{"id":3668,"date":"2015-12-24T08:10:43","date_gmt":"2015-12-24T15:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=3668"},"modified":"2020-09-21T22:15:37","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T04:15:37","slug":"black-hills-sd-expedition-no-149-centennial-trail-no-89-ft-meade-to-bear-butte-lake-12-19-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=3668","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 149 – Centennial Trail No. 89: Fort Meade to Bear Butte Lake (12-19-15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lupe was injured on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 148<\/a><\/span><\/strong> back on 12-5-15, probably due to becoming impaled on a sharp broken branch on one of the hundreds of dead trees she jumped over.\u00a0 By\u00a012-18-15, she had recovered to the point where she had her stitches taken out.\u00a0 Although the wound itself\u00a0is healing nicely, she still has some swelling.\u00a0\u00a0The swelling\u00a0doesn’t seem to bother her at all, though, and after 2 weeks of mostly resting, Lupe was pretty dang bored.<\/p>\n

The weather the\u00a0day after Lupe’s stitches\u00a0came out\u00a0was forecast to get\u00a0way up to 50\u00b0F, before turning significantly colder.\u00a0 This one warm day was\u00a0clearly\u00a0Lupe’s opportunity to resume her adventures, but where should she go?<\/p>\n

SPHP wanted to be extra careful to avoid any chance of re-injury before\u00a0Lupe is completely healed.\u00a0 The problem was, the vast majority of the Black Hills is heavily timbered with Ponderosa pines, which have suffered enormous damage from pine-bark beetles over the past 5 – 10 years.\u00a0 It’s hard to go very far anywhere\u00a0in the Black Hills without encountering significant amounts of deadfall timber.<\/p>\n

SPHP’s solution was to take Lupe to South Dakota’s Centennial Trail No. 89.\u00a0 Centennial Trail No. 89<\/span><\/strong><\/a> is a 111 mile long trail developed to celebrate 100 years of South Dakota statehood.\u00a0 (South Dakota joined the union back in 1889, hence the\u00a0trail No. 89.)\u00a0\u00a0Centennial Trail No. 89\u00a0starts at Bear Butte<\/a> (4,422 ft.)<\/span><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0in the N, and goes through the eastern Black Hills down to Wind Cave National Park at its S end.<\/p>\n

Although nearly all of Centennial Trail No. 89 is up in the Black Hills,\u00a0a 4.5 mile\u00a0section from the Ft. Meade trailhead to the Bear Butte Lake\u00a0trailhead is out on the prairie NE of Sturgis, SD.\u00a0 There wouldn’t be any danger of Lupe becoming impaled on broken tree branches.\u00a0 That made this section of the trail ideal for Lupe, while she finishes healing up.<\/p>\n

Lupe was ecstatic, barking and jumping for joy, when she realized she was finally going to get to go on an adventure again!\u00a0 At 9:59 AM, SPHP parked the G6 near Ft. Meade.\u00a0 It was a balmy 41\u00b0F out, with some snow on the ground, when Lupe crossed over to the N side of Hwy 34\u00a0to begin her day’s trek on Centennial Trail No. 89.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe hits snowy Centennial Trail No. 89 just N of Hwy 34 & Ft. Meade. Woods along Bear Butte Creek are already close at paw ahead. Bear Butte Creek used to be an important campsite for the plains Indians.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Sign<\/a>Lupe enjoyed sniffing around in the trees near Bear Butte Creek.\u00a0 This was the only forested area she would come to all day.\u00a0 She quickly reached the footbridge over Bear Butte Creek, and didn’t have much farther to go through the woods to reach the prairie.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the footbridge over Bear Butte Creek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking downstream (E).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A happy American Dingo lifts her head just high enough to be seen above the middle railing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After crossing Bear Butte Creek, the\u00a0woods ended just N of the creek.\u00a0 There are two large ridges on the way to Bear Butte Lake.\u00a0 The first one was now in sight dead ahead to the N.\u00a0 Lupe could already see the top of Bear Butte sticking up over the ridge.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Just N of Bear Butte Creek. The first big ridge is seen up ahead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe gained only about 175 feet in elevation going from Bear Butte Creek up to the high points on the top of the first big ridge.\u00a0 She was soon there.\u00a0\u00a0Once up on\u00a0this first ridge, Centennial Trail No. 89 turns ENE and runs along the top of the ridge for more than a mile.\u00a0 Bear Butte is visible off to the NE the entire way.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe up on the S edge of the 1st big ridge. Photo looks W along the ridge toward the Black Hills.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking E along the S edge of the 1st big ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"There's<\/a>
There’s Bear Butte to the NE! The first big ridge is broad and flat. The Centennial Trail follows a dirt road along the top of the ridge. A few livestock watering tanks are scattered along the way, but Lupe didn’t see any cows up here this day. Clearly she’s not going to get impaled again\u00a0on any deadfall timber up here!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe followed Centennial Trail No. 89 ENE along the first big ridge, getting closer to Bear Butte.\u00a0 Lupe kind of missed the forests of the Black Hills, and looking for squirrels.\u00a0 It was a little dull on the snowy prairie, but at least she wasn’t going to get impaled on anything.\u00a0 Sometimes she tromped along right behind SPHP.\u00a0 Sometimes she trotted along off the trail sniffing the cold ground.<\/p>\n

