{"id":2397,"date":"2015-10-13T08:10:47","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T14:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=2397"},"modified":"2020-09-21T21:56:12","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T03:56:12","slug":"black-hills-sd-wy-expedition-no-141-old-baldy-mountain-cement-ridge-10-11-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=2397","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD & WY Expedition No. 141 – Old Baldy Mountain & Cement Ridge (10-11-15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lupe was happy and excited.\u00a0 She was\u00a0on her way to\u00a0another Black Hills Expedition.\u00a0 On USFS Road No. 256, SPHP stopped the G6 along the road.\u00a0 There was a very nice stand of yellow aspens, and SPHP wanted a photo of it.\u00a0 This late in the season, most of the aspens higher up were probably past their prime already, but these still looked good.\u00a0 Their golden glory wouldn’t last long, though.\u00a0 Leaves fell by the thousands with every gust of the NW breeze.<\/p>\n

\"Aspens<\/a>
Aspens along USFS Road No. 256\u00a0east of Minnesota Ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe’s chance to sniff around along No. 256 didn’t last long.\u00a0 Soon it was time to continue on.\u00a0 Lupe enjoyed the long ride through the hills.\u00a0 She rode with her head out the window in the wind, barking ferociously at cows and horses along the way.\u00a0 By the time most of them even looked up to see what the commotion was all about, she was already past them.\u00a0 It didn’t matter, Lupe was satisfied she had done her barking duty.<\/p>\n

At 10:59 AM, SPHP parked the G6 at the\u00a0Old Baldy trailhead off USFS Road No. 134 .\u00a0 It was 67\u00b0F, overcast and breezy.\u00a0 Old Baldy Trail No. 66 goes to Old Baldy Mountain<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(6,096 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 There is a W route and an E route to get there, the W route being a little longer.\u00a0 Both routes meet up again 0.8 mile from the summit for the final climb.\u00a0 Both trails go up and down through the hills, but there really isn’t all that much net elevation change – the trail is pretty easy.<\/p>\n

Lupe and SPHP took the E route to Old Baldy Mountain.\u00a0 This trail is a bit unusual for the Black Hills.\u00a0 It goes through a forest consisting mostly of aspens with some scattered pines.\u00a0 Usually it is the other way around, and the pines dominate.\u00a0 Most of the aspens were well beyond their peak for fall colors, but there was still enough color around for a very pleasant journey.\u00a0 The trail and forest floor were now decorated with the speckled browns, pale yellows and golds of the fallen aspen leaves.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the E route of Old Baldy Trail No. 66.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"Old<\/a>\"Aspens<\/a>At the low point along the E route of the Old Baldy Trail, there was a sign for Baldy Lake.\u00a0\u00a0Beyond the sign\u00a0was a big beautiful pasture and a tiny stream,\u00a0but no lake.\u00a0 Baldy Lake couldn’t have been more than just a stock pond, even when it did exist.\u00a0 The tiny creek trickled through\u00a0a breach in a\u00a0low earthen dam where\u00a0Baldy Lake used to be.\u00a0\u00a0After crossing\u00a0the tiny creek, it didn’t take Lupe long to reach the junction of the E and W routes to Old Baldy Mountain.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The bridge across the tiny creek at the low point of the E route of Old Baldy Trail No. 66.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a>The trail\u00a0up to the summit of Old Baldy Mountain gains only about 300 feet of elevation.\u00a0 It didn’t take Lupe long to reach the top.\u00a0 The NW breeze was still blowing, but the clouds were gone.\u00a0 Now it was sunny, clear and rather warm out, especially for 1\/3 of the way through October.\u00a0 Lupe was thirsty!\u00a0 She had a big drink of water up on Old Baldy,\u00a0one of many this day.\"\"<\/a>Old Baldy Mountain isn’t particularly high for the area, but there were some pretty nice views.\u00a0 Terry Peak<\/a><\/span><\/strong> (7,064 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> could be seen\u00a0about 11 miles to the ESE.\u00a0 The Beaver Creek valley was just S of Old Baldy.\u00a0 Lupe’s next destination, Cement Ridge<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(6,674 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, was several miles to the WSW.<\/p>\n

