![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0882-e1554765790916.jpg\")
<\/a>Lupe’s first peakbagging goal, Kirk Hill<\/span><\/a> (5,345 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, was only a little more than a mile SSE of the G6.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP started out following USFS Road No. 541.1, which gained elevation steadily as it headed SE up a small valley.\u00a0 A tiny stream soon appeared just W of the road, but Lupe was more interested in the delightful patches of cool, wet snow in the forest.<\/p>\n After following No. 541.1\u00a0uphill for a mile, Lupe arrived at a flat stretch of road at a pass just E of Kirk Hill.\u00a0 Lupe had already gained hundreds of feet of elevation.\u00a0 Here the forest had several inches of heavy wet snow, not just scattered patches.\u00a0 That didn’t bother Lupe\u00a0in the slightest.\u00a0 She left the road heading W up\u00a0the mountain.<\/p>\n Lupe didn’t have to go very far through the snowy forest before she found another road.\u00a0 That made things real easy.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP followed this new road N.\u00a0 As SPHP hoped, it soon curved W and took Lupe all the way to the summit near the SW end of Kirk Hill.<\/p>\n The\u00a0very highest rocks were\u00a0in a sunny little meadow, but the much larger summit area was broad, nearly flat and mostly forested.\u00a0 Some of the forest had been thinned, but although Lupe and SPHP wandered around the mountaintop quite a bit, it was hard to find any really good viewpoints.\u00a0 The very best view was of\u00a0Custer Peak<\/a><\/span> (6,804 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0to the SW, which looked quite snowy and rather dramatic.<\/p>\n After exploring much of the W end of Kirk Hill, Lupe returned briefly to the highest rocks at the summit one more time.\u00a0 Then she and SPHP started back E on the road.<\/p>\n Toward the middle of the mountain, Lupe and SPHP left the road to scout out the S rim.\u00a0 It was thinly forested, snowy, and sunny.\u00a0 The forest still interfered with the views to a significant degree, but it didn’t matter.\u00a0 The area to the S was pretty, but not dramatic.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP returned to the road.<\/p>\n Just to find out if this road was marked in any way, Lupe and SPHP stayed on it all the way until it reached No. 541.1 again.\u00a0 There was a marker at the intersection.\u00a0 The road to the top of Kirk Hill was No. 541.1G.\u00a0 If Lupe and SPHP had stayed on No. 541.1 just a little longer on the way up, Lupe would have reached this junction within a few minutes.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP returned to the G6 on No. 541.1, this time following it downhill to the NW (12:04 PM, 50\u00b0F).\u00a0 Before leaving the area, Lupe went to get a drink out of the tiny stream nearby.\u00a0 The little stream has no name on the maps, but is a seasonal tributary of Park Creek.<\/p>\n Lupe’s journey to Kirk Hill had been a success, but her next peakbagging mission was quite some distance away.\u00a0 She was going to climb Tetro Rock<\/span><\/a> (5,562 ft.) <\/span><\/strong>located 6 miles SSE of Spearfish, SD.\u00a0 Lupe took a rest break while SPHP drove.<\/p>\n Tetro Rock was only 1.5 miles SSE as the crow flies from where SPHP parked the G6 at the\u00a0intersection of Maitland Road and USFS Road No. 195.2A (12:53 PM, 52\u00b0F).\u00a0 Before heading out to Tetro Rock, however, Lupe and SPHP went to take a\u00a0quick\u00a0look at False Bottom Creek.<\/p>\n With snow melting up in the nearby hills, False Bottom Creek was\u00a0looking good.\u00a0 What wasn’t looking so good were some Lupe Treasures scattered around both banks.\u00a0 SPHP collected some of them before Lupe\u00a0left for\u00a0Tetro Rock following USFS Road No. 195.2A.<\/p>\n No. 195.2A started off heading NNE away from Tetro Rock.\u00a0 It\u00a0gained a little elevation heading out of\u00a0the Black Hills National Forest and then leveled out as it turned E, passing by a couple of large homes up in the forest S of the road.\u00a0 The road soon jogged to the S a bit, turned E again, and then went SE back into the National Forest.<\/p>\n The original plan had been to follow No. 195.2A as it wound around crazily for well over a mile.\u00a0 At a point about 2 miles NNE of Tetro Rock, the Peakbagger.com topo map<\/strong><\/span> <\/a>showed some kind of faint road leaving No. 195.2A a little to the W of Tetro Creek.\u00a0 This road snaked S up a ridge about halfway to Tetro Rock.\u00a0 Lupe would then have to bushwhack the rest of the way trying to follow the high ground to the summit.<\/p>\n The original plan might have worked just fine, but shortly after No. 195.2A entered Section 6, an unmarked side road appeared on the SE side of 195.2A.\u00a0 It was just the sort of private, secluded little road that Lupe and SPHP love.