{"id":3365,"date":"2015-12-12T09:25:09","date_gmt":"2015-12-12T16:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=3365"},"modified":"2023-09-24T23:53:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T05:53:28","slug":"black-hills-sd-expedition-no-148-smith-mountain-flag-mountain-campaign-hill-12-5-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=3365","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 148 – Smith Mountain, Flag Mountain & Campaign Hill (12-5-15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Black Hills experienced a cold snap over Thanksgiving and the following long weekend.\u00a0 Several nights there was light snow.\u00a0 At the very end of November, there was about 4″ of additional new snow overnight at Lupe’s house.\u00a0 Then it started to warm up.\u00a0 SPHP decided to wait for a few days to let some of the snow melt before Lupe’s\u00a0next expedition.<\/p>\n

Finally, on December 5th, Lupe and SPHP headed out for adventure again.\u00a0 Lupe was excited.\u00a0 She could hardly wait.\u00a0 At 9:29 AM, SPHP parked the G6 at the Newton Lake trailhead.\u00a0 It was 37 \u00b0F and overcast.\u00a0 Lupe leaped over SPHP to get out of the G6 at the first possible moment.\u00a0 She was expecting great things!<\/p>\n

SPHP had 4 peakbagging goals in mind for Lupe.\u00a0 The first was Smith Mountain<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(5,897 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>, which was very close at hand.\u00a0 Soon Lupe and SPHP were heading up the fairly steep NE slope.\u00a0 It was very slow going.\u00a0 There was still some snow on the ground, which made it a bit slippery.\u00a0 The real problem, though,\u00a0was the terrible condition of the forest.\u00a0 There were lots of dead trees, killed by the pine bark beetles,\u00a0that had fallen over.<\/p>\n

For SPHP, it\u00a0was a struggle getting over, under or around all the deadfall timber.\u00a0 At one point, SPHP lifted Lupe over a dangerous barbed wire fence that was partially collapsed by the dead trees.\u00a0 Lupe only needed to gain a little over 600 feet of elevation to get up on the ridge, but it was taking SPHP a long time to get up there.\u00a0 Finally, the ground began to level out a bit, and there was somewhat less deadfall around.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>
View from the upper NE slopes of Smith Mountain looking SE towards Harney Peak. There is less deadfall timber here than lower down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once Lupe and SPHP were up on the ridge, the going was a bit easier.\u00a0 The deadfall wasn’t quite as bad, and the ground wasn’t so steep.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP reached the ridgeline near the N end of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 There was a series of rock outcroppings spaced out along the ridge as Lupe headed S toward the summit.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on one of the rock outcroppings near the N end of Smith Mountain. It took so long for SPHP to get up here, by now the formerly overcast skies were almost clear. It was going to be a beautiful day!\u00a0 Photo looks W or SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Here<\/a>
Here Lupe is shown at another rock outcropping farther S on Smith Mountain. At first, SPHP thought this might be the true summit, but it wasn’t.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe up on the false summit of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 Despite the pine bark beetle carnage, there were still\u00a0too many trees standing\u00a0to permit any\u00a0really decent distant views.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Smith Mountain ridge runs N\/S for about a mile.\u00a0 The ridge was all forested, and provided only occasional glimpses of distant hills.\u00a0 It was pretty easy going along the ridge, since it was plenty wide.\u00a0 Although it went up and down some, it was overall pretty level.\u00a0 Lupe found the true summit of Smith Mountain at a big rock outcropping\u00a0a bit S of the mid-point along the ridge.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe reaches the true summit of Smith Mountain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Although the highest rock on Smith Mountain was too steep for Lupe to reach the tippy top, she got pretty close. Close enough for Dingo work!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"SPHP<\/a>
SPHP reached up to touch the top of the closest high rock. It was still a foot or two below the very highest point. Lupe and SPHP are both claiming success, though.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With her Smith Mountain peakbagging goal accomplished, Lupe continued S along the Smith Mountain ridge.\u00a0 It was easier going\u00a0along in here, since there wasn’t nearly so much deadfall.\u00a0 This part of the\u00a0forest seemed to have\u00a0been thinned\u00a0by loggers\u00a0some years ago.\u00a0 Whatever the reason, the forest was in better condition.\u00a0 SPHP was a bit surprised to find some big rock outcroppings near the S end of the mountain, but is pretty certain they weren’t quite as high as the rocks farther N.<\/p>\n

