USFS Road No. 679.1 was covered with snow and ice.\u00a0 It wound around a lot, but\u00a0steadily gained elevation while working\u00a0its erratic way W.\u00a0 After Lupe had gone nearly 2 miles along the road (just 1 mile as the crow flies), she came to a huge pile of logs.\u00a0 A couple of loggers were there getting ready to go to work.\u00a0 The loggers had the interesting news that they had seen a mountain lion right there the previous day.<\/p>\n Lupe had scarcely passed the loggers when the ridge to Green Mountain came into sight to the SW.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP left the road to head up through an area where the forest had been greatly thinned to reach the top of the ridge.\u00a0 The top of the ridge was still forested.\u00a0 Lupe followed a faint path SE along the ridge.<\/p>\n As Lupe got close to the summit of Green Mountain, she started to encounter rock outcroppings.\u00a0 At the summit, there was a small area of limestone jutting sharply up above the surrounding terrain.\u00a0 The limestone formation was about 20 – 25 feet high.\u00a0 It was pretty easy to climb almost all the way to the top.\u00a0 In order for Lupe to reach the very top, though, SPHP had to lift her up onto the highest rock.<\/p>\n Lupe didn’t like it up on the highest rock on Green Mountain.\u00a0 It was high enough to be a\u00a0little scary.\u00a0 Mostly, though, she didn’t like the wind.\u00a0 The wind hadn’t been much of a problem, so far, but up on top of Green Mountain,\u00a0Lupe felt its full force.\u00a0 SPHP wanted Lupe to stay up on the highest rock long enough for SPHP to climb down and get a good picture of\u00a0her sitting up there.<\/p>\n The only picture SPHP got of Lupe on the very top of Green Mountain was one taken while still right beside her.\u00a0 As soon as SPHP moved away, despite SPHP’s protestations, Lupe leaped down.\u00a0 She wasn’t staying up there in that gale!\u00a0 No way!\u00a0 American Dingoes have lots better sense than that!<\/p>\n SPHP knew it was pointless to lift Lupe back up onto the top rock again.\u00a0 She would just jump down again.\u00a0 The 30+ mph N wind was just too annoying.\u00a0 Instead, Lupe and SPHP retreated maybe 20 feet down to the SE of the summit, where it wasn’t so breezy.\u00a0 There were some nice views to the S and E from here.<\/p>\n The views were great from Green Mountain from the E around to the S, and all the way over to the WSW.\u00a0 SPHP tried to spot Hat Mountain, Lupe’s next objective, which was about 3 miles off\u00a0to the SE.\u00a0 There was a clear view of a lot of territory in that direction,\u00a0but SPHP had no success identifying Hat Mountain.<\/p>\n SPHP persuaded Lupe to go back up toward the summit of Green Mountain again.\u00a0 Lupe agreed to cooperate, but only if she didn’t have to sit way up on top getting blasted by the wind.\u00a0 She was fine with being just a little below the summit, sheltered from the wind by the rocks.<\/p>\n To get to Hat Mountain, Lupe’s next peakbagging goal, she needed to go SE.\u00a0 However, Green Mountain dropped off very steeply in that direction.\u00a0 The easiest way\u00a0down was to go back to the NW along the ridge far enough to where the sides of the\u00a0mountain weren’t so steep.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP were about to leave Green Mountain heading NW,\u00a0when a series of squall lines started moving in from the N.\u00a0 Blown by the strong N wind, they came fast and left just as fast, spitting rain as they passed over.<\/p>\n Lupe\u00a0caught a glimpse of\u00a0the first of several rare Northern Rainbows that she would see during the day as she left Green Mountain.\u00a0 All the rainbows that SPHP could remember had always been in the E or the W, when slanting rays of the sun shone through raindrops in the air.\u00a0 These\u00a0rare\u00a0Northern Rainbows were due to the date, time,\u00a0and unusually warm weather.<\/p>\n The January sun just isn’t all that high above the S horizon, even during the middle of the day.\u00a0 Ordinarily any precipitation this time of year would have been in the form of snow, not rain.\u00a0 The combination of the\u00a0sun’s rays coming slanting in from the S, and shining through the rain squalls blowing in from the N, caused the Northern Rainbows.<\/p>\n Some of the rainbows were quite brilliant for a few moments, but they didn’t last long as the wind pushed the squall lines through quickly.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Lupe and SPHP were never where there was a clear view to the N when the rainbows formed.\u00a0 It was still fun to catch glimpses of them now and then.<\/p>\n As soon as the sides of\u00a0Green Mountain’s NW\u00a0ridge were less steep, Lupe and SPHP started heading S down off the ridge.