There had been plenty of tracks in the snow\u00a0in the short distance between\u00a0Hwy 34\u00a0and Bear Butte Creek.\u00a0 However, by the time Lupe\u00a0was up on\u00a0the first big ridge, there were no tracks in the snow at all.\u00a0 No other American Dingoes or humans\u00a0had been up here since the snow fell\u00a0four days earlier.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP saw absolutely no one on the trail all day long.\u00a0 The sound of traffic on Hwy 34 was\u00a0mildly annoying, but Lupe and SPHP were alone.<\/p>\n

Before starting down off the first big ridge, SPHP took a few pictures to show Lupe’s progress toward Bear Butte, and the expanse of prairie Centennial Trail No. 89 would cross to get to the second big ridge.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lupe near the point where Centennial Trail No. 89 leaves the first big ridge. Bear Butte looms in the distance, still a few miles away.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Oh, there’s Bear Butte now!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Bear Butte from Centennial Trail No. 89. Bear Butte Lake is barely visible over the top of the second big ridge ahead. Photo looks NE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Centennial Trail No. 89 goes down off the first big ridge at a small\u00a0gap in the ridgeline.\u00a0 Although part of the ridge continues on to the E, the trail doesn’t go there.\u00a0 Instead, the trail drops down into the\u00a0gap,\u00a0and then turns NNE\u00a0to cross more than a mile of\u00a0lower ground on the way to the second big ridge.<\/p>\n

Near the base of the first ridge, there is a patch of bushes and small scattered trees\u00a0where birds take shelter.\u00a0 Lupe enjoyed sniffing around in the bushes for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

\"On<\/a>
On the way down the gap from the first big ridge is this small patch of bushes and scattered trees. Lupe enjoyed sniffing around here. A few birds flew away at the American Dingo’s approach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The entire area between the ridges is open grassland.\u00a0 There was nothing remarkable along the way, except the solitude, which was somewhat marred by the sound of traffic on Hwys 34 & 79.\u00a0 At least the traffic couldn’t be heard quite as clearly along in here.<\/p>\n

Although the beauty of the prairie isn’t as dramatic as\u00a0that of the mountains; the solitude, big sky and long unbroken views\u00a0are all enjoyable, too.\u00a0\u00a0Peaceful, if somewhat bleak scenes stretched off in every direction\u00a0on\u00a0this snowy December day.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP trudged along, and eventually reached the top of the second big ridge.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe near the top of the second ridge. Photo looks SSW back along Centennial Trail No. 89 toward the first big ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The second big ridge isn’t as distinct a rise as the first one was. The second ridge is narrow, and the Centennial Trail No. 89 just crosses it without following it. Here Lupe is on the high point of the second big ridge where the trail crosses it. Photo looks NE toward Bear Butte. Lupe is definitely much closer to Bear Butte Lake now, which can be seen more clearly ahead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Bear Butte Lake trailhead for Centennial Trail No. 89 is a short distance off Hwy 79\u00a0near\u00a0the SE end of the lake.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went around the S side of Bear Butte Lake\u00a0to the trailhead.\u00a0 The trailhead features a big gravel parking lot, a few old picnic tables, and a small grove of trees.<\/p>\n

SPHP stopped at one of the\u00a0picnic tables, and had some banana bread and an apple.\u00a0 Lupe wasn’t really hungry yet, she just had a little Taste of the Wild.\u00a0 She didn’t even want any water, since she’d been eating snow along the way.\u00a0 She sniffed around the parking lot, but didn’t find anything of interest.\u00a0 When SPHP offered her some banana bread, she took it and stashed it in a safe place, just in case she needs it later.\u00a0 Carolina Dogs like to plan sensibly for the future!<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The N wind had blown snow across Bear Butte Lake to form drifts. Here Lupe is among the snow drifts near a little bay on the S side of the lake. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on a small ridge S of Bear Butte Lake. Photo looks NE toward Bear Butte. Lupe still hasn’t reached the Bear Butte Lake TH yet, but she is getting close.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bear<\/a>
Bear Butte from close to the Bear Butte Lake TH of Centennial Trail No. 89. Photo looks NE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After\u00a0the brief rest\u00a0break at the Bear Butte Lake trailhead, Lupe and SPHP decided to circumnavigate Bear Butte Lake.\u00a0 Lupe\u00a0went a short distance\u00a0E to Hwy 79, which she followed N to Bear Butte Lake Road.\u00a0 Bear Butte Lake Road is a major gravel road, and had some traffic on it.\u00a0 Lupe followed\u00a0it W along the N shore of Bear Butte Lake to a campground.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SW across Bear Butte Lake toward the Black Hills from the N shore just off Bear Butte Lake Road.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and SPHP left Bear Butte Lake Road, and went through the campground to a little road along the NW side of the lake.\u00a0 There Lupe saw a rare sight!\u00a0 A bald eagle was sitting high up in\u00a0a tree some distance away near the W end of the lake.\u00a0 SPHP managed to get a picture of it with the telephoto lens before it flew away.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking ESE across Bear Butte Lake from the campground on the N side of the lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking back toward the campground and Bear Butte from the little road on the NW side of Bear Butte Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Bald eagle in a tree near the W shore of Bear Butte Lake.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A little way W of Bear Butte Lake, Lupe and SPHP returned to Centennial Trail No. 89 again.\u00a0 Lupe had been clear around Bear Butte Lake.\u00a0 Now it was time to head back to the G6.\u00a0 On the return trip, Lupe and SPHP got to enjoy Centennial Trail No. 89 heading in the opposite direction, going SW toward the Ft. Meade trailhead.<\/p>\n