\u00a0 A hump of dirt near its start looked likely to\u00a0discourage any low-clearance vehicles.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went up onto the\u00a0hump to get a better look at where this side road was going.<\/p>\n Past the hump of dirt, the little side road turned W gaining elevation gradually.\u00a0 The grassy road looked inviting.\u00a0 SPHP checked the topo map again.\u00a0 This\u00a0road wasn’t shown, but if it were to turn S, it\u00a0might actually be a shortcut to Tetro Rock.\u00a0 The terrain seemed to favor the notion that it would at least turn and head SW for a little while.<\/p>\n Well, so much for the original plan!\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP abandoned No. 195.2A to follow the side road.\u00a0 It went W for a little way, but as anticipated, gradually bent around to the S.\u00a0 SPHP became quite enthused with the way things were working out.\u00a0 The side road was staying on the E side of a drainage near the E side of Section 1.\u00a0 Although it wasn’t in view yet, Lupe and SPHP were heading almost directly toward Tetro Rock.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP made great progress for a little while on the grassy road.\u00a0 That is, until it ended.\u00a0 Suddenly, that was it.\u00a0 No more road.\u00a0 It really wasn’t surprising, but still a little disappointing that it hadn’t gone further.\u00a0 Lupe was still at least a mile N of Tetro Rock.\u00a0 The snow covered slopes of the mountain ahead looked fairly steep.<\/p>\n The choice was either to bushwhack on up the mountain and try to follow the high ground to Tetro Rock, or double back to No. 195.2A and go back to the original plan.\u00a0 SPHP checked the topo map again.\u00a0 It looked like Lupe ought to be able to continue following the high ground easily enough, if the way didn’t get too steep.\u00a0 Yeah, Lupe could do this!<\/p>\n The first part of the climb up the snowy slope was filled with a tangle of the branches\u00a0of small trees and large, slender bushes.\u00a0 It didn’t take very long to get up above the worst of it.\u00a0 The rest of the climb was steep, but not steep enough to prevent Lupe from continuing onward.\u00a0 Lupe had fun exploring, while SPHP plodded slowly upward.\u00a0 Lupe reached a rock outcropping at the top of this first big climb.<\/p>\n SPHP paused for a breather and another map check.\u00a0 The worst was over.\u00a0 It looked like the way S from here had to be less steep.\u00a0 Lupe should be able to stay toward the W side of a ridgeline and just keep climbing.\u00a0 There would be a couple of minor high points along the way, but it ought to be possible to find and climb Tetro Rock.<\/p>\n So Lupe and SPHP continued on S through the trackless\u00a0forest.\u00a0 As Lupe gained elevation, there was even more snow in the woods.\u00a0 Happily, as the topo map showed, the way forward wasn’t as steep as what Lupe had just come through.\u00a0 After climbing for a while longer, Lupe and SPHP took a break near another rock outcropping.\u00a0 SPHP ate an apple.\u00a0 Lupe had some Taste of the Wild.<\/p>\n Off to the WNW, the top of Spearfish Peak<\/a><\/span> (5,800 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> could be seen between the trees.\u00a0 Across the valley to the W was a ridge at least as high as where\u00a0Lupe was.\u00a0 SPHP checked the topo map again.\u00a0 Yes, it looked like Lupe was on the right track, but Tetro Rock was still 0.75 mile farther S.<\/p>\n Suddenly, Lupe growled.\u00a0 Her hackles raised up.\u00a0 She stood at attention looking W at the nearby rocks.\u00a0 Lupe growled several low threatening growls over the span of\u00a0a few\u00a0minutes.\u00a0 She detected something out there.\u00a0 SPHP stared W wondering what was approaching.\u00a0 SPHP detected nothing unusual.<\/p>\n Whatever it was never appeared.\u00a0 Lupe relaxed.\u00a0 So did SPHP.\u00a0 SPHP wondered what Lupe had sensed.\u00a0 Maybe it was better not knowing.<\/p>\n It was time to get going again.\u00a0 A little farther S, Lupe should come to the first, and highest, of a couple of minor high points near the SW corner of Section 6.\u00a0 Maybe Lupe would be able to see Tetro Rock from there?<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP continued a gradual climb to the SE through the snowy woods.\u00a0 Sure enough, Lupe came to a high point.\u00a0 There were a number of nice rock formations here, but the biggest one\u00a0with the best view was toward the SW end of the high ground.<\/p>\n Ahead to the S was a higher forested hill where Tetro Rock was supposed to be.\u00a0 SPHP shouldn’t have been disappointed, but this first view of Tetro Rock was a bit of a letdown.\u00a0 Of course, the topo map showed that Tetro Rock was not steep when viewed from the N.\u00a0 The SW slope is much steeper and probably far craggier and more impressive, but the SW slope\u00a0wasn’t in view from this angle.