Lupe’s 3 remaining peakbagging goals were all mountains\u00a0along a line\u00a0S of Smith Mountain.\u00a0\u00a0Her next goal was\u00a0Flag Mountain<\/a> (5,896 ft.)<\/span><\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 To get to Flag Mountain, Lupe went down the S end of Smith Mountain, and crossed Patterson Creek.\u00a0 Patterson Creek isn’t very large, and\u00a0didn’t have much flow at this time of year.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP had no problem crossing it.\u00a0\u00a0S of Patterson Creek, Lupe started climbing the N slope of Flag Mountain.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on her way to Flag Mountain, seen to the S in the background. Lupe is developing a habit of taking picture time very seriously, kind of like they did back in the late 1800’s. Here she strikes her very best stiff and serious historic 1870 Carolina Dog pose. She often starts smiling again as soon as SPHP turns off the camera. It’s a bit frustrating sometimes!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The last part of the climb\u00a0up Flag Mountain was\u00a0the steepest.\u00a0 There was snow again on the N slope, but only a couple of inches.\u00a0 The situation on Flag Mountain was the reverse of what it had been on Smith Mountain.\u00a0\u00a0Most of the deadfall timber was up on the highest slopes.\u00a0 The first part of the\u00a0climb went fast, but the last part was slow.<\/p>\n

Despite the deadfall, Lupe and SPHP reached the top of Flag Mountain.\u00a0 Lupe had accomplished her 2nd peakbagging goal of the day.\u00a0 It was time for a break.\u00a0 Lupe had some water and a bit of Taste of the Wild.\u00a0 She licked herself for a few minutes, and laid down to rest, but SPHP didn’t think a thing of it.<\/p>\n

The top of Flag Mountain is pretty flat.\u00a0 Unlike Smith Mountain, Flag Mountain is not a long ridge.\u00a0 There is no chance of mistaking the summit.\u00a0 Toward the E is a spacious\u00a0open grassy area.\u00a0 The actual highest point is over at some slightly higher rocks toward the W.<\/p>\n

There are trees around the summit, some of them dead, which effectively block the views from\u00a0Flag Mountain\u00a0in most directions.\u00a0 However, there were really nice open views to the SE toward Harney Peak<\/a> (7,242 ft.)<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0from the grassy area.\u00a0 There was also a pretty good view to the NW, from the highest rocks at the W end of the summit area.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe reaches the grassy area at the E end of the top of Flag Mountain. Photo looks SE toward Harney Peak, the highest point on the horizon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Harney<\/a>
Harney Peak from Flag Mountain. The E part of the top of Campaign Hill, Lupe’s 3rd peakbagging goal of the day, is seen in the foreground on the R.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the highest rocks on Flag Mountain. Photo looks NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe had now completed 2 of her 4 peakbagging goals of the day.\u00a0 Her next goal wasn’t very far away.\u00a0 Just to the S of Flag Mountain is Campaign Hill<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(5,800 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 Campaign Hill isn’t quite as high as Flag Mountain, so it didn’t look like a very impressive goal.\u00a0 Due to the trees, it was hard to get a very good look at it, except from the very SE edge of the summit on Flag Mountain.<\/p>\n

Since the sun stays pretty low this time of year, even at mid-day it always feels like sunset isn’t very far off.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP enjoyed a little time up on Flag Mountain, but didn’t linger up there too long before Lupe began descending the SW slope.\u00a0 She only had to lose a few hundred feet of elevation to get down to the saddle between Flag Mountain and Campaign Hill.<\/p>\n

Down at the saddle, there was a USFS road junction.\u00a0 USFS Road No. 727\u00a0passes through the gap between the two mountains.\u00a0\u00a0No.\u00a0727.1F branches off to head N on the W side of Flag Mountain.\u00a0\u00a0 Lupe crossed No. 727, and started climbing directly up the N slope of Campaign Hill.\u00a0 It was fairly steep, especially near the top.\u00a0 Again there was some snow, but\u00a0SPHP was\u00a0glad that this time there wasn’t much\u00a0of the pesky\u00a0deadfall timber.\u00a0 Lupe was soon up on the highest rocks at the E end of Campaign Hill.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe reaches the highest rocks at the E end of Campaign Hill. This was not the true summit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>There were too many trees near the rocks at the E end of the Campaign Hill ridge to really see much.\u00a0 It proved not to be the true summit anyway.\u00a0 Lupe headed W along the ridge, which\u00a0soon turned SW,\u00a0and came to a big rock that was clearly higher.\u00a0 Beyond it was a grouping of rocks that were even higher yet.\u00a0 This was the true summit of Campaign Hill.<\/p>\n

