{"id":4061,"date":"2016-08-22T08:10:22","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T14:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=4061"},"modified":"2020-09-21T17:11:52","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T23:11:52","slug":"black-hills-sd-expedition-no-110-samelius-hardesty-peaks-mount-warner-12-20-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=4061","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 110 – Samelius & Hardesty Peaks, Mount Warner (12-20-14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 9:38 AM (38\u00b0F), SPHP parked the G6 at the Samelius Trailhead of Centennial Trail No.\u00a089\u00a0near Hwy 16, about\u00a03 miles W of the Keystone “Y”.\u00a0 The skies were overcast, but\u00a0no precipitation and a forecast\u00a0high of 50\u00b0F on nearly the shortest day of the year had brought Lupe and SPHP out to do a little peakbagging.<\/p>\n

Lupe’s first two peakbagging goals, Samelius Peak<\/a><\/span> (5,856 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and Hardesty Peak<\/a><\/span> (5,562 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> were both less than a mile from the trailhead,\u00a0although Lupe’s proposed route might take her a little farther than that to reach Hardesty Peak.\u00a0 Lupe\u00a0set out\u00a0heading N on Centennial Trail No. 89 up a\u00a0mostly\u00a0forested little\u00a0valley.<\/p>\n

The trail\u00a0gained elevation at an easy pace at first, but became a little steeper as it went on.\u00a0 About 0.5 mile from the trailhead, Lupe reached a saddle area\u00a0NNW of Samelius Peak.\u00a0\u00a0It was time to leave the trail, and start up the mountain.<\/p>\n

Lupe and SPHP had been\u00a0up\u00a0on\u00a0Mount Warner<\/a><\/span> (5,889 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, less than a mile to the N, before on several occasions.\u00a0 Having seen Samelius Peak from Mount Warner, SPHP was expecting Lupe might encounter some pretty steep climbs up boulder fields near the top of Samelius Peak, since the mountain had looked pretty rocky.\u00a0 The climb really wasn’t bad at all, though.\u00a0 Lupe encountered some deadfall timber, some rock outcroppings, and snow that made it slick in some places, but even SPHP was able to maneuver around most of the obstacles without much difficulty.<\/p>\n

On the way up, Lupe came to two high points.\u00a0 The first one was just a rocky spot in the forest.\u00a0 Lupe only had to lose a little elevation to resume her climb up the NNW slope of the mountain.\u00a0\u00a0At the\u00a0second high point, an exposed rocky ledge jutted out toward the W.\u00a0\u00a0The ledge seemed quite high,\u00a0and offered some pretty good views.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went out on the ledge for a look around.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe out on the rocky ledge at the 2nd high point on the way up Samelius Peak. Photo looks W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>This ledge provided the most open panoramic views from anywhere Lupe went on Samelius Peak, and wasn’t too far below the summit.\u00a0 When Lupe arrived at the summit,\u00a0there were enough trees around to partially obstruct the views in most directions.\u00a0 The summit area wasn’t terribly large, but Lupe found several spots to pose for photos.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe sits on top of the highest rock on Samelius Peak to claim her first peakbagging success of Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 110!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NW from Samelius Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SW toward Harney Peak<\/a><\/span> (7,242 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> from Samelius Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Harney<\/a>Lupe’s next peakbagging goal was Hardesty Peak, but where was it?\u00a0 It was supposed to be just 0.5 mile to the SE, but SPHP didn’t see it.\u00a0 Time to check the maps again.\u00a0 Of course, Hardesty Peak was there all along.\u00a0 SPHP had assumed the two mountains were about the same elevation, but Hardesty Peak at only 5,562 ft. was actually almost 300 ft. lower than Samelius Peak.\u00a0 That puny hill to the SE that could only be seen from the E end of the Samelius Peak summit area was it!<\/p>\n

Lupe and SPHP left Samelius Peak heading down on the NE side of a ridge that\u00a0led SE toward\u00a0Hardesty Peak.\u00a0 At first\u00a0the going\u00a0was rather steep, then it became rather rocky.\u00a0 After Lupe had lost a fair amount of elevation, a long line of large boulders appeared ahead.\u00a0 The area to the NE of the boulders dropped off very steeply.\u00a0 However, there was a little saddle area at the start of the line of boulders where Lupe could cross over to the SW side of the ridge.<\/p>\n

Lupe and SPHP headed for the little saddle.\u00a0 It took SPHP a little while to get there due to the rockiness of the area.\u00a0 Once there, Lupe and SPHP went to investigate a nearby high point just to the E of the little saddle.\u00a0 There was a nice view of Boulder Hill<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (5,331 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0and Silver Mountain<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (5,405 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0off to the NE.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on the high point E of the little saddle on the way from Samelius Peak to Hardesty Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NE toward Boulder Hill (L) and Silver Mountain (R).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe still needed to lose more elevation to reach the saddle between Samelius and Hardesty Peaks.\u00a0 She left the\u00a0high point E of the little saddle heading SSE down the mountain.\u00a0 This area was thinly forested, quite steep, and covered with pine needles and a fair amount of loose rock.\u00a0 Lupe had a great time sniffing around this way and that.\u00a0 Rocks slid down the slopes as SPHP came down.\u00a0 SPHP threw many of them back up, so they were higher than before.<\/p>\n

