Lupe and SPHP crossed Deerfield Road and got on the Mickelson Trail<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0heading WNW.\u00a0 The trail was covered with 6″ of snow.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP trudged along, burning calories already.\u00a0 The trail soon crossed Newton Creek at a very nice bridge.\u00a0 0.5 mile after Lupe got on the trail, she was a little\u00a0N of the N end of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP left the Mickelson Trail, climbed up the embankment to Deerfield Road, and crossed over to the S side of the highway.<\/p>\n Smith Mountain was the first of 3 peakbagging objectives Lupe had for the day.\u00a0 The other two, Flag Mountain<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (5,896 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> and Campaign Hill<\/a> (5,800 ft.)<\/span><\/strong><\/span>, were both S of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 Smith Mountain is a nearly mile long ridge running N\/S.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP started climbing the slope at the N end of the ridge.\u00a0 There was quite a lot of deadfall timber to work past, and snow everywhere, too.\u00a0 By the time Lupe reached the first little saddle where she could see over to the W side of the mountain, the sun was so warm SPHP had to stop and take off a jacket.<\/p>\n Lupe\u00a0gained the top of the ridge\u00a0close to the highest point at the very N end of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 If there had been fewer trees blocking the view, she would have gone to the very top of the N high point to take a look at Lowden Mountain<\/strong><\/a><\/span> (6,055 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> a mile to the N.\u00a0 Instead, Lupe headed S along the\u00a0ridge looking for the true summit of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 She came to a couple of\u00a0high spots\u00a0definitely higher than the N high point.\u00a0 SPHP thought the second one she came to was likely the true summit.<\/p>\n Lupe continued S along the Smith Mountain ridge.\u00a0 This part of the forest had been thinned before the pine bark beetle infestation started.\u00a0 There was far less deadfall timber to contend with.\u00a0 The remaining trees were healthier.\u00a0 More sunlight could reach the ground between them, so there wasn’t nearly as much snow around.\u00a0 It was far easier to move along, and Lupe and SPHP caught better glimpses of the views to E.<\/p>\n The ridge started\u00a0angling a little more to the SSE.\u00a0 After having lost\u00a0some elevation, Lupe was climbing again.\u00a0 As Lupe went higher and higher, SPHP began to realize that Lupe hadn’t actually reached the true summit of Smith Mountain yet; it was still ahead.<\/p>\n Lupe didn’t have very far to go to reach it.\u00a0\u00a0Soon she was sniffing around\u00a0much bigger rock formations at the\u00a0true summit of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 The highest rocks were so huge, she couldn’t actually get up on top of them, but she climbed up almost as high.\u00a0 SPHP lifted her up so she could put\u00a0her front\u00a0paws on the highest rock, just a foot or two below the\u00a0very highest point, which was out of reach to the W.<\/p>\n From the true summit, Lupe and SPHP continued only a little way farther SSE along the ridge before turning more to the SSW to start losing elevation.\u00a0 Lupe stayed high enough on the mountain to avoid a couple of\u00a0draws that drained W.\u00a0 Eventually the terrain sloped more to the SSW.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP headed down.<\/p>\n Suddenly there was the sound of gunfire!\u00a0 Hunters were about.\u00a0 Lupe was instantly alarmed.\u00a0 She insisted on stopping.\u00a0 SPHP found a dry spot.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP took a break just sitting on the pine needles on the forest floor.\u00a0 Lupe wasn’t hungry, but SPHP ate a tangerine and a few carrot sticks.\u00a0 The gunfire had come from quite some distance to the S or SW.<\/p>\n A little while after the gunfire ended, SPHP was ready to move on.\u00a0 Reluctantly, Lupe tagged along close by.\u00a0 Almost as soon as Lupe started off again, SPHP spotted a road ahead.\u00a0 SPHP didn’t realize it at the time, but this was USFS Road No. 386.1B.\u00a0 Lupe reached it at a bend at the NE corner\u00a0of a big clearing.\u00a0 She could follow the road W or S.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP headed S in the direction of Flag and Campaign mountains.\u00a0 There was quite a bit of snow and ice gradually melting on the road.<\/p>\n Eventually, No. 386.1B began turning E to go around the S end of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 Lupe left the road continuing S.\u00a0 Before long, she reached a big field extending E\/W down in the Patterson Creek valley.\u00a0 Lupe crossed the field.\u00a0 Patterson Creek meandered along the S side of the field.\u00a0 It\u00a0had plenty of water in it, and was flowing along quite nicely.