\"W<\/a>
W of Bear Butte Lake, Lupe rejoined Centennial Trail No. 89 here. The second big ridge now lies ahead. Photo looks W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"View<\/a>
View of the ranchlands W of the 2nd big ridge. Photo looks W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SE at the 2nd big ridge from Centennial Trail No. 89. The part of the 2nd big ridge shown here is well S of where the trail crosses the ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe between the two big ridges. Photo looks SSW toward the first ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A final look back at Bear Butte to the NE. Lupe is once again up on the first big ridge here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NW from the first big ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Along the S edge of the first big ridge. Photo looks W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking S toward Ft. Meade from the first big ridge. The trees along Bear Butte Creek are lined up ahead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking W along Bear Butte Creek from the Centennial Trail No. 89 footbridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite a rather leisurely pace taken on Expedition No. 149, Lupe was back at the G6 by 3:01\u00a0PM (37\u00b0F).\u00a0\u00a0With winter solstice just 2 days away, the sun was already quite low in the sky, but it was still up.\u00a0 Lupe paid a visit to Ft. Meade, which\u00a0was a cavalry\u00a0outpost\u00a0during the late 1800’s.<\/p>\n

\"Sign<\/a>
Sign at the old Ft. Meade parade grounds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe at Ft. Meade.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fort Meade was established during the winter of 1878-1879.\u00a0 Here, the 7th Cavalry was re-formed after it’s disastrous defeat under General George A. Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Custer’s Last Stand)\u00a0in Montana, in June 1876.<\/p>\n

Comanche, a 7th Cavalry horse, and\u00a0sole\u00a0surviving member of the\u00a0cavalry\u00a0found on the Little Bighorn battlefield, was retired at Ft. Meade with military honors.\u00a0 Ft. Meade survived as a military installation until 1944, when it became the site of the current Veteran’s Administration Hospital.<\/p>\n

After visiting Ft. Meade, Lupe and SPHP drove over to Bear Butte.\u00a0 At a pullout along Hwy 79, Lupe and SPHP stopped to take a look at Bear Butte from the NW.<\/p>\n

\"Bear<\/a>
Bear Butte from the NW along Hwy 79.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
A closer look with help from the telephoto lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Lupe NW of Bear Butte. South Dakota’s 111 mile long Centennial Trail No. 89, which ends in Wind Cave National Park in the Black Hills, starts at the top of Bear Butte.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe didn’t get to bark at any squirrels on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 149, but she did get to spend the day outdoors wandering the prairie with SPHP.\u00a0 Most importantly, she didn’t get hurt again, and continues to get better.\u00a0 Lupe is back in action.\u00a0 She will return again soon with more American Dingo adventures in the Black Hills and beyond!<\/p>\n

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

Next Black Hills Adventure<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prior Black Hills Adventure<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Next Trail Section South:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 241 – Centennial Trail No. 89: Alkali Creek to Fort Meade (12-10-18)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Centennial Trail No. 89 Map & Brochure<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/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":"

Lupe was injured on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 148 back on 12-5-15, probably due to becoming impaled on a sharp broken branch on one of the hundreds of dead trees she jumped over.\u00a0 By\u00a012-18-15, she had recovered to the point where she had her stitches taken out.\u00a0 Although the wound itself\u00a0is healing nicely, she … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 149 – Centennial Trail No. 89: Fort Meade to Bear Butte Lake (12-19-15)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3639,"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":[105,148,529,9,106,527,528,104,304],"class_list":["post-3668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-hills","tag-american-dingo","tag-bear-butte","tag-bear-butte-lake-trailhead","tag-black-hills-expeditions","tag-carolina-dog","tag-centennial-trail-no-89","tag-ft-meade-trailhead","tag-lupe","tag-south-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/P1070745.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\/3668","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=3668"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22116,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3668\/revisions\/22116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}