{"id":29977,"date":"2020-12-15T08:10:17","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T15:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=29977"},"modified":"2021-01-04T16:06:52","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T23:06:52","slug":"black-hills-sd-expedition-no-258-spearfish-peak-little-crow-peak-11-19-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=29977","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 258 – Spearfish Peak & Little Crow Peak (11-19-20)"},"content":{"rendered":"

8:52 AM, 43\u00baF, Devil’s Bathtub (Cleopatra) trailhead in Spearfish Canyon – <\/em>Sort of a late start, especially for this time of year when the days are so short, but Lupe ought to have plenty of time to get to the Devil’s Bathtub, a popular Black Hills destination accessible from Spearfish Canyon.\u00a0 Last year she had been here and made it up Squaw Creek far enough to get to some beautiful pools past scenic cliffs, but it hadn’t seemed quite right.\u00a0 Sure enough, a little research later on had proven that the American Dingo hadn’t gone far enough to actually reach the Devil’s Bathtub.\u00a0 Now Loop was back to correct that mistake.<\/p>\n

A 0.25 mile downstream jaunt along Spearfish Creek got Loopster to Cleopatra Place, a short road with a bridge over to some private homes and cabins on the E side of the river.\u00a0 Just past the bridge, the start of the Devil’s Bathtub trail was on the R.\u00a0 Certain of success this time around, Loop and SPHP started up Squaw Creek.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
At the start of the Devil’s Bathtub trail<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the narrow side canyon that Squaw Creek flows through on its way to join up with Spearfish Creek, the trail was soon criss-crossing Squaw Creek multiple times.\u00a0 Expected, but what SPHP hadn’t anticipated was that there was still some snow and ice way down here along the shaded creek.\u00a0 The frozen stuff had melted days ago almost everywhere else.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
One of the early Squaw Creek<\/strong> crossings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first couple of crossings weren’t bad, but as Lupe continued up the valley, she kept coming to more snow and ice.\u00a0 Not enough to support her weight, but enough to make everything slippery.\u00a0 Even where it had all melted, the rocks were damp and slick.\u00a0 Rock hopping was risky, and SPHP really didn’t want to wade through it all getting freezing wet paws.<\/p>\n

A spur trail NE of the stream led steeply up to higher ground.\u00a0 Hoping the spur might make it possible to skip some of the stream crossings, SPHP encouraged Loop to try it.\u00a0 Worked, but not a great solution.\u00a0 The short climb was tricky due to half-frozen mud.\u00a0 Once the trail leveled out, Lupe then had to cross a skinny, damp section on a treacherously steep slope, only to promptly get forced all the way back down to creek level again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
On the level part of the spur trail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next stream ford was easier, but the one after it was much worse.\u00a0 After successfully negotiating it only to immediately discover another one lying in wait that wasn’t any better, SPHP had had it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Keep coming, SPHP! This one isn’t bad at all.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hang on, Looper!<\/em><\/p>\n

What’cha thinking, SPHP?<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m thinking this isn’t going to work.\u00a0 We already know from your trek up here last year that we still have a bunch of stream crossings to go.\u00a0 Sooner or later, I’m going to wind up falling in the creek, or at least getting my paws soaking wet.\u00a0 Not a thrilling prospect in November, even though you might be fine with it.<\/em><\/p>\n

So what are you saying?\u00a0 We’re done already?\u00a0 We’ve hardly started!<\/em><\/p>\n

How about a change of plans?\u00a0 I say let’s skip the Devil’s Bathtub, and come back sometime when either the creek is solidly frozen over, or its just plain hot out.\u00a0 That’s when everyone else comes up here, so they can use the Devil’s Bathtub as a swimming hole.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fine with me, SPHP, but what do you want to do instead?<\/em><\/p>\n

Little Crow Peak<\/span><\/a> (5,885 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> isn’t far away.\u00a0 Spearfish Peak<\/span><\/a> (5,800 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> might even be within range.\u00a0 We haven’t been to either one in more than 4.5 years.\u00a0 Want to do that?<\/em><\/p>\n

Sure!\u00a0 Which way from here, then?<\/em><\/p>\n

We’ll have to go back to the start if we can’t climb our way out of here.\u00a0 Let’s give that a shot first.\u00a0 Right on up that slope!\u00a0 Onward!\u00a0 Puppy, ho!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Climbing out of the Squaw Creek valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Loopster powered up, while SPHP thrashed around on the steep slope.\u00a0 Managed to get up it, though.\u00a0 Maybe 100 feet above Squaw Creek, Lupe came to an old road covered with pine needles.<\/p>\n