SPHP had to lift Lupe up to get her up on top of the true summit.\u00a0 The entire Campaign Hill ridge, which wasn’t terribly long, was all pretty heavily forested.\u00a0 There weren’t really hardly any views.\u00a0 There was a glimpse of Harney Peak, though, from where Lupe was up on top.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the very top of Campaign Hill. There was just a glimpse of Harney Peak to the SSE through the trees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An<\/a>
An American Dingo is just visible peering out from the rocks on top of Campaign Hill.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe was very good about staying up on top of Campaign Hill for photos while SPHP scrambled around on the rocks below for position.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Usually Lupe just jumps down off rocks,\u00a0when SPHP says it is OK after taking photos.\u00a0 The rocks up on Campaign Hill were a bit high, however.\u00a0 Lupe waited for SPHP to come back up to help get her down off the rocks.\u00a0 She was reluctant to jump down.\u00a0 Again, SPHP thought nothing of it.<\/p>\n

Lupe’s 4th and last peakbagging goal of the day was Peak 6048<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, about a mile to the S of Campaign Hill.\u00a0 The sun was definitely getting lower, so Lupe was soon on her way.\u00a0 She enjoyed running around in the slanting sunlight filtering through the forest, as she and SPHP continued S along the ridge.\u00a0 Near the lowest saddle on the way to Peak 6048, there was a little opening with a glimpse of Peak 6048 ahead.\u00a0 It wasn’t going to be long before Lupe would be up there!<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking S at Peak 6048, the high point on the L. Lupe would be there soon, to complete her 4th peakbagging goal of the day!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Except Lupe never made it to Peak 6048.\u00a0 Lupe raced ahead of SPHP into a thick forest of small trees at the low point of the saddle.\u00a0 When she came out again, suddenly SPHP saw red.\u00a0\u00a0There was blood between Lupe’s hind legs!\u00a0 SPHP made Lupe stop and lay down.\u00a0 SPHP lifted up a hind leg.\u00a0 There was a gash at least 2 inches long where her left hind leg and abdomen meet.\u00a0\u00a0A big area of flesh was exposed where the skin was peeled back.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, it didn’t look like anything other than the skin had been pierced or torn.\u00a0 Lupe wasn’t bleeding much, and she could still walk and run around.\u00a0 In fact, if SPHP hadn’t seen the blood, there wasn’t anything at all alarming about her behavior.\u00a0 She showed no sign of pain or distress.\u00a0 She didn’t want SPHP to touch the wound, though.\u00a0 It had to hurt!<\/p>\n

Expedition No. 148 was essentially over.\u00a0 There would be no continuing on to Peak 6048.\u00a0 The only thing left to do was to get Lupe back to the G6.\u00a0 She needed to see a veterinarian ASAP.\u00a0 It was 5 miles back to the G6 along the only road SPHP was certain about.\u00a0 Before heading for the G6, though, it was time for first aid!\u00a0 Lupe had been hurt back on Expedition No. 135<\/a><\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Since then SPHP has been carrying bandages and gauze in case of an emergency.<\/p>\n

SPHP tried a bandage first.\u00a0 Lupe was cooperative and let SPHP work on her, but the bandage was of no real use.\u00a0 Lupe’s fur was kind of long where her wound was, and the bandage wouldn’t stick to the wound.\u00a0 It stuck to her fur, but hung below her belly.\u00a0 The bandages were going to be useless without a way to shave the fur off around the wound.<\/p>\n

SPHP tried using gauze wrapped up over Lupe’s back to hold\u00a0the bandage\u00a0in place closer to the wound.\u00a0 This would have worked, but it didn’t feel right to Lupe.\u00a0 She took a few steps and sat down.\u00a0 She just looked piteously at SPHP and refused to move.\u00a0 Maybe it hurt.\u00a0 Maybe it just felt weird.\u00a0 Probably both.\u00a0 Whatever.\u00a0 It was clear Lupe would not go on under her own power with the gauze wrapped around her like that.\u00a0 SPHP took the gauze off.<\/p>\n

\"Injured<\/a>
Injured Lupe with gauze wrapped around her back. She refused to move with it on.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What had happened to Lupe?\u00a0 SPHP didn’t see the injury occur, but it is almost certain she was impaled by a sharp broken limb sticking up from one of the hundreds of deadfall trees she had jumped over.\u00a0 It is a constant threat in the Black Hills these days.\u00a0 Perhaps the original injury was small, but once the wound was opened, it would have been easy for the edges of the broken skin to get caught on other sticks and twigs and tear further each time.<\/p>\n

Thinking back, SPHP wondered if Lupe hadn’t been injured\u00a0coming over\u00a0the deadfall timber while climbing Flag Mountain.\u00a0 She had licked the area where the wound was up on top of Flag Mountain during her break.\u00a0 Up on Campaign Hill, she hadn’t wanted to jump down off the rocks like she usually does.\u00a0 Perhaps the poor injured\u00a0Carolina Dog had been putting on a brave front for quite some time.<\/p>\n

