![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/P1070568.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>The Bear Lodge Mountains are a small mountain range in NE Wyoming separated from the main body of the Black Hills of South Dakota by no more than 15-20 miles of grasslands.\u00a0 The Bear Lodge Mountains are part of the Black Hills National Forest.\u00a0 Lupe was going to get to climb a couple of mountains in the range,\u00a0and visit a couple more as part of Expedition No. 145.<\/p>\n
Lupe’s first goal was to climb Sundance Mountain<\/a><\/span><\/strong> (5,824 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> located just S of I-90 and the town of Sundance, WY.\u00a0 It was 10:04 AM, 54\u00b0F and windy out of the W, as Lupe set off to climb Sundance Mountain from the SE.\u00a0 She soon reached a 4WD jeep trail that took her all the way up to the top of the mountain.\u00a0 There were plenty of towers and various small buildings up at the summit.<\/p>\n Although there were some pretty nice views of Sundance, WY and Green Mountain<\/a><\/span> (5,283 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> from the summit, the\u00a0view SPHP liked best was hidden\u00a0by the forest.\u00a0 Somewhat\u00a0below the summit, a\u00a0short dead-end side road\u00a0covered with weeds provided an expansive view\u00a0to the S toward Inyan Kara Mountain<\/a> (6,360 ft.)<\/span><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Lupe faced two dangers on Sundance Mountain.\u00a0 The first one was\u00a0a patch of cactus\u00a0growing on a grassy ridge just below where Lupe first reached the jeep trail.\u00a0 The second danger was a cliff on the N side of the mountain.\u00a0 The cliff was situated\u00a0just below a tree Lupe ran down a very steep bank\u00a0to,\u00a0in order to bark at a squirrel.\u00a0\u00a0Fortunately,\u00a0Lupe returned to the\u00a0G6\u00a0unscathed by either cacti or cliffs.<\/p>\n After climbing Sundance Mountain, Lupe’s next stop was Warren Peak<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(6,650 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>, the highest mountain in the Bear Lodge range at 6,656 feet.\u00a0 Lupe had been up on Warren Peak<\/strong><\/a> (6,650 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> once before on the first day of her 2014 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies and the Beartooths.<\/p>\n Getting to the top of Warren Peak 7 miles NNW of Sundance, WY\u00a0is super easy.\u00a0 A short gravel road off USFS Road No. 838 (Warren Peak Road accessed off Hwy 14\u00a0a mile from I-90)\u00a0winds its way up\u00a0to a lookout tower at the top.\u00a0 It was 12:16 PM and\u00a050\u00b0F with a gale blowing out of the W, when Lupe reached the top of Warren Peak.\u00a0 The views were great, but the wind was really annoying.\u00a0 Lupe stayed on Warren Peaks only long enough for a few quick photos.<\/p>\n Just N of the turn to the US Government property, USFS Road No. 838, which had been paved, turned to gravel.\u00a0 Shortly after turning to gravel, there was a bend in the road where there was a glimpse of an intriguing view to the NW.\u00a0 There was a large pullout along the side of the road at this point, so Lupe and SPHP stopped to get a photo.<\/p>\n After checking out the awesome, but distant view of Devils Tower and Missouri Buttes, Lupe and SPHP continued onward.\u00a0 Lupe’s next peakbagging goal was a peak neither she nor SPHP had ever been even close to before.\u00a0 It wasn’t even in the Peakbagger.com data base.\u00a0 Peakbagger.com’s topo maps showed it simply as Sheep Mountain.\u00a0 SPHP’s old USFS maps showed it as Sheep Nose Mountain<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(5,829 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 It\u00a0lies about 4 miles ENE of Warren Peak on the E edge of the Bear Lodge Mountains.<\/p>\n Winding USFS roads led Lupe and SPHP to a trailhead that SPHP almost missed.\u00a0 Driving by, SPHP just caught a glimpse of a small sign saying “Sheepnose Trail”.\u00a0 There was a roomy parking area, and a map posted\u00a0at this\u00a0remote trailhead.\u00a0 The map showed two Sheepnose Trails.\u00a0 One was trail “M” (2.3 miles long), which led to the mountain.\u00a0 The other was trail “L”, which was longer (5.8 miles), branched off\u00a0from trail “M”,\u00a0and did not actually quite reach the mountain.<\/p>\n There was no obvious “trail”, just an old unmarked USFS road that headed E from near the posted map at the trailhead.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP set out on this road, which appeared to be seldom used.\u00a0\u00a0A mile from the trailhead, it turned SE where Lupe found it was still marked as USFS Road No. 831.1C.\u00a0 There was an odd-shaped metal gate blocking the way to motorized vehicles.\u00a0 Markers from here onward showed that this was indeed Sheepnose Trail “M”.<\/p>\n The trailhead and Sheep Nose Mountain are at about the same elevation.\u00a0 Most of the way to Sheep Nose Mountain, the terrain was quite level.\u00a0\u00a0Old USFS Road No. 831.1C\u00a0did dip down almost 250 feet, though, partway to the mountain.\u00a0 At\u00a0a saddle there was a small clearing, and an\u00a0intersection with the longer Sheepnose Trail “L”.\u00a0\u00a0Sheepnose Trail “L” was\u00a0another old USFS Road, which branched off from Trail “M” heading W.<\/p>\n Of course, Lupe had to regain all of the elevation lost going down to the trail intersection.\u00a0 Sheep Nose Mountain trail “M” wound around on the N side of the mountain regaining elevation.\u00a0 It turned back to the W side of the mountain, and then headed S.\u00a0 There was a big canyon to the W, but it couldn’t be seen through the forest from the trail.<\/p>\n The rocky little ridge at the summit of Sheep Nose Mountain came into view up a sparsely treed slope to the E.