It was kind of slow going, but it wasn’t hard to find a way down.\u00a0 Near the bottom of the slope, there was a boulder\u00a0field to be\u00a0traversed, and beyond the\u00a0boulder field\u00a0was an area that was a jumble of deadfall timber.\u00a0 SPHP picked a way through it all, while Lupe continued exploring the forest.\u00a0 It turned out that Lupe and SPHP had come down a bit S of the saddle area.\u00a0 Lupe had to turn N and regain about 40 feet of elevation to get to the saddle.<\/p>\n

From the saddle, the climb up Hardesty Peak was similar to Lupe’s climb up Samelius Peak, except that she didn’t have to gain nearly as much elevation.\u00a0 Lupe soon reached the summit of Hardesty Peak.\u00a0 She paused to take a look around from the rocks at the very top.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe surveys the situation from up on Hardesty Peak. Samelius Peak, where she had just been, is looming large on the L. Right behind her neck is Mount Warner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Mt.<\/a>
Mt. Warner from Hardesty Peak. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The summit area on Hardesty Peak is a fairly long E\/W trending ridge.\u00a0 The forested\u00a0ridge is wide enough to walk along easily.\u00a0 It was easy to see there wasn’t any higher ground to the W of where Lupe had come up, but the forest hid the rest of the ridge to the E.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP wanted to make certain she had reached the actual true summit, so Lupe went E exploring the ridge.<\/p>\n

Lupe and SPHP went far enough E to\u00a0verify that Lupe had reached the true summit back where the summit photos were taken.\u00a0 She had.\u00a0 Near the E end of the ridge, Lupe found a rather nice view looking NNW between Samelius Peak and Mount Warner.\u00a0 Some higher hills could be seen in the distance.\u00a0 There was even a faint glimpse of Custer Peak<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (6,804 ft.) <\/span><\/strong>beyond the high hills.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NNW from Hardesty Peak between Samelius Peak (L) and Mount Warner (R).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and SPHP left Hardesty Peak near the E end of the summit ridge, heading back down toward the saddle over to Samelius Peak.\u00a0 From the saddle, SPHP tried to lead Lupe N looking for Centennial Trail No. 89.\u00a0 Lupe crossed a couple of small ridges, but the terrain kept forcing Lupe farther E until she reached the bottom of a gulch.<\/p>\n

Lupe turned NW to go up the little valley on its E side.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP had been in this area\u00a0several times before, but going\u00a0down the valley.\u00a0\u00a0Things just looked different going up it.\u00a0 SPHP kept expecting\u00a0Lupe would find Centennial Trail No. 89 at any time, but she kept going without coming across it.\u00a0 SPHP stopped to check the maps again.\u00a0 They provided no further clues.\u00a0 It couldn’t be too much farther.<\/p>\n

Before long, Lupe came to a road heading ESE.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP followed it.\u00a0 SPHP thought maybe Centennial Trail No. 89 was still higher up the side of the mountain, but within just a few minutes, the\u00a0road led past a rocky little hillside that SPHP remembered from Lupe’s prior expeditions.\u00a0\u00a0The road\u00a0was Centennial Trail No. 89.\u00a0 That was good news!<\/p>\n

Centennial Trail No. 89 wound around the SE end of Mount Warner, leaving the road and becoming a single track trail along the way.\u00a0 It turned NW\u00a0going up a\u00a0small valley to a saddle.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of going over the saddle, the trail\u00a0started a climb\u00a0up\u00a0the mountain\u00a0to the S, switchbacking a little bit on the way up.\u00a0 Eventually\u00a0the trail\u00a0turned W, and passed to the S of a rock outcropping where SPHP remembered there was a view to the N.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went to the edge of the rock formation to take a look.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on her way up Mount Warner. Here she is at a rock outcropping N of Centennial Trail No. 89. Photo looks NNE toward the Blue Wing arm of Sheridan Lake (a little piece of which is visible on the L) and Calumet Ridge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the rock outcropping, Lupe could see part of Sheridan Lake and Calumet Ridge<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (5,601 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0off to the NNE.\u00a0 From here, it wasn’t too much farther along Centennial Trail No. 89 up to the top of Mount Warner.\u00a0 On the way, Lupe started hearing gunfire coming from way off somewhere in the direction of Calumet Ridge.\u00a0 By the time Lupe reached the top of Mount Warner, she was one nervous Carolina Dog.<\/p>\n