We’re in luck, SPHP!\u00a0 This ought to make things easier.\u00a0 Which way now?<\/em><\/p>\n

Not entirely certain, Loop.\u00a0 Probably L.\u00a0 The topo map<\/strong><\/span><\/a> doesn’t even show this road.\u00a0 Say, maybe we can get to the Devil’s Bathtub after all, if we just follow it up Squaw Creek valley?\u00a0 Wanna try that?<\/em><\/p>\n

You’re a truly flexible planner, SPHP.\u00a0 Devil’s Bathtub it is, again!\u00a0 Head R then?<\/em><\/p>\n

Yup.\u00a0 Do it, Dingo!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Back on track for the Devil’s Bathtub! We’re going this way!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well, shucks.\u00a0 It didn’t work.\u00a0 After going around a corner, chunks of the road were missing, haven fallen into the valley at one time or another.\u00a0 The road became a mostly one track trail traversing some perilously steep slopes.\u00a0 SPHP called another halt.<\/p>\n

What now, SPHP?<\/em><\/p>\n

Beginning to think this route is going to totally play out somewhere up ahead, Loop.\u00a0 Probably just a big waste of time.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, you want to go back the way we came?<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, but stick with this road.\u00a0 Good chance it will tie in with USFS Road No. 186 before too long.\u00a0 No. 186 will get us up to the Little Crow Peak region.\u00a0 Same route that got us up there years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Went fine for a little way, but we’re turning back again here.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Going NW back past where Lupe had originally reached this old pine needle covered road, it eventually did tie into another more substantial road.\u00a0 SPHP didn’t recognize it as USFS Road No. 186, but maybe it was?\u00a0 Almost had to be according to the map, although nothing looked familiar as the Carolina Dog took it higher.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
At the junction with a more substantial rocky road that Loop followed higher.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before long, Loop came to a single short switchback after which the road headed E up a narrow side canyon, climbing steadily at a pretty good clip.\u00a0 This went on for perhaps 0.75 mile or more.\u00a0 The terrain looked like it was about to level out a bit when Lupe reached a broken down gate in a fence line where the valley broadened out somewhat.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

This gate seemed faintly familiar.\u00a0 Immediately beyond it, the road branched.\u00a0 Looper stayed to the L (NE), continuing up the valley.\u00a0 She’d already gained a lot of elevation.\u00a0 For the first time, a distant view was beginning to open up behind her.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
On the way up the long non-descript valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
At the broken gate, which seemed vaguely familiar. Photo looks E.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Starting to get a bit of a view. Photo looks WSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The road finally did level off.\u00a0 The Carolina Dog had climbed completely out of Spearfish Canyon and its off-shoots.\u00a0 This area also seemed vaguely familiar.\u00a0 SPHP was fairly certain Loop had been here before.\u00a0 If so, Little Crow Peak was only 0.5 mile off to the WNW.\u00a0 Instead of going back to climb it, though, Lupe continued NE.<\/p>\n

Late morning.\u00a0 Sunny and crisp.\u00a0 A thin layer of snow brightened the road ahead.\u00a0 Felt good to be out and on the move, listening to the pines sighing in a light breeze.\u00a0 Looper didn’t get much farther before coming to a landmark that SPHP recognized for sure.\u00a0 At a spot where the road divided, remnants of an ancient battered bus sat quietly rusting away, just as it had been the last time Lupe had been here.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The road finally flattened out, providing a beautiful, easy trek ahead. Photo looks ENE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
By the battered bus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The road continuing NE looked destined to go downhill.\u00a0 Instead of going that way, Lupe turned due E on a rockier road that went uphill.\u00a0 It wasn’t a big climb.\u00a0 The road soon leveled out.\u00a0 A little downhill stretch, and at the top of the next hill the American Dingo reached Carbonate Camp<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
On the way to Carbonate Camp at the top of the next rise. Photo looks E.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next to nothing left of the old ghost town.\u00a0 A wooden sign nailed to a big Ponderosa pine tree said “Carbonate Camp Cemetery”.\u00a0 Wooden boards marked 5 gravesites.\u00a0 Although leaning, the decaying boards were still standing, but that was all that was still here.\u00a0 2 of the graves were N of the road, the other 3 were S.<\/p>\n