\"Terry<\/a>
Terry Peak from Old Baldy Mountain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Beaver Creek valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cement<\/a>
Cement Ridge, Lupe’s next destination.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking S towards the Beaver Creek valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and SPHP went\u00a0back down Old Baldy Mountain.\u00a0 This time Lupe took the W route on Old Baldy Trail No. 66.\u00a0 Lupe followed it quite a long way as it wound around through the forest.\u00a0 She came to one spot where there was an unobstructed view of Old Baldy Mountain from the S.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking W at the Beaver Creek valley. Lupe is SE of Old Baldy Mountain here,\u00a0near the W route of Old Baldy Trail No. 66.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking N at Old Baldy Mountain from the W route of Old Baldy Trail No. 66.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the W route\u00a0of the Old Baldy trail started taking\u00a0Lupe SE,\u00a0she\u00a0left the trail and plunged into the\u00a0forest.\u00a0 Lupe needed to head W to get to Schoolhouse Gulch Road, USFS Road No. 222.\u00a0 Going W through the forest was a short cut.\u00a0 Lupe was happy in the forest.\u00a0 She likes being off any road or trail.\u00a0 It really wasn’t very far to No. 222.\u00a0 Soon Lupe and SPHP were there.\u00a0 Lupe may have been disappointed the shortcut was so very short.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking W from USFS Road No. 222 (Schoolhouse Gulch Road).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and\u00a0SPHP headed N on No. 222.\u00a0 Part of the time, Lupe and SPHP just paralleled the road out in the field to the W.\u00a0 Lupe got a drink out of Beaver Creek where she crossed it still heading N.\u00a0 No. 222 curved to the NW.\u00a0 As a road hike on a fairly major gravel road, Lupe wasn’t all that thrilled with it, but it was still quite pretty.\u00a0 Lupe dashed in and out of the forest checking for squirrels.\u00a0 SPHP started collecting some of the inevitable trash along\u00a0a main\u00a0road.<\/p>\n

After following USFS Road No. 222 for a couple of miles, Lupe\u00a0reached USFS Road No. 103.\u00a0 This road was more to Lupe’s liking.\u00a0 It was more like a jeep trail or logging road.\u00a0 It wound around to the S before turning W to connect with USFS Road No. 850 up on Cement Ridge.\u00a0 Before reaching Cement Ridge, Lupe crossed the border from South Dakota into Wyoming.<\/p>\n

From where Lupe reached No. 850, the Cement Ridge lookout tower was still a mile or more off to the NW.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP mostly stayed NE of the road following the highest part of the ridgeline.\u00a0 There were big views off to the NE over the northern Black Hills of South Dakota.\u00a0 The prairie could be seen beyond the hills.<\/p>\n

Vehicles started coming and going on the road.\u00a0 Lupe was going to have company up at the lookout tower.\u00a0 As it turned out, Lupe was never alone up there.\u00a0 Four or five carloads of people with kids and dogs arrived.\u00a0 Lupe was a bit overwhelmed with so many dogs, so Lupe and SPHP went a bit W of the lookout tower to an old picnic table.\u00a0 Lupe panted and rested\u00a0in the shade of the table.<\/p>\n

Cement Ridge is located at the NW end of the Black Hills of South Dakota.\u00a0 It is so far NW, that the lookout tower is actually a mile into Wyoming.\u00a0 The\u00a0hillside surrounding\u00a0the lookout tower is barren, and has a commanding view of a good deal of territory.\u00a0 Crow Peak<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (5,787 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> was off to the NNE.\u00a0 Warren Peaks<\/a> <\/span>(6,650 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> and Sundance Mountain<\/a><\/span> (5,824 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> were far away to the NW.\u00a0\u00a0 Inyan Kara<\/a><\/span> (6,360 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> was on the horizon to the SW.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there was a fair amount of smoke haze in the air.\u00a0 The views, especially to the W towards the sun, were not as distinct as they normally would be.\u00a0 The camera just didn’t want to pick up the hazy peaks in the distance towards the W.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on Cement Ridge. The lookout tower is in view to the NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NW from W of the lookout tower. Warren Peaks is on the horizon, but the camera wouldn’t pick it up with all the haze around.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SW.\u00a0 In this shot, Lupe is a\u00a0purple-eared puppy, due to a reflection of sunlight on the lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SW. Inyan Kara Mountain is the high point just right of center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Cement Ridge fire lookout tower from the NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"Cement<\/a>The topo maps on Peakbagger.com show the true summit of Cement Ridge more than a mile to the SE of where the lookout tower is.\u00a0 Peakbagger shows a high point there of 6674 feet, compared to 6647 feet at the lookout tower.\u00a0 It doesn’t really look higher than the lookout tower, especially from the lookout tower.\u00a0 SPHP doubts that it really is higher.<\/p>\n