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP left the road to climb straight up to it.\u00a0 It later turned out that the road doesn’t go all the way to the summit (although it gets close).\u00a0\u00a0The road and\u00a0Sheepnose Trail “M”\u00a0end at cliffs SE of the summit.<\/p>\n The summit of Sheep Nose Mountain felt lonely and remote, just the way Lupe and SPHP like it.\u00a0 It looked like an area very few people (or American Dingoes) ever see.\u00a0 Warren Peak\u00a0could be seen\u00a0to the WSW.\u00a0 Other than forest, not much could be seen to the N, but there were\u00a0wonderful views to the S and E.<\/p>\n Lupe posed for some pictures.\u00a0 Then Lupe and SPHP took an apple and Taste of the Wild break on top of the mountain.\u00a0 Fortunately, the strong W wind Lupe had experienced up on Warren Peak\u00a0was\u00a0greatly diminished by now.\u00a0 Only a gentle breeze remained.<\/p>\n After the break, Lupe and SPHP\u00a0left the summit of Sheep Nose Mountain going\u00a0SE down a gradual slope to where old USFS Road No. 831.1C (Sheepnose trail “M”) had headed.\u00a0 Shortly after reaching the road again,\u00a0Lupe found\u00a0it ended at scenic cliffs.<\/p>\n After seeing the views from the S cliffs, SPHP was almost certain the following photo taken earlier in the day from just N of I-90 is a view of Sheep Nose Mountain from the S.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP both enjoyed the return trip along\u00a0the same route\u00a0from Sheep Nose Mountain\u00a0back to the G6.\u00a0 There were squirrels and deer in the woods.\u00a0 There was silence and solitude.\u00a0 The whole trip to Sheep Nose Mountain and back\u00a0took only\u00a02 hours and 14 minutes.\u00a0 It was the best part of the day.<\/p>\n It was 3:18 PM and still 52\u00b0F when Lupe got back to the G6.\u00a0 There was still\u00a0a little time left before sunset for\u00a0more fun in the Bear Lodge Mountains.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP took a drive through the mountains,\u00a0exploring down toward Hulett, WY on USFS Road No. 849.<\/p>\n No. 849 followed Blacktail Creek out of the Bear Lodge Mountains.\u00a0 Once the road was out of the Black Hills National Forest,\u00a0it passed through\u00a0private ranch lands where the creek valley was wide and grassy.\u00a0 The slanting rays of the sun lit up the rocky edges of the low forested hills on the NE side of the valley.\u00a0 In the shadow of the hills to the SW, down in big fields near Blacktail Creek, deer were grazing.<\/p>\n Lupe could hardly believe her eyes.\u00a0 There wasn’t just a deer or two or three over there by the creek.\u00a0 There were herds of them.\u00a0 There were more deer than Lupe, or even SPHP, had ever seen before in one place.\u00a0 Every field had at least 50 deer grazing in it.<\/p>\n As SPHP drove along, Lupe must have barked at 1,000 deer or\u00a0more.\u00a0 Some of the deer heard her, and\u00a0dashed off across the fields\u00a0into the trees.\u00a0\u00a0Others just continued grazing.\u00a0 By the time Lupe reached\u00a0Hwy 24\u00a0S of Hulett, she was desperately thirsty and worn to a frazzle.<\/p>\n One of the deer Lupe and SPHP saw along the way had come to a bad end, though it wasn’t because of Lupe.\u00a0 A hunter was busy trying to pull a dead deer he had just shot up into the back of a pickup truck, as SPHP drove by.\u00a0 No doubt the hunter was happy and within his rights, but\u00a0seeing the beautiful deer which had lost its life only minutes ago\u00a0just felt terribly sad.<\/p>\n The last rays of the sun were about to fail by the time Lupe reached her last stop of the day.\u00a0 Devils Tower loomed in stony silence as the gloom of night approached.\u00a0 The big convenience store and KOA campground just E of the entrance to Devils Tower National Monument were both closed and deserted.<\/p>\n SPHP parked the G6 at the store.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP wandered out onto the lawn for a quick photo of Lupe and Devils Tower.\u00a0 Before SPHP could take it, a loud shot rang out from somewhere not very far to the N.\u00a0 Lupe raced for safety back toward the G6.\u00a0 It took SPHP a few minutes to convince her she wasn’t going to wind up like the poor dead deer.<\/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 Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s Black Hills Expeditions Adventure Index<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span> or Master Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SPHP had been thinking about taking Lupe on an expedition to the Bear Lodge Mountains in Wyoming for a couple of months.\u00a0 Checking the weather forecast early on 11-15-15, SPHP saw that it was going to be an extraordinarily warm day for mid-November in the Black Hills.\u00a0 It was probably now or never, if Lupe … Continue reading Black Hills, WY Expedition No. 145 – Sundance Mountain, Warren Peak, Sheep Nose Mountain & Devils Tower (11-15-15)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3047,"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":[105,456,9,106,420,104,459,457,458,275],"class_list":["post-3057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-hills","tag-american-dingo","tag-bear-lodge-mountains","tag-black-hills-expeditions","tag-carolina-dog","tag-devils-tower","tag-lupe","tag-sheep-nose-mountain","tag-sundance-mountain","tag-warren-peak","tag-wyoming"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/P1070600.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\/3057","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=3057"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22468,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3057\/revisions\/22468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n