\u00a0 When the ground eventually\u00a0leveled out, Lupe turned more SE in the direction of Hat Mountain, still 3 miles away.<\/p>\n Soon Lupe and SPHP found themselves at the edge of a long limestone cliff above the\u00a0Bogus Jim Creek valley.\u00a0 Even if there had been a way down, the land below was nearly all privately owned.\u00a0 Homes on acreages were scattered sparsely in the valley below.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP searched for a way down and around the private land.\u00a0 Finally, Lupe found a way, but it involved a long detour to the W.\u00a0 Lupe reached USFS Road No. 201.2J, and eventually made it to the main gravel road near Bogus Jim Creek.\u00a0 Now down in the valley, Lupe headed E on the main road.\u00a0 SPHP kept an eye out for USFS Road No. 201.1B.<\/p>\n When Lupe finally made it to USFS Road No. 201.1B, SPHP was still optimistic that Lupe would find and climb Hat Mountain.\u00a0 A lot of time had been lost on the detour way around to the W, but all Lupe had to do was follow No. 201.1B up over a big ridge on the S side of the Bogus Jim Creek valley, and then turn ESE until she came to Hat Mountain.<\/p>\n It sounded easy, but it wasn’t.\u00a0 No. 201.1B turned E before it got up over the ridge.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP tried a side road, which may have been No. 201.1H, but it soon turned W.\u00a0 Lupe and\u00a0SPHP\u00a0abandoned\u00a0the roads to climb directly up the slope, and ultimately succeeded in reaching flatter ground above.\u00a0 There Lupe and SPHP encountered a maze of little roads in the forest.\u00a0 Some of the roads were marked with ATV Trail Numbers, but they meant nothing on SPHP’s old USFS map.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP had by now crossed over the S ridge, and out of the Bogus Jim Creek drainage area.\u00a0 Hat Mountain was likely no more than 1.5 miles away, and probably less,\u00a0but the weather was deteriorating.\u00a0 The sky was clouded over nearly all the time now.\u00a0 Although the rain showers were supposed to have ended by noon, the rain was really just getting going.\u00a0 The wind continued to roar in the trees.\u00a0 Occasionally the sun still made a brief appearance, but\u00a0increasingly the low clouds and rain were closing in.<\/p>\n Without being able to see the sun, orientation became difficult.\u00a0 The relatively level forest provided no views.\u00a0 SPHP led Lupe on a series of little roads heading SE, but Hat Mountain did not appear.\u00a0 Finally, through the forest, SPHP saw a small rocky high point that looked like it would offer a view.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP were soon there.<\/p>\n The little rock outcropping yielded a view alright, but not the view SPHP was expecting.\u00a0 SPHP expected to see Hat Mountain, or perhaps Norris Peak<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(4,982 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0or even Thrall Mountain<\/a> (5,091 ft.)<\/span><\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Hat Mountain was nowhere to be seen.\u00a0 Neither was Norris Peak.\u00a0 Much farther off to the E than it should have been, was a mountain that looked like it might be Thrall Mountain.\u00a0 It was hard to tell in the rain and clouds.<\/p>\n Just a glance was enough.\u00a0 SPHP knew instantly that Lupe was nowhere near Hat Mountain.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP had been heading SW instead of SE.\u00a0 Far below, SPHP could see a short stretch of Hwy 44W that looked familiar.\u00a0 Lupe was well W of Johnson Siding, or even Pine Cliff.\u00a0 Miles off to the SW was a mountain that SPHP recognized.\u00a0 The Seth Bullock Lookout Tower was barely visible on Scruton Mountain<\/a> (5,922 ft.)<\/span><\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Time to look at the maps.\u00a0 Lupe sat uncomfortably on the rocks while SPHP\u00a0tried to\u00a0pinpoint\u00a0where Lupe might really be.\u00a0 The wind continued blowing.\u00a0 It was raining, not hard, but enough so Lupe was gradually becoming a pretty soggy doggie.\u00a0 SPHP glanced up for another look at the view to the SW.\u00a0 It was gone.\u00a0 Now there was just fog.<\/p>\n It was OK.\u00a0 SPHP had seen enough.\u00a0 From the maps, the only thing that made sense was that Lupe and SPHP had inadvertently arrived at High Point 5219.\u00a0 Hat Mountain was now nearly 2 miles to the ENE.\u00a0 No way Lupe and SPHP were going to find it today.\u00a0 There wasn’t time, even if the weather had been better.<\/p>\n It was late, the weather wasn’t so hot, Hat Mountain had eluded Lupe, and it was a long way back to the G6.\u00a0 Time to start making tracks!