\u00a0 Fortunately, the creek was just\u00a0small enough to leap over.\u00a0 Both Lupe and SPHP made it across without difficulty.<\/p>\n Near the S side of Patterson Creek was a snowy road going E\/W.\u00a0 A quick check to the W revealed a dead end.\u00a0 The road\u00a0went farther\u00a0E following the Patterson Creek valley downstream.\u00a0 Lupe went just a little way E on the road, before turning S to start the climb up Flag Mountain.\u00a0 There was quite a bit of snow on the ground here, and some deadfall timber, too.\u00a0 Lupe succeeded in avoiding most of the snow and some of the deadfall timber by climbing up a little ridge approaching Flag Mountain from the NNE.<\/p>\n The last 200 feet of elevation gain up the N slope of Flag Mountain was different.\u00a0 It was fairly steep, full of snow and\u00a0choked with\u00a0deadfall.\u00a0 Lupe had lots of time to sniff around in\u00a0the shattered forest while SPHP struggled up the mountain.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the sunnier skies Lupe enjoyed earlier in the day disappeared.\u00a0 A cold breeze started up out of the WNW.\u00a0 The\u00a0mood\u00a0had turned\u00a0a bit gloomy by the time Lupe and SPHP made it to the top of Flag Mountain.<\/p>\n The summit area was a little surprising.\u00a0 It was as big as several houses, and mostly level.\u00a0\u00a0The biggest part\u00a0was toward the E where the\u00a0ground was mostly grassy, with trees along the N and NE perimeters.\u00a0 The very highest point was\u00a0near the\u00a0W end, where the summit was much rockier and narrower.\u00a0 The rocks weren’t very large.\u00a0 Lupe hopped up on top for a look around.\u00a0 There were quite a few trees around, but she could see Harney Peak<\/a><\/strong><\/span> (7,242 ft.)<\/strong><\/span> to the SE.<\/p>\n The most wide open views from Flag Mountain\u00a0were toward the E and S from the larger E portion of the summit area.\u00a0 There were a few bushes, but no trees along the SE perimeter to block the view.\u00a0 The most impressive view was SE toward Harney Peak, but Lupe also had a pretty good view off to the ENE toward Five Points<\/a><\/span><\/strong> (6,221 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n Lupe had now climbed 2 of her 3 peakbagging goals for the day, Smith and Flag Mountains.\u00a0 Her 3rd goal, Campaign Hill was supposed to be just 0.5 mile S of Flag Mountain, but at first glance,\u00a0SPHP did not see it.\u00a0 After looking more carefully from the SE edge of the Flag Mountain summit, SPHP saw the E end of a low forested hill to the S.\u00a0 It seemed too low to be Campaign Hill, but after consulting the maps again, that had to be it.<\/p>\n Campaign Hill wasn’t very far away, but the S slope of Flag Mountain was too steep to go directly down that way.\u00a0 SPHP got cold feet.\u00a0 No, really, truly cold feet.\u00a0 SPHP’s old boots leaked badly.\u00a0 After tramping around for hours in\u00a0melting snow, SPHP’s feet were totally sopping wet.\u00a0\u00a0They had been\u00a0that way essentially\u00a0the whole day.\u00a0 Now, standing around on Flag Mountain in the cold breeze, SPHP’s feet felt like they were freezing up.<\/p>\n The sun was low in the sky, but there were still a couple of hours left before sunset.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP hadn’t gone all that far as the crow flies, but it\u00a0had taken a long time to get to Flag Mountain with all the snow and deadfall timber along the way.\u00a0 It might take quite a while to get back, too.\u00a0 SPHP needed to start moving to get the circulation going again.\u00a0 Decision time.<\/p>\n Well, no sense risking frostbite.\u00a0 Campaign Hill would still be there another day.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP started slowly back down the N slope of Flag Mountain through the snow and deadfall timber again.\u00a0 Lupe went all the way back down the mountain to the Patterson Creek valley again.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP crossed Patterson Creek and went over to the N side of the field.\u00a0 Since there was no need to climb Smith Mountain again, Lupe and SPHP followed the fence along the edge of the field heading W up the valley to see what was there.\u00a0 The field branched out into two even bigger fields, one to the SW and one to the NW.\u00a0 Two big spruce trees stood near an old abandoned cabin where the fields met.\u00a0 It was a pretty spot.<\/p>\n Lupe continued along the NE edge of the field\u00a0heading N along\u00a0the fence line.\u00a0 The field soon divided again.\u00a0 One arm of it went off to the W.\u00a0 The other arm turned and went N a long way.\u00a0 SPHP could see a home way up toward the far N end.\u00a0 The fields were probably private property.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP decided to angle NNE through the forest, hoping to find USFS Road No. 386.1B again somewhere W of Smith Mountain.<\/p>\n Lupe did find No. 386.1B again near the big clearing where she had first reached\u00a0it earlier in the day\u00a0on\u00a0the way to Flag\u00a0Mountain.\u00a0 This time, Lupe followed No. 386.1B going N.