{"id":3259,"date":"2015-11-30T08:10:38","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T15:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=3259"},"modified":"2019-04-25T09:23:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T15:23:38","slug":"black-hills-sd-expedition-no-146a-roughlock-falls-11-22-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=3259","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 146(a) – Roughlock Falls (11-22-15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Xochitl flew in from Chicago to spend nearly a week in the Black Hills over Thanksgiving.\u00a0 Naturally, she wanted to spend\u00a0a little\u00a0time adventuring in the hills with Lupe.\u00a0 Steve had some time off, so he wanted to come along, too.\u00a0 So Lupe had quite a pack along with her when she set off on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 146(a) on 11-22-15.<\/p>\n

Since Xochitl needed a little time to acclimate to the elevation, Lupe started her off easy.\u00a0 Real easy – the first stop was at Cheyenne Crossing in Spearfish Canyon for buffalo burgers and dessert.\u00a0 Lupe got to sit waiting patiently in the G6 while Xochi, Steve & SPHP dined<\/del> acclimated in cozy warm comfort.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe at Cheyenne Crossing in Spearfish Canyon. Lupe had to wait in the G6 while Xochitl, Steve and SPHP acclimated inside the restaurant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The buffalo burgers disappeared, and there wasn’t much left of Steve’s mountain medley berry pie and ice cream when the meal was over.\u00a0 However, Xochi had ordered carrot cake for dessert.\u00a0 It arrived drizzled with caramel, which she doesn’t really care for, so about 2\/3 of the carrot cake was left over.\u00a0 The patient American Dingo was in luck!\u00a0 A big piece of carrot cake went into a Dingo box for later on.<\/p>\n

From Cheyenne Crossing, Lupe’s pack headed N for Savoy farther downstream in the heart of Spearfish Canyon.\u00a0 Savoy is the site of the Latchstring Inn & Restaurant<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 Near Savoy are two waterfalls.\u00a0 From opposite ends of the Latchstring Restaurant parking lot, there is a short (0.5 mile?) loop trail that goes down to Spearfish Falls.\u00a0 Little Spearfish Creek enters Spearfish Creek at the base of the falls.<\/p>\n

\"Limestone<\/a>
Limestone cliffs near the Latchstring\u00a0Inn at Savoy in Spearfish Canyon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe near the Latchstring Inn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe wasn’t going to Spearfish Falls, though.\u00a0 Instead, Lupe and her pack of humans\u00a0were\u00a0taking the trail to\u00a0Roughlock Falls.\u00a0 Roughlock Falls is up the side canyon Little Spearfish Creek flows through.\u00a0 The trailhead is near the Latchstring Inn parking lot.<\/p>\n

The Roughlock Falls trail is no more than about a mile long, and involves very little elevation gain.\u00a0 It was going to be a nice stroll, with views of the creek and limestone cliffs along the way.<\/p>\n

Lupe was just\u00a0happy to be on a snowy trail again.<\/p>\n

\"Little<\/a>
Little Spearfish Creek a short distance upstream of the Latchstring Inn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Continuing up Little Spearfish Creek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Lupe on her way to Roughlock Falls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Steve, Xochitl & Lupe on the Roughlock Falls trail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sunlit cliffs on the N side of the canyon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the summer, the Roughlock Falls trail is popular and busy.\u00a0 On\u00a0this cool day in late November, Lupe\u00a0& company had the trail to themselves.\u00a0 When Lupe reached the falls, it was time for some pictures with Xochitl and Steve.<\/p>\n

\"Roughlock<\/a>
Roughlock Falls on Little Spearfish Creek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe,<\/a>
Lupe, Steve & Xochi at Roughlock Falls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Years ago, it was possible to wade up Little Spearfish Creek right into Roughlock falls. The water was always cold, even on the hottest summer days. Now safety railings and signs prevent such adventures. November wouldn’t have been such a good time for it, anyway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Roughlock Falls trail continued on across a bridge over Little Spearfish Creek, and up to a picnic ground just above the falls.\u00a0 Various little walkways with railings led to a number of viewpoints along both sides of the falls and creek.\u00a0 Lupe, Xochi and Steve checked them out.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The main falls. Roughlock Falls is only a mile or so from the Latchstring Inn at Savoy in Spearfish Canyon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The brink of Roughlock Falls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>
A look downstream from the falls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"We<\/a>
“Lupe, look, is moose & squirrel!”\u00a0 We interrupt this episode of The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe to bring you this scene from The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends – starring Xochitl as Bullwinkle the Moose, and Steve as Rocky the Flying Squirrel. (Steve’s Rocky still needs a bit of work.\u00a0 Steve, how about a jet pack so you can zoom around in the air a bit, or if that’s too expensive, at least a pair of\u00a0aviator goggles?)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the picnic grounds upstream of Roughlock Falls, a dramatic love scene was re-enacted starring Lupeo & Xochiet.<\/p>\n