Lupe did not say what she thought.\u00a0 She seemed unconcerned by this issue.\u00a0 Nevertheless, when Lupe was done at the lookout tower, Lupe and\u00a0SPHP went and climbed up to this other high point.\u00a0 There was what might of been a small limestone cairn next to a bush, but nothing else of note.\u00a0 The only view from the purported true summit of Cement Ridge was back to the NW towards the lookout tower.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe leaves the Cement Ridge Lookout Tower on USFS Road No. 850.\u00a0 Photo looks NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The high point on the ridge seen here is shown on Peakbagger.com topo maps as the true summit of Cement Ridge at 6,674 feet. SPHP really thinks the lookout tower is higher, but Lupe went to investigate.\u00a0 In any case, the views are much better at the lookout tower.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Lupe at the supposed true summit of Cement Ridge according to Peakbagger.com topo maps. Photo looks NW. The Cement Ridge lookout tower is seen at the top of the bare spot more than a mile away.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe at what might be a poorly assembled cairn at the purported true summit of Cement Ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By now it was time to start making tracks back to the G6.\u00a0 The sun was still above the horizon, but only for another 30 or 40 minutes.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP left\u00a0the controversial\u00a0summit of Cement Ridge.\u00a0 Lupe explored the rest of this\u00a0ridge, which trended to the SE.\u00a0 The ridge remained\u00a0quite high for at least 0.25 mile.\u00a0 Although this ridge was all forested, there were some small NE facing cliffs at regular intervals.\u00a0 There were often quite nice views in that direction from these cliffs.<\/p>\n

The ridge didn’t lose much elevation until it curved to the S, then it went steadily downhill.\u00a0 Lupe loved following the ridge.\u00a0 There was no\u00a0trail at all.\u00a0 She played wild forest Dingo, running here and there exploring everything.\u00a0 The sun went down\u00a0a little while before the ridge ended at a pasture full of cows.\u00a0 The cows made way for Lupe.\u00a0 Just beyond their pasture was a dirt road.<\/p>\n

SPHP was looking for USFS Road No. 105, but knew this wasn’t it.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP started following the dirt\u00a0road S.\u00a0 When it curved to the SE, suddenly there was rather loud gunfire.\u00a0 The sound was coming from over the ridge to the W.\u00a0 Lupe was immediately anxious.\u00a0 She wanted to stop and hide.\u00a0 SPHP made a number of short stops to encourage the nervous Carolina Dog, but mostly urged her to just keep going.<\/p>\n

Lupe reached USFS Road No. 105.\u00a0 A marker showed she had been following No. 105.1D.\u00a0 There was a nice red barn in the field to the S of No. 105.\u00a0 SPHP now knew for certain where Lupe was.\u00a0 She was maybe 3 miles from the G6.\u00a0 The gunfire continued for 30 minutes.\u00a0 Finally it ended, but Lupe wasn’t immediately relieved.\u00a0 She kept begging to stop.\u00a0 SPHP even carried her a couple of times, but only for short distances.\u00a0 Lupe made slow progress in between many stops along the way.<\/p>\n

When it got dark enough for the stars and flashlight to come out, Lupe finally felt better.\u00a0 The gunfire was long gone.\u00a0\u00a0Under cover of darkness, her confidence was\u00a0back.\u00a0 When she reached the G6 at 7:44 PM (47\u00b0F), she wasn’t ready to get in and go home.\u00a0 Instead, she\u00a0wanted to stay out under the stars and play wild forest Dingo all night.<\/p>\n

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

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

Lupe was happy and excited.\u00a0 She was\u00a0on her way to\u00a0another Black Hills Expedition.\u00a0 On USFS Road No. 256, SPHP stopped the G6 along the road.\u00a0 There was a very nice stand of yellow aspens, and SPHP wanted a photo of it.\u00a0 This late in the season, most of the aspens higher up were probably past … Continue reading Black Hills, SD & WY Expedition No. 141 – Old Baldy Mountain & Cement Ridge (10-11-15)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2411,"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":[105,9,106,367,104,366,368,304],"class_list":["post-2397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-hills","tag-american-dingo","tag-black-hills-expeditions","tag-carolina-dog","tag-cement-ridge","tag-lupe","tag-old-baldy-mountain","tag-old-baldy-trail-no-66","tag-south-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/P1070320.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\/2397","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=2397"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21395,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397\/revisions\/21395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}