It wasn’t\u00a0far at all to Burnt Fork Road, but\u00a0Lupe came to a fence.\u00a0 SPHP decided to just follow the fence N, staying on the W side of it.\u00a0 Union Hill<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(6,120 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, Lupe’s first peakbagging goal of the day, was to the NE.\u00a0 By heading N a little bit, maybe Lupe could find a route that avoided crossing the fence line.<\/p>\n Lupe wasn’t concerned about the route to Union Hill.\u00a0 She was looking for a route to squirrels.\u00a0 She soon found one, too!\u00a0 A whole lot of barking commenced.\u00a0 To Lupe’s surprise, her barking was answered – not by the squirrel, but by a couple of dogs who must have lived nearby.\u00a0 One of them, a big black and white dog, made an appearance at the edge of a clearing to the E.<\/p>\n The black and white dog approached Lupe warily.\u00a0 One can’t be too careful when dealing with a Carolina Dog, you know!\u00a0 Lupe and the black and white dog had a good sniff.\u00a0 The black and white dog seemed friendly, but was suspicious of SPHP.\u00a0 When SPHP tried to get close, the black and white dog slunk off barking and growling.<\/p>\n Lupe had come to an old road on the W side of the clearing.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP followed it N, and soon came to an intersection.\u00a0 A marker showed that Lupe had been on USFS Road No. 389.1Q.\u00a0\u00a0The other road SPHP recognized as\u00a0No. 389.1B, which ran E\/W here just to the S of Lowden Mountain<\/span><\/a> (6,055 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 SPHP had intended for Lupe to climb Lowden Mountain, but only after climbing Union Hill first.<\/p>\n However, with Lowden Mountain so close already, the plan changed.\u00a0 Union Hill could wait.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP started climbing up the S slope of Lowden Mountain.\u00a0 The first half of the climb was steepest, but really not bad.\u00a0 About halfway up, Lupe started coming to rock outcroppings, but they were pretty easily traversed or avoided.\u00a0 The second half of the climb gained elevation more gradually.\u00a0 Lupe had to go farther\u00a0N than SPHP expected, but it wasn’t too long before Lupe was at the summit.<\/p>\n The very highest part of the mountain was in a relatively small area.\u00a0 Pine trees blocked the view in most directions.\u00a0 However,\u00a0a little way\u00a0to the E was a mostly bare ridge\u00a0offering\u00a0wide open views.\u00a0 Union Hill was\u00a0on display\u00a0about 1.25 miles almost\u00a0straight E.<\/p>\n This was actually Lupe’s 3rd time at the summit of Lowden Mountain.\u00a0 Way back on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 54 on 4-6-13, Lupe had climbed Lowden Mountain twice on the same day.\u00a0 SPHP remembered that by going down a bit to the NW of the summit, it was possible to reach a very rocky high ridge that extended out the W.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP left the summit to go over and check out the views from the rocky ridge.\u00a0 The best views were to the WNW and S.<\/p>\n Lupe left Lowden Mountain going down the steep N slope.\u00a0 For some reason there wasn’t any snow until Lupe had lost quite a bit of elevation.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP angled toward the NE as Lupe descended.\u00a0 When she reached a forest of quite young pines, there was plenty of snow around.\u00a0 The young Ponderosa pines were growing very tightly packed together, making\u00a0the going\u00a0a little difficult for SPHP.<\/p>\n By the time Lupe was out of the thick stand of young trees, she was so far down the mountain that the\u00a0terrain was leveling out fast.\u00a0 Lupe came to USFS Road No. 389.1K, which wound around, but generally made its way NNE.\u00a0 No. 389.1K led Lupe to USFS Road No. 389.1A, where SPHP stopped to check the maps.\u00a0 The maps showed a bewildering maze of roads in this area.\u00a0 Lupe had gone so far N that Union Hill was now off to the SE.<\/p>\n The partially restored ruins of the old Gold Mountain mine weren’t too far away to the E.\u00a0 Lupe had seen them once before back on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 54, but it would be fun to see them again on the way to Union Hill.\u00a0 As SPHP put the maps away, SPHP suddenly realized that one of the water bottles SPHP always carries was missing.\u00a0 It must have fallen out of the pocket of the backpack somewhere along the way.<\/p>\n It was only a water bottle, but Lupe would go back to look for it.\u00a0 Not until she climbed Union Hill first, though.\u00a0 Sheesh!\u00a0 It looked like Lupe was going to make a tradition out of climbing Lowden Mountain twice each time she came here.\u00a0 Oh, well.\u00a0 In the meantime, onward to Gold Mountain mine!<\/p>\n The roads were snowy and slippery.\u00a0 It was actually easier just heading ENE through the forest.\u00a0 Lupe lost elevation as she went, and soon came to a rather snowy little valley with a small creek flowing SE in it.