<\/p>\n Tetro Rock was still 0.5 mile away.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP left the minor highpoint continuing S.\u00a0 Now Lupe was losing elevation.\u00a0 She soon came to another lower high point.\u00a0 It featured less impressive rock formations and no views.\u00a0 The forest was too dense.<\/p>\n S of the second high point, Lupe entered a small meadow created by heavy logging.\u00a0 Slash was on the ground everywhere, along with numerous big long tree trunks that had been cut into 2.5 foot long pieces left to rot on the ground.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP had come to lots of similar areas where loggers had been\u00a0busy\u00a0along the way, but none as big as this one.\u00a0 It was slow going picking a route through all the debris.<\/p>\n At the bottom of the saddle between the last minor high point and the start of the climb to Tetro Rock, Lupe found a logging road.\u00a0 It was pretty snowy, but it helped speed things up considerably.\u00a0 The road took Lupe S to a point 0.25 mile E of the summit of Tetro Rock.\u00a0 At the high ground there, another logging road branched off to the W.\u00a0 SPHP suspected it would take Lupe right to the top of Tetro Rock.<\/p>\n The logging road going W was blocked in quite a few places by dead trees, but it did go to the summit area\u00a0on Tetro Rock.\u00a0 The road ended in a snowy clearing surrounded by forest.\u00a0 Gah!\u00a0 No views at all.\u00a0 With a name like Tetro Rock, SPHP had been expecting, or at least hoping for something more exotic.\u00a0 Well, viewed\u00a0from the SW it probably was, as the topo map indicated.\u00a0 Coming from the N\u00a0or E, it was just another high spot in the forest.<\/p>\n The snowy\u00a0clearing was nearly level.\u00a0 There was no obvious high point or summit.\u00a0 It looked like there might be higher ground off to the N, and maybe some places scattered in the nearby forest that were a little higher than the snowy clearing.\u00a0 Nothing looked like it was more than a few feet higher, though.\u00a0 Lupe was basically at the top of the mountain.<\/p>\n Before going to check out the possible rise to the N, Lupe and SPHP headed SW to see what the steep SW face of Tetro Rock looked like from above.\u00a0 From the edge of the level ground, the mountain sloped off increasingly steeply.\u00a0 There were too many trees to see the views from the high ground, although it looked like it might be possible to see something from some of the rock formations below.<\/p>\n A little cautiously, Lupe and SPHP went over the SW edge of Tetro Rock.\u00a0 The slope wasn’t bad, but looked like it was going to get steeper.\u00a0 In fact,\u00a0this looked like the kind of place that might easily end in some dramatic cliffs.\u00a0 Not too far below, there were rock formations that looked like the tops of cliffs.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP went down to check out the view from the most promising one nearby.\u00a0 Lupe was treated to a beautiful view of Terry Peak<\/a><\/span> (7,064 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> to the SSW.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP were satisfied.\u00a0 At least Tetro Rock had yielded a lovely view of Terry Peak.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP climbed back up to the rim of the flat ground.\u00a0 It was time to go check out the possible higher ground N of the snowy clearing.\u00a0 Lupe passed through the snowy clearing again on the way.<\/p>\n It wasn’t too far to the high ground to the N.\u00a0 It took longer than it should have to get there.\u00a0 The loggers had been busy here, too.\u00a0 There were lots of big tree trunks cut into sections on the ground.\u00a0 Slash was everywhere.\u00a0 As Lupe drew near the highest rocks, it was possible to see a long way off to the NE.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there were still enough standing trees to mar the view for the camera.<\/p>\n A collection of fairly big rocks among all the debris of the logged trees seemed to be the highest point on Tetro Rock.\u00a0 This was probably the true summit.\u00a0 It did seem a little higher than the snowy clearing had been, though SPHP wouldn’t swear to it.\u00a0 Several rocks looked about equally high.\u00a0 SPHP encouraged Lupe to get up on the most impressive looking of these rocks for her Tetro Rock summit photo.<\/p>\n It didn’t look like there was any higher ground farther N, but it did look like there were some bigger rock formations not too far away in that direction.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went over to check them out.\u00a0 The true summit definitely wasn’t over here, but the rock formations were certainly more impressive than those at the actual summit.<\/p>\n By now Lupe and SPHP were near the NW end of Tetro Rock.\u00a0 Lupe’s explorations of the summit area were complete.