She was still putting on a brave front.\u00a0 Once the gauze was off, she was ready to go again.\u00a0 With nothing to protect her belly where the wound was, though, it was vitally important to stay away from any more deadfall timber.\u00a0 The last thing she needed was to get the broken skin caught on anything else and torn some more.\u00a0 Lupe needed to get to a road.<\/p>\n

Lupe and SPHP headed down through the forest to the W of the saddle.\u00a0 Fortunately, USFS Road No. 727 wasn’t\u00a0very far away.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP reached the road very quickly.\u00a0 Lupe followed it N.\u00a0 She took No. 727.1F at the intersection between Flag Mountain and Campaign Hill, staying W of Flag Mountain.<\/p>\n

No. 727.1F\u00a0ended before reaching Patterson Creek.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP had to continue off-road down to the creek.\u00a0 Fortunately, there wasn’t much deadfall in this area.\u00a0 N of the creek was another road, USFS Road No. 386.1B.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP had\u00a0explored\u00a0No. 386.1B\u00a0once before heading around the W side of Smith Mountain on a prior expedition.\u00a0 Upon reaching the road, SPHP stopped and looked at the map.<\/p>\n

It was still close to 4 miles back to the G6 by the route around the W side of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 The map showed No. 386.1B\u00a0also curled around the E side of the mountain, though, too.\u00a0 It didn’t show\u00a0the E route going\u00a0all the way to the highway, but it looked like it got pretty close.\u00a0 The E route would be less than half as long.\u00a0 It might easily save 1.5 hours, if it worked.<\/p>\n

It was hard to know what to do.\u00a0 If the E route ended in a tangle of deadfall, Lupe and SPHP would have to come all the way back.\u00a0 She would then still have go clear around the W side of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 On the other hand, time was of the essence.\u00a0 Just because Lupe seemed happy enough didn’t mean things were fine.\u00a0 With nothing protecting the open wound, no doubt infection was setting in.\u00a0 The longer it took to get to the vet, the worse it would be for Lupe.<\/p>\n

The road to the E looked pretty good.\u00a0 SPHP hesitated only a minute or two, before Lupe and SPHP took it.\u00a0 Thankfully, the shortcut worked.\u00a0 At 4:10 PM, Lupe was back at the G6.\u00a0 SPHP drove her directly to the Emergency Veterinary Hospital<\/a><\/span><\/strong> in Rapid City.\u00a0 Emergency veterinarian Dr. David Christensen saw Lupe almost right away.\u00a0 She was soon led away for wound cleaning, anesthesia, and stitches.<\/p>\n

SPHP waited for Lupe to return.\u00a0 And waited.\u00a0 And waited.\u00a0 The clinic staff and Dr. Christensen were busy early on a Saturday evening.\u00a0 A woman brought in a black and white dog that was trembling all over.\u00a0 She thought her dog had been poisoned.\u00a0 A man brought in a little white dog that had a badly abscessed tooth.\u00a0 One side of its face was all bloody.<\/p>\n

Eventually, a staff member told SPHP that Lupe was waking up from the anesthesia, and it would be another 5 or 10 minutes.\u00a0 Nearly an hour passed, though, with no further word.\u00a0 Finally, Lupe returned.\u00a0\u00a0 She was walking, but looked dazed from the experience.\u00a0 Her fur on her chest was all wet from drooling.\u00a0 She was all stitched up, though!\u00a0\u00a0 She was going to be fine!<\/p>\n

\"Lupe's<\/a>
Lupe’s stitches the morning after Expedition No. 148. Her abdomen was red and swollen. She is on antibiotics for the infection, and gets a beef flavored pain killer, too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Oh,<\/a>
Oh, no! It’s the return of Cone-On the Luparian! Sigh…..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Stay<\/a>
Stay tuned! I will\u00a0be back\u00a0with more American Dingo adventures very soon!<\/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\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><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Black Hills experienced a cold snap over Thanksgiving and the following long weekend.\u00a0 Several nights there was light snow.\u00a0 At the very end of November, there was about 4″ of additional new snow overnight at Lupe’s house.\u00a0 Then it started to warm up.\u00a0 SPHP decided to wait for a few days to let some … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 148 – Smith Mountain, Flag Mountain & Campaign Hill (12-5-15)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3356,"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":[105,9,486,106,487,265,177,104,485,484,304],"class_list":["post-3365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-hills","tag-american-dingo","tag-black-hills-expeditions","tag-campaign-hill","tag-carolina-dog","tag-dr-david-christensen","tag-emergency-veterinarian-hospital","tag-flag-mountain","tag-lupe","tag-peak-6048","tag-smith-mountain","tag-south-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/P1070709.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\/3365","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=3365"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49428,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3365\/revisions\/49428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}