\u00a0 She stayed on the N side of the valley where the ground was snow-free due to the\u00a0southern exposure.\u00a0 The creek flowed down to a snow-filled meadow.\u00a0\u00a0The ruins of the old Gold Mountain mine sat up on a hillside\u00a0to the N of the meadow.<\/p>\n The Gold Mountain mine was first claimed in the late 1870’s, and actively worked until 1942.\u00a0 It is one of the few old mines still standing in the Black Hills.\u00a0 SPHP remembered that there was an old boiler or kiln up on the hill.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went up the hill to see if it was still there.<\/p>\n It was.\u00a0 So was a bunny!\u00a0 The bunny saw Lupe coming, made a mad dash for the S end of the kiln, and hopped inside.\u00a0 The kiln immediately became an item of great interest to Lupe.\u00a0 She circled around it sniffing carefully, but the bunny was safe inside.\u00a0 SPHP suddenly\u00a0seemed to remember from Expedition No. 54 that there was broken glass scattered somewhere around this area.\u00a0 Lupe had best just leave the kiln and bunny alone, before something tragic happened.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP left Gold Mountain mine.\u00a0 A short road led SE down a hill, passed to the N of a little frozen pond, and met up with Burnt Fork Road (USFS Road No. 389).\u00a0 Lupe turned S on Burnt Fork Road, following it less than 0.5 mile to a primitive road coming steeply down a side valley from the E.\u00a0 Lupe turned E on this road and started gaining elevation.<\/p>\n A little stream flowed near the primitive road.\u00a0 Lupe had a great time exploring the woods along the stream.\u00a0 In some places, the stream had frozen, creating huge ice flows right on the road.\u00a0 SPHP had a less great time trying to get up the slippery ice flows.\u00a0 The primitive road led to a better road which came in from the N and turned ESE.\u00a0 Lupe continued ESE on this better road up to a snowy saddle.<\/p>\n By the time the better road reached the snowy saddle, it wasn’t better any more.\u00a0 In fact, it had almost disappeared.\u00a0 However,\u00a0on the other side of the saddle, it looked like it got better again.\u00a0 It turned ENE down into a bigger snowy valley filled with aspens.\u00a0 Lupe wasn’t going that way.\u00a0 The saddle was due N of Union Hill.\u00a0 After a short rest break, Lupe and SPHP climbed the N slope.\u00a0 It was snowy and fairly steep, but soon Lupe was at the summit cairn.<\/p>\n The top of Union Hill was a long, broad, gently sloping ridge.\u00a0 It was mostly grassy and\u00a0thinly forested.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went over toward the W end of the ridge to see what kind of view there might be back toward Lowden Mountain.\u00a0 The W end of Union Hill was more thickly forested, but there was one spot from which there was a relatively clear view of Lowden Mountain.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP returned to the summit of Union Hill on the way to do a little exploring of the E end of the summit ridge.\u00a0 Lupe agreed to pose for one more photo W of the summit, but she looked a bit stiff trying to hold her head up above the tall grass.<\/p>\n Lupe soon discovered that a road leads up near the top of Union Hill from the E.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP followed the road for a little while after it turned NE.\u00a0 When it started bending SE, Lupe headed N into the forest.\u00a0 She followed a forested ridge to a little high point.\u00a0 Off to the W was the big snowy valley Lupe and SPHP had seen from the saddle N of Union Hill.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP turned W and went down into it.<\/p>\n Down in the snowy valley, Lupe and SPHP went NW until Lupe found the road that had continued E over the saddle just N of Union Hill.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP followed it N until it reached an intersection.\u00a0 SPHP was surprised.\u00a0 Lupe had been here before!<\/p>\n Back on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 82, Lupe and SPHP had come looking for Lowden Mountain from the Marshall Gulch area to the NE.\u00a0 Lupe had reached this intersection, but SPHP had been a bit turned around, and gave up on finding the mountain.\u00a0 Lupe had made it this far, though.\u00a0 If SPHP had persisted in heading just a little farther SW, Lowden Mountain would have come into view.\u00a0 Instead, Lupe and SPHP had gone N from this intersection, and eventually circled back E.<\/p>\n The roads at the intersection were variously marked with USFS Road No. 389 or 254.\u00a0 The\u00a0markers\u00a0didn’t really make any sense when compared with SPHP’s maps, but SPHP knew which way to go without any markers.\u00a0\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP left the intersection heading N again, but this time looking for a road to the W.<\/p>\n Lupe soon found one.\u00a0 The road going W went over a little rise, slowly curved SW and gradually lost elevation.