\u00a0\u00a0The road\u00a0wound around a little, but most of the time made steady progress to the N.\u00a0 Along the way, Lupe was exploring new territory W of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 She\u00a0saw deer and squirrels in the forest, so she was having some fun.<\/p>\n After a little while, SPHP saw an intersection up ahead.\u00a0 As Lupe got close to the intersection, her fun suddenly ended.\u00a0 A shot rang out very close by.\u00a0 Hunters again!\u00a0 This time much, much closer.\u00a0 Lupe wanted to hide near a big\u00a0tree close to the intersection.\u00a0 SPHP complied.\u00a0 Several more shots rang out.\u00a0 SPHP knew Lupe wasn’t going anywhere until they stopped.<\/p>\n Ten minutes of silence went by.\u00a0 SPHP headed for the intersection.\u00a0 Lupe didn’t want to go, but was scared to be left behind.\u00a0 The side road was marked No. 386.1F.\u00a0 It went NNE and\u00a0looked like\u00a0a shortcut back to the G6 compared to No. 386.1B, which would take a very long way around to the NW.\u00a0 From the intersection, SPHP saw the hunter’s pickup truck parked not too far away\u00a0along No. 386.1F.<\/p>\n Another shot rang out.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP retreated SW to a big rock.\u00a0 SPHP sat and looked at maps, while Lupe huddled as close as she could get.\u00a0 The maps showed it would have been faster to take No. 386.1B around the E side of Smith Mountain from Patterson Creek.\u00a0 Too late for that!\u00a0 No. 386.1F was definitely a shortcut back to the G6 from here.\u00a0 It would save at least a mile compared to staying on No. 386.1B.<\/p>\n After it had been quiet for a while again, Lupe and SPHP returned to the intersection and started NNE on No. 386.1F.\u00a0 Within a few minutes, Lupe was past the hunter’s pickup truck.\u00a0 The road was snowy and icy.\u00a0 There were lots of tracks in the snow.\u00a0 There must have been quite a few hunters.\u00a0 Lupe saw a couple of them to the E higher up on Smith Mountain.\u00a0 One waved.\u00a0 SPHP waved back, but did not stop.\u00a0 No more shots were heard.<\/p>\n No. 386.1F led down into a big draw NNW of Smith Mountain.\u00a0 Lower down, the road became so choked with deadfall timber, Lupe and SPHP left it.\u00a0 The mountain slopes seemed easier going than the road.\u00a0 The sun set.\u00a0 For just a few minutes, there was a beautifully colored sky to the SW.<\/p>\n It was 4:59 PM (41\u00b0F), and getting pretty dark by the time Lupe and SPHP reached the G6 again.\u00a0 SPHP’s feet were still cold, but moving on the long march back had helped.\u00a0 They weren’t as cold as they had been standing around on top of Flag Mountain.\u00a0 Carolina Dogs have great circulation.\u00a0 SPHP felt Lupe’s paws.\u00a0 They were practically burning hot!\u00a0 It felt good just holding them!\u00a0 Lupe just grinned.<\/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 Prior Black Hills Adventure<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s Black Hills Expeditions Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or Master Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Black Friday.\u00a0 The day after Thanksgiving.\u00a0 The day everyone celebrates being totally over-stuffed with delicious turkey and all the trimmings by spending a fortune Christmas shopping online or at the mall.\u00a0 Well, not quite everyone.\u00a0 American Dingoes neglect their patriotic duty\u00a0to keep the economy humming.\u00a0 They prefer to go on adventures instead! At 10:06 AM … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 106 – Smith Mountain and Flag Mountain (11-28-14)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4586,"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":[105,9,106,177,104,484,304],"class_list":["post-4575","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-flag-mountain","tag-lupe","tag-smith-mountain","tag-south-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050686.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\/4575","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=4575"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22112,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575\/revisions\/22112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050678-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050679-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
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<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050682-e1555422761639-768x1024.jpg?resize=660%2C880\")
<\/a>![\"Harney](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050683-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Five](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050684-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Looking](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050685-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"This](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1050686-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
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