140 ended with a climb up the spur road to Flag Mountain<\/a> (6,937 ft.)<\/span><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0from USFS Road No. 189.\u00a0 Normally Flag Mountain<\/a><\/span><\/strong> has great 180\u00b0 views to the E.\u00a0 Lupe has seen them before.\u00a0 This\u00a0time, Flag Mountain was enveloped in fog.<\/p>\n

Lupe loved the fog.\u00a0 She raced through the now mysterious forests, sniffing madly.\u00a0 For an hour, as the\u00a0gloomy fog\u00a0thickened and the light faded,\u00a0Flag Mountain was haunted by the wild Dingo of the Mists.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on Flag Mountain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Lupe<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
The wild Dingo of the Mists<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next Black Hills Expedition<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prior Black Hills Expedition<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s Black Hills Expeditions Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span> or Master Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nearly all of September, 2015,\u00a0the Black Hills of\u00a0South Dakota\u00a0were hot and exceptionally dry.\u00a0 Relief came the first weekend of October.\u00a0 The hills\u00a0were socked in with clouds, fog,\u00a0and at least some much needed rain.\u00a0 Lupe\u00a0was bored, bored, bored spending long hours looking out the front window.\u00a0 An occasional squirrel was about all the excitement there was. … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 140 – Bittersweet Creek, The Northwest Passage, Dingo of the Mists (10-5-15)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[105,341,9,106,343,177,104,304],"class_list":["post-2256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-hills","tag-american-dingo","tag-bittersweet-creek","tag-black-hills-expeditions","tag-carolina-dog","tag-dingo-of-the-mists","tag-flag-mountain","tag-lupe","tag-south-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/P1070288.jpg?fit=1651%2C1238&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2256"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28271,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256\/revisions\/28271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}