\u00a0 Lupe sniffed around in the forest, while SPHP enjoyed an easy hike.\u00a0 The area seemed pretty remote and secluded.\u00a0 Eventually,\u00a0it dawned on SPHP that\u00a0this road was going to come out back at the upper end of the primitive road with the frozen stream.<\/p>\n And it did!\u00a0 Lupe had gone clear around High Point 5921 N of Union Hill.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP followed the primitive road W back down to Burnt Fork Road.\u00a0 The Carolina Dog then turned N and followed Burnt Fork Road to the road to the old Gold Mountain mine.\u00a0 Instead of returning to the mine, Lupe stayed on a lower branch of the road.\u00a0 It went right past the frozen pond.<\/p>\n It was time to start the search for the lost water bottle.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP returned to where SPHP had first noticed it was missing near USFS Road No. 389.1A.\u00a0 The plan now was just to retrace Lupe’s route from earlier in the day until she came across the water bottle.\u00a0 It seemed easy enough.<\/p>\n However, it was harder than SPHP anticipated.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP followed USFS Road No. 389.1K\u00a0going SSW back toward Lowden Mountain.\u00a0 At first, SPHP\u00a0wasn’t finding\u00a0any of SPHP’s old footprints or Lupe’s paw prints.\u00a0 Lupe already had a good start on the climb up Lowden Mountain, by the time SPHP saw tracks in the snow.<\/p>\n Once the tracks were\u00a0found, it was pretty easy to follow them up the N face of Lowden Mountain, at least until the snow ended.\u00a0 By then, it wasn’t that much farther up to the rocky W ridge, so Lupe and SPHP went there first to look\u00a0for the water bottle.\u00a0 No luck.\u00a0 Lupe\u00a0climbed up\u00a0to the\u00a0top of Lowden Mountain, completing her second ascent of the day.\u00a0 SPHP\u00a0was really\u00a0expecting to find the water bottle at the summit.\u00a0 It was nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n Since it wasn’t at the summit, the chances of finding the water bottle were now not very good.\u00a0 Lupe might still find it somewhere on the way back to the G6, but success seemed unlikely.\u00a0 Well, too bad, but it wasn’t exactly the end of the world.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP stuck around at the top of Lowden Mountain\u00a0for a little while enjoying the views again.<\/p>\n On the way back to the G6, Lupe and SPHP went back down the S side of Lowden Mountain again.\u00a0 There wasn’t much snow on this side of the mountain.\u00a0 Although SPHP saw tracks from earlier in the day a few times, most of the time there\u00a0weren’t any tracks\u00a0to follow.\u00a0 Going down, the terrain looked different than it had coming up.\u00a0 Unsurprisingly, SPHP did not find the lost water bottle.<\/p>\n The last chance to find it was along USFS Road No. 389.1Q S of Lowden Mountain, where Lupe had\u00a0met the skittish black and white dog.\u00a0 SPHP kept watching for the water bottle, but neither SPHP nor Lupe came across it.\u00a0 Well, that was that.\u00a0 No telling where it had been lost.<\/p>\n At 4:53 PM (38\u00b0F), Lupe\u00a0and SPHP were\u00a0back at the G6.\u00a0 It was almost dark out.\u00a0 A full moon would be rising soon.\u00a0 Tonight, somewhere around Lowden Mountain, a water bottle bathed in moonlight was going to freeze and crack.\u00a0 SPHP had a much\u00a0better fate in store – a long comfy snooze with a warm, soft, Alpo-stuffed American Dingo!<\/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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Prior Black Hills Adventure<\/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":" A warmish forecast on a day in early December meant an\u00a0opportunity for Lupe to go on one of her\u00a0Black Hills Expeditions.\u00a0 SPHP parked the G6 at Newton Lake (just a pond, really) along Deerfield Road a few miles NW of Hill City.\u00a0 It was 9:46 AM, but still only 32\u00b0F.\u00a0 The sky was all overcast.\u00a0 … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 107 – Lowden Mountain & Union Hill (12-6-14)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4396,"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":[105,9,106,562,564,104,304,563],"class_list":["post-4407","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-gold-mountain-mine","tag-lowden-mountain","tag-lupe","tag-south-dakota","tag-union-hill"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050695.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\/4407","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=4407"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22110,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4407\/revisions\/22110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050688-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"My,](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050689-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
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