\u00a0 Actually, time to start following tracks back the way Lupe and SPHP had come.\u00a0 It was a good thing there was some snow on the ground.\u00a0 SPHP set off from High Point 5219 at a lively pace retracing Lupe’s path in the snow.\u00a0 SPHP was making great progress until…..<\/p>\n Until SPHP turned around.\u00a0 Lupe wasn’t there!\u00a0 She wasn’t following, and SPHP hadn’t seen her up ahead for a few minutes either.\u00a0 SPHP was alone in the windy, rainy, almost foggy\u00a0forest.\u00a0 Raindrops on SPHP’s glasses made it difficult to see clearly.\u00a0 Where had Lupe gone?\u00a0 She always stays close.\u00a0 She never runs off for more than a few minutes, without coming back to check on SPHP.<\/p>\n SPHP went back.\u00a0 Soon SPHP spotted Lupe.\u00a0 She was at the end of a dead tree trunk, digging furiously.\u00a0 Clouds of reddish brown dirt and rotten wood went up around her.\u00a0 SPHP was amazed to see her start ripping the old tree trunk apart with her teeth.\u00a0 Clearly, Lupe was convinced something mighty interesting was in that old log.<\/p>\n Clouds of rotten wood flew; Lupe ripped big chunks of the old log off with her teeth.\u00a0 Lupe kept hard at it.\u00a0 When Lupe loosened a particularly big piece of wood, SPHP helped her break it off.\u00a0 She continued digging like a Dingo possessed.<\/p>\n Suddenly a bunny streaked out of the other end of the log, and made a mad dash through the forest.\u00a0 Lupe yipped and was after it.\u00a0 They were both out of view in a flash.\u00a0 SPHP ran after them.\u00a0 Lupe’s frustrated yipping led SPHP to her.\u00a0 The bunny knew this forest, and every hollow log in it.\u00a0 It was now hiding in Hollow Log No. 2.\u00a0 No telling how many hollow logs that rabbit was familiar with!<\/p>\n Lupe hadn’t lost an ounce of enthusiasm.\u00a0 She was digging furiously again, now at the end of Hollow Log No. 2.\u00a0 Well, this couldn’t go on.\u00a0 Time to leave the bunny alone.\u00a0 Lupe was plenty disappointed when SPHP made her leave.\u00a0 No doubt the American Dingo thought SPHP had absolutely no idea how to fend for oneself in the wild.\u00a0 Here was a perfectly good fresh rabbit dinner being passed up for a long trek in the wind and rain on an empty stomach.\u00a0 Humans have no instincts worthy of the name!<\/p>\n It was a long way, hours,\u00a0back to the G6.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP made it back to the main gravel road in the Bogus Jim Creek valley while there was still some light.\u00a0 The rain had stopped.\u00a0 The wind even died down somewhat.\u00a0 The sky partially cleared.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP trudged onward.<\/p>\n Along USFS Road No. 679.1, the darkness came.\u00a0 It should have been easy to follow the road back, but SPHP got lost.\u00a0 More than once.\u00a0 Several times SPHP took wrong side roads, not realizing they were side roads.\u00a0 Lupe waited patiently while SPHP stopped to study maps with a flashlight\u00a0each time it became clear something wasn’t right.<\/p>\n Orion was blazing brightly in the night sky by the time Lupe and SPHP reached the G6 again.\u00a0 It was 7:54 PM, and still 36\u00b0F when Lupe hopped into the G6 for the ride home.\u00a0 Back home, Lupe and SPHP feasted on spaghetti and chocolate cake.\u00a0 It was good, but SPHP suspected Lupe would have much preferred rabbit.<\/p>\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 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<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SPHP almost chickened out.\u00a0 Even though the forecast was for an unseasonably warm 52\u00b0F, it was supposed to be windy with possible rain showers.\u00a0 Rain showers are almost unheard of in the Black Hills of South Dakota in late January, but that was what the forecast said.\u00a0 The rain showers were supposed to end by … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 116 – Green Mountain, Northern Rainbows & High Point 5219 (1-24-15)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3786,"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":[105,9,106,191,104,540,304],"class_list":["post-3780","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-green-mountain","tag-lupe","tag-northern-rainbow","tag-south-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/P1050868.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\/3780","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=3780"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28258,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3780\/revisions\/28258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/P1050864-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
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