Noon hour.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP paused to relax for a few minutes by the 3 graves S of the road, and share a chocolate coconut bar.\u00a0 With an eager Dingo in on the deal, the little bar vanished in seconds.\u00a0 Loop followed that up with a Taste of the Wild chaser while SPHP munched an apple.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The new Carbonate Camp Cemetery sign. The old one that had been here 4.5 years ago had been misspelled.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
1 of 5 wooden grave markers is visible just to the R of the sign. Not really much left here to desecrate. Photo looks E.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
3 grave markers S of the road. About all remains of Carbonate Camp<\/strong>! Photo looks W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

E of Carbonate Camp, the road forked again, both branches heading downhill.\u00a0 Lupe took the main road as it curled L around to the N, then NW.\u00a0 Hmm.\u00a0 Maybe this route actually went back to the ancient bus?\u00a0 In any case, it wasn’t the right way.<\/p>\n

Marching back up to the fork, Loop took a very rocky road NE down a steep hill.\u00a0 Before she reached the bottom of a deep ravine, she came to such a badly eroded section that this road would have been impassable to virtually any vehicle, although it wasn’t a bad hiking trail.<\/p>\n

From this first ravine, the road headed due E again, going up and down over several smaller hills.\u00a0 0.5 mile E of Carbonate Camp, Lupe arrived at a frozen pond tucked away in the shadows of upper Rubicon Gulch.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Starting down into the first ravine E of Carbonate Camp<\/strong>. Photo looks E.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
By the frozen pond in upper Rubicon Gulch<\/strong>. Photo looks WSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A number of roads intersected down here in Rubicon Gulch.\u00a0 One going S led over to a gated-off area owned by a mining operation.\u00a0 One went NW down Rubicon Gulch, and another continued straight E up a steep slope.<\/p>\n

Without hesitation, the Carolina Dog took yet another road that climbed NE, then N up to the top of the next ridge.\u00a0 The terrain leveled out as Lupe reached a big overhead power line.\u00a0 After going under the power line, she passed a cute little cabin on the R (E).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The little cabin N of Rubicon Gulch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Spearfish Peak<\/span><\/a> (5,800 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> was still 2 miles N of here.\u00a0 A little more than that the way the road went.\u00a0 After 1:30 PM.\u00a0 SPHP was now regretting the ridiculous decision not to climb Little Crow Peak first.\u00a0 With sunset only a bit after 4:00 PM, if Loopster went on to Spearfish Peak it was probably going to be dark by the time she could get back to Little Crow.<\/p>\n

Should have been evident all along!\u00a0 Nothing to do about it now, though, except pick up the pace.\u00a0 Might still work out.\u00a0 Lupe continued N past some more private property.\u00a0 Soon she was passing under the power line again, with a glimpse of Spearfish Peak in the distance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Spearfish Peak<\/strong> (R) from the power line. Lupe did not go down the road seen on the R. Photo looks NNW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the power line, the road swung W a little way going up over a small hill in the process, then down again before turning N once more to climb a larger hill.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the sky had clouded up, turning a sad gray.\u00a0 The air felt colder.\u00a0 Except for the dark green of the pines, and the snow white bark of leafless, shivering aspens, everything along the road was brown, tan, or beige, the somber colors of death.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Approaching Spearfish Peak<\/strong> (Center) on USFS Road No. 220. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of those afternoons with a late fall feel, as if the icy hand of winter was near, plotting to steal in without warning and seize the entire world in its eternal frozen grip.\u00a0 An afternoon for brooding and dark thoughts.<\/p>\n