\"Lupio\"<\/a>
Lupeo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Xochiet\"<\/a>
Xochiet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\""Lupio,<\/a>
“Lupeo, O’ Lupeo, wherefore art thou O’ Lupeo?”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\""Sitting<\/a>
“Why, I’m sitting right in front of you, Xochiet, here right beside Little Spearfish Creek at the picnic grounds just above Roughlock Falls. To get here take Hwy 14A from Spearfish, SD to Savoy. Turn right at the Latchstring Inn and park at the Roughlock Falls trailhead, or just drive 1 mile up USFS Road No. 222. You can also get here by taking Hwy 85 SW of Lead, SD to Cheyenne Crossing. At Cheyenne Crossing take Hwy 14A going N to Savoy.\u00a0 On the other hand, if you’re coming from Cement Ridge<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(6,674 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> , take …. blah, blah, blah….”\u00a0 Xochiet is pretty sure Lupeo doesn’t know his lines….<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and Xochitl had two different impressions of the Roughlock Falls\u00a0picnic grounds.\u00a0 To Lupe, the place was a frozen wilderness full\u00a0of exciting smells, danger\u00a0and mystery.\u00a0\u00a0Here she conveys a feeling of being\u00a0lost and alone\u00a0in the 1.2 million acre Black Hills National Forest:<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A lone, brave\u00a0Carolina Dog sits lost in the vast Black Hills National Forest on a cold wintery day next to a wild, rushing stream.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Along Little Spearfish Creek just upstream of the picnic ground.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although Xochitl makes a good living as a computer engineer in Chicago, she is always ready to explore new opportunities.\u00a0 To her, the time\u00a0spent in a different setting\u00a0at Roughlock Falls along Little Spearfish Creek brought\u00a0new possibilities to mind.\u00a0 She practiced auditioning for Vanna White’s job on Wheel of Fortune.<\/p>\n

\"Xochitl<\/a>
Xochitl auditions for Vanna White’s job on the TV game show Wheel of Fortune. Here she demonstrates what contestants who simultaneously buy the consonants S, T, R, M and vowels E & A will get. She does seem to be getting the hang of it.\u00a0 When she gets to where she can do this without Steve propping her up, Vanna White had better look out!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Down in the canyon, the sun disappears from view pretty early this time of year.\u00a0 Soon it was time for Lupe, Xochitl, Steve & SPHP to take the snowy\u00a0trail back to the G6.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
USFS Road No. 222 near Roughlock Falls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much later, back at home, SPHP offered Xochitl’s uneaten Cheyenne Crossing carrot cake to Lupe.\u00a0 Turns out Carolina Dogs love carrot cake AND caramel!\u00a0 A few nanoseconds later, Lupe was licking the Dingo box clean of any remaining morsels.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Lupeo, O’ Lupeo, wherefore art my carrot cake, O’ Lupeo?”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

Next Black Hills Expedition<\/a><\/span>\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<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or Master Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Xochitl flew in from Chicago to spend nearly a week in the Black Hills over Thanksgiving.\u00a0 Naturally, she wanted to spend\u00a0a little\u00a0time adventuring in the hills with Lupe.\u00a0 Steve had some time off, so he wanted to come along, too.\u00a0 So Lupe had quite a pack along with her when she set off on Black … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 146(a) – Roughlock Falls (11-22-15)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3270,"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":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[105,9,106,475,477,104,480,478,479,304,476],"class_list":["post-3259","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-cheyenne-crossing","tag-latchstring-inn","tag-lupe","tag-lupeo-xochiet","tag-roughlock-falls","tag-savoy","tag-south-dakota","tag-spearfish-canyon"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/P1070625.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\/3259","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=3259"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22477,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3259\/revisions\/22477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}