SPHP wanted to get a photo of Lupe up on the highest rocks on Mount Warner, but Lupe really just wanted to be close to SPHP.\u00a0 The gunfire was just too unnerving.\u00a0 Half a dozen times SPHP persuaded her to get up on the highest rocks, but each time SPHP backed off to take the photo, Lupe would hear more gunfire within a few seconds and jump down to follow SPHP.<\/p>\n

Finally, it worked.\u00a0 A brief lull in someone’s target practice restored the American Dingo’s confidence.\u00a0 Lupe stayed up there for her summit photo on Mount Warner.\u00a0 Good doggie!\u00a0 After one quick photo, SPHP didn’t make her stay up there any longer.\u00a0 She was glad it was over with, and jumped down as soon as SPHP said it was OK.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on Mount Warner, her third peakbagging success of the day! Lupe had been here before on prior Black Hills Expeditions. This was her 4th ascent of Mount Warner.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was still some time left in the day.\u00a0 Originally, SPHP had thought maybe Lupe should do some exploring toward Calumet Ridge, but with all the gunfire in that direction, that just wasn’t going to work.\u00a0 Instead, Lupe and SPHP left Mount Warner continuing NW on Centennial Trail No. 89.<\/p>\n

The trail\u00a0gradually lost elevation following\u00a0a ridgeline, but eventually turned to start heading down the NE side of the ridge on its way\u00a0down to Sheridan Lake.\u00a0 Instead of going that way, Lupe and SPHP left the trail and started down the SW side of the ridge.\u00a0 It was steep, but not as steep as going down Samelius Peak had been.<\/p>\n

Lupe lost a lot of elevation.\u00a0 Finally things started leveling out.\u00a0 Somewhere along the way, she crossed Joe Dollar Gulch.\u00a0 Lupe came to a maze of little roads in the forest.\u00a0 She followed them S or SW.\u00a0 SPHP led her onto roads heading SE a time or two when the opportunity presented itself.\u00a0 SPHP was hoping to find a road going up a little gulch just S of Joe Dollar Gulch, but it didn’t happen.<\/p>\n

Lupe and SPHP had a\u00a0nice time just wandering the back roads.\u00a0 Lupe trotted ahead, leaving the road here and there to investigate interesting smells in the forest.\u00a0 Lupe crossed a saddle shown just to the E of High Point 5157 on the Peakbagger.com topo maps.\u00a0 During the last part of her journey, the sound of traffic on Hwy 16 wasn’t far off to the S.\u00a0 When SPHP saw the little tunnel that Centennial Trail No. 89 passes through under Hwy 16, SPHP knew Lupe\u00a0was almost\u00a0back to the Samelius trailhead.<\/p>\n

The sun was down and the light was fading, when Lupe reached the trailhead again.\u00a0 There was a bunch of trash around.\u00a0 SPHP spent a little time picking it up while Lupe sniffed around.\u00a0 At 4:38 PM (37\u00b0F), when Lupe and SPHP finally got into the G6 to head home, it was\u00a0practically dark out.\u00a0 Climbing Samelius and Hardesty Peaks had been fun.\u00a0 The big loop up\u00a0to Mount Warner and beyond, and\u00a0then down and around to the\u00a0SW was a nice\u00a0bonus.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow would be the shortest day of the year.\u00a0 Christmas was almost here.\u00a0 Nearing home, Lupe and SPHP admired the cheerful, colorful Christmas lights.\u00a0 2014 was fast drawing to a close, but Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 110 wouldn’t be Lupe’s last of 2014.\u00a0 SPHP was glad.\u00a0 When you’re lucky enough to have a Carolina Dog, you just don’t want the good times to ever end.<\/p>\n

\"Happy<\/a>
Happy Lupe on Hardesty Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Note:\u00a0 SPHP isn’t certain of the correct spelling for Samelius Peak.\u00a0 The sign at the trailhead on Centennial Trail No. 89 says Samelius, as do SPHP’s old USFS maps.\u00a0 The Peakbagger.com maps and records show it as Samelias Peak.<\/em><\/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 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><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 9:38 AM (38\u00b0F), SPHP parked the G6 at the Samelius Trailhead of Centennial Trail No.\u00a089\u00a0near Hwy 16, about\u00a03 miles W of the Keystone “Y”.\u00a0 The skies were overcast, but\u00a0no precipitation and a forecast\u00a0high of 50\u00b0F on nearly the shortest day of the year had brought Lupe and SPHP out to do a little peakbagging. … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 110 – Samelius & Hardesty Peaks, Mount Warner (12-20-14)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4048,"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":[105,9,106,527,547,104,548,546,304],"class_list":["post-4061","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-centennial-trail-no-89","tag-hardesty-peak","tag-lupe","tag-mount-warner","tag-samelius-peak","tag-south-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/P1050772.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\/4061","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=4061"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28249,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4061\/revisions\/28249"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}