Yet Lupe was doing fine, trotting happily along, sometimes venturing into the brush for a quick sniff before returning to the road.\u00a0 She was making good progress.\u00a0 Crow Peak<\/span><\/a> (5,787 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, the big one, not the little one, came into sight off to the NW.\u00a0 As Loop drew near Spearfish Peak, Bear Butte<\/span><\/a> (4,422 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> could be seen looking small and insignificant out on the plains beyond the rest of the Black Hills.\u00a0 It was still bathed in sunlight.\u00a0 Clearly, winter was in no position to back up its idle threats.\u00a0 At least, not yet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Crow Peak<\/strong> (L of Center). Photo looks NW with help from the telephoto lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Getting close to Spearfish Peak<\/strong>. Photo looks NNW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Bear Butte<\/strong> (Center). Photo looks ENE with help from the telephoto lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The road returned to the power line before getting to Spearfish Peak.\u00a0 USFS Road No. 220 soon veered off to the R (NE) heading downhill.\u00a0 Lupe stuck with the power line, and quickly came to another fork.\u00a0 This time she took the L (NW) branch, a short road that ended near the trees.\u00a0 An ATV trail continued up Spearfish Peak’s SE ridge, but soon gave out as well, reduced to a single track trail that wound the rest of the way up to the summit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lupe took the road to the L here, which leads to a trail to the summit. Photo looks NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
On the single track trail, getting close to the top. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aspens, pines and deadfall!\u00a0 The top of Spearfish Peak was sort of a mess, and didn’t provide much in the way of views.\u00a0 The true summit was a big gray rock with a brass survey benchmark fastened to it a foot or two below the high point.\u00a0 Just W of this rock sat a large gray box sporting a solar panel and a small, thin antenna.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
True summit of Spearfish Peak<\/strong>. Survey benchmark visible lower R. Photo looks NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The “Spear” survey benchmark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
True summit<\/strong> and survey benchmark<\/strong> (R). Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Kind of a mess due to the deadfall, but not too bad. Lupe still on the true summit<\/strong>. Photo looks ENE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the fairly dense forest, a few narrowly restricted distant views existed.\u00a0 Terry Peak<\/span><\/a> (7,064 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> and Custer Peak<\/span><\/a> (6,804 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> could both be seen off to the S, but not from any point where Lupe could get into the picture.\u00a0 A glimpse of Little<\/span> Crow Peak<\/span><\/a> (5,885 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> and part of Spearfish Canyon was available from a spot a little W of the true summit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Terry Peak<\/strong> (Center). Photo looks S with help from the telephoto lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Little Crow Peak<\/strong> (Center). Photo looks SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was a need for speed, if Lupe still hoped to climb Little Crow Peak today.\u00a0 Even so, SPHP allowed her to linger up on Spearfish Peak for nearly half an hour.\u00a0 No sense in coming all this way, and not getting to savor the moment, at least to some degree.\u00a0 The last chocolate coconut bar vanished along with the last apple.\u00a0 The Taste of the Wild supply took a major hit, too.<\/p>\n

Minutes came and went at breakneck speed.\u00a0 Suddenly Lupe was poised again atop the true summit of Spearfish Peak<\/span><\/a> (5,800 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 A last photo, and Onward!\u00a0 Puppy, ho!<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Final moments atop Spearfish Peak<\/strong>. Photo looks NE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the way back by the same route, Bear Butte was still in sunshine as Lupe started the trek S from Spearfish Peak.\u00a0 That didn’t stop winter from taking a shot.\u00a0 Overhead, the sky darkened.\u00a0 Several times snow granules massed for the attack, but they were tiny and didn’t have the numbers to accomplish anything.\u00a0 Plunging to earth like minuscule white meteors, they melted and were gone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Bear Butte again. Photo looks ENE with lots of help from the telephoto lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Little Crow Peak<\/strong> (R of Center) from 1.25 miles S of Spearfish Peak. Photo looks SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3:57 PM, 0.6 mile ESE of Little Crow Peak –<\/em>\u00a0 Still light out, but the sun was close to the horizon when Lupe reached a grassy road that veered off to the R (NW) 250 yards after passing the ancient bus.\u00a0 This long forgotten road, which left USFS Road No. 186 before it started back down into Spearfish Canyon, wound its way WNW toward Little Crow Peak.<\/p>\n

Without it, Loopster would never have gotten to the SE slope in time to race up as fast as SPHP could struggle through the thick underbrush of a mixed pine and aspen forest.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
On the grassy road leading to Little Crow Peak<\/strong> (Center). Photo looks W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Among the aspens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The climb wasn’t a big one, maybe 200 feet of elevation gain, but when Lupe reached the first rocks at what had appeared to be the top, the view was confusing.\u00a0 300 feet off to the N or NE was a clearly higher rock formation.\u00a0 It seemed like Lupe had come up the S or even the SW slope, when SPHP had been pretty sure she’d been climbing from the SE.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
At the first rock formation reached near the apparent summit (Center) of Little Crow Peak. Photo looks NNE?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No time to worry about an explanation for that now.\u00a0 Light was fading, and the view was distressing for another reason.\u00a0 SPHP remembered that Little Crow Peak had been somewhat of a mess due to deadfall when Loop had been here before, but it was really bad now.\u00a0 As fast as possible, which wasn’t fast at all, Lupe and SPHP struggled through the maze toward the apparent summit.<\/p>\n

The sun had just vanished when the Carolina Dog got there, the horizon still lit up with a lingering orange glow.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The sun is gone as Lupe reaches the second high point. Photo looks WSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Afterglow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Egads!\u00a0 This wasn’t the true summit either.\u00a0 Another rock formation a good 10 feet higher could now be seen 300 feet farther N.\u00a0 Worse yet, the deadfall between here and there was absolutely horrendous.\u00a0 The light was going fast as Loop and SPHP clambered carefully over or under the obstacle course.\u00a0 No going around anything, that just wasn’t possible.<\/p>\n

This had better be the summit!\u00a0 The light was fading so fast that Lupe was going to have to retreat soon.\u00a0 Too many steep slopes that dropped hundreds of feet into oblivion in too many directions to risk not being able to find the way back to the grassy road.<\/p>\n

4:36 PM, summit of Little Crow Peak –<\/em>\u00a0 Yup!\u00a0 This was it!\u00a0 Still light enough to tell that the intrepid American Dingo actually had reached the true summit of Little Crow Peak<\/span><\/a> (5,885 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Lupe was now poised atop the highest rock.\u00a0 The camera was very light sensitive, but it was getting so dark that photos now looked fuzzy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Made it! At the true summit of<\/strong> Little Crow Peak<\/strong>. Photo looks W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The true summit of Little Crow Peak, perhaps due to being reached in a frantic rush in the nick of time, seemed like a cool place.\u00a0 Destroyed by pine bark beetles, the forest was completely shattered to the S and W, opening up the views.\u00a0 Elsewhere, the surviving forest was still thick enough, and now dark enough, to hide whatever was out there.<\/p>\n

Really was a shame that Lupe hadn’t climbed Little Crow Peak earlier.\u00a0 5 minutes to enjoy her success, and that was it.\u00a0 Gotta get out of here!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Cement Ridge<\/span><\/a> (6,674 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> on the horizon beyond Lupe’s head. Photo looks SW with help from the telephoto lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Final moments atop Little Crow Peak<\/strong>. Photo looks SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leaving the summit, Lupe found a short ramp to the S that enabled her to skip a lot of the worst of the deadfall.\u00a0 However, she needed to go E to get back down to the grassy road.\u00a0 Stars were appearing, the last of the light almost gone.\u00a0 The sky was still somewhat light, but the forest and ground were virtually invisible.<\/p>\n

The descent became one of confusion and constant second-guessing.\u00a0 The flashlight had to come out.\u00a0 Everywhere the mountain dropped away.\u00a0 SPHP decided Loop was too far S, then too far N.\u00a0 Nerve-wracking for a while, but at last the slope wasn’t so steep.\u00a0 Must be on track.\u00a0 Sure enough, the grassy road appeared ahead.<\/p>\n

Still a couple of miles to go, but the rest would be easy.\u00a0 Loopster could follow old USFS Road No. 186 all the way back down to Cleopatra Place at the start of the Devil’s Bathtub trail without having to return to Squaw Creek.\u00a0 Cross the bridge over Spearfish Creek, and she’d be 0.25 mile from the trailhead and the G6.<\/p>\n

Success assured, stars glittering in the now clearing night sky, Looper sniffed ahead, sometimes revealed by the weak beam of the flashlight, sometimes cloaked in the black void.\u00a0 (End 7:00 PM, 31\u00baF)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Little Crow Peak<\/strong>, Black Hills of South Dakota 11-19-20<\/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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prior Black Hills Expedition<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 171 – Little Crow Peak & Spearfish Peak (5-7-16)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0 Check out Lupe’s Black Hills, SD & WY\u00a0Expeditions\u00a0Adventure Index<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, <\/em>Master Adventure Index<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/a>, or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures<\/strong><\/a><\/span>!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

8:52 AM, 43\u00baF, Devil’s Bathtub (Cleopatra) trailhead in Spearfish Canyon – Sort of a late start, especially for this time of year when the days are so short, but Lupe ought to have plenty of time to get to the Devil’s Bathtub, a popular Black Hills destination accessible from Spearfish Canyon.\u00a0 Last year she had … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 258 – Spearfish Peak & Little Crow Peak (11-19-20)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[105,9,1340,106,637,104,304,638],"class_list":["post-29977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-hills","tag-american-dingo","tag-black-hills-expeditions","tag-carbonate-camp","tag-carolina-dog","tag-little-crow-peak","tag-lupe","tag-south-dakota","tag-spearfish-peak"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/IMG_8501.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\/29977","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=29977"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30971,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29977\/revisions\/30971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}