\u00a0 The sensible thing to have done would have been to just go back S to the snowy clearing and take the logging roads back to the saddle S of the minor high points N of Tetro Rock.<\/p>\n However, it seemed more\u00a0enticing to explore a shortcut by simply heading NE down the mountain.\u00a0\u00a0This route\u00a0might not be any faster than taking the logging roads, but it went through still unexplored territory.\u00a0 The topo map indicated it should work.\u00a0 So off Lupe and SPHP went, heading NE down off Tetro Rock.\u00a0 At first it was kind of steep, and Lupe passed by more big rocks.<\/p>\n The shortcut worked!\u00a0 It was slow going over the snowy rough ground, and Lupe eventually had to turn more to the E to maintain elevation, but Lupe found the same logging road again a little S of the two minor high points.<\/p>\n From here, the trek back was easy.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP just followed their tracks in the snow.\u00a0 SPHP was happy that Lupe had made it to Tetro Rock.\u00a0 Lupe enjoyed exploring the woods.\u00a0 Once Lupe reached the dead-end of the grassy side road again, the rest of the way back to the G6 was just a pleasant late afternoon road hike.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP spent a little time collecting more Lupe Treasures at False Bottom Creek before leaving the area (5:56 PM, 55\u00b0F).<\/p>\n What now?\u00a0 Lupe already had a successful peakbagging day behind her.\u00a0 She could have gone straight home.\u00a0 The American Dingo didn’t seem at all tired, though.\u00a0 SPHP still had some energy reserves left, too.\u00a0 There were still a couple of hours of daylight left.<\/p>\n Custer Peak<\/a><\/span> (6,804 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> had looked snowy and impressive from Kirk Hill earlier in the day.\u00a0 Why not go there?\u00a0 It was an easy road hike.\u00a0 Lupe could reach the top before sunset.\u00a0 The dominant peak of the N central Black Hills would provide impressive views in every direction.\u00a0 Lupe had been there before, but it sounded like a good way to end the day.<\/p>\n About 0.5 mile SE of Custer Peak, SPHP parked the G6 at an intersection along USFS Road No. 216 (6:41 PM, 42\u00b0F).\u00a0 It was chillier up here.\u00a0 There was a N breeze blowing.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP started the familiar road hike to the top.<\/p>\n A lot of snow must have melted during the day.\u00a0 There wasn’t nearly as much around as SPHP expected.\u00a0 It was an easy trek, but the N breeze felt quite cool as Lupe and SPHP neared the summit.\u00a0 The road up the mountain ends a little short of the summit.\u00a0 From there, a trail goes up to the lookout tower.\u00a0 Lupe was already beyond the end of the road and on the trail’s switchbacks, when SPHP was very surprised to see a vehicle driving up the road.<\/p>\n Lupe reached the lookout tower to complete her 5th ascent of Custer Peak.\u00a0 The sun wouldn’t set for another 15 minutes or so.\u00a0 SPHP expected people from the vehicle that had driven up the mountain would be coming up\u00a0to see the sunset, but no one came.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP wandered around the lookout tower and the surrounding area while waiting for sunset.<\/p>\n The sky was almost completely clear.\u00a0 There were no clouds in the W\u00a0to make the sunset glorious.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP watched a golden-orange fireball sink below the horizon.\u00a0 Except for the trek back to the G6, Lupe’s Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 170 was over.<\/p>\n On the way down the switchbacks, suddenly there were\u00a0two dogs!\u00a0 Two people appeared right behind them.\u00a0 Lupe\u00a0sniffed with\u00a0Ansel and Fern.\u00a0 SPHP chatted briefly in the cool breeze with Aaron Ploog and his girlfriend, Kelsey.\u00a0 It was already near freezing out, but Aaron, Kelsey and 3 dogs (there was a husky still in the car) were going to car camp on Custer Peak!\u00a0 They were on their way up to the top, so Aaron could decide what to shoot.<\/p>\n Aaron said he was with Awake At Night and lived in Spearfish.\u00a0 Later on at home, SPHP looked up\u00a0Awake At Night Photography<\/a><\/strong><\/span> on the internet.\u00a0 Aaron is a Noctographer, taking photos after dark and selling them.\u00a0 Pretty cool stuff!<\/p>\n Lupe seldom meets anyone on most of her adventures.\u00a0 Every now and then, though,\u00a0Lupe meets some very interesting people (and dogs)\u00a0out on adventures of their own!\u00a0 (8:54 PM, 33\u00b0F)<\/p>\n Lupe Treasures collected: 6 glass bottles, 3 plastic bottles, 8 aluminum cans.<\/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\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<\/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":" April in the Black Hills ended with 5 straight days when Lupe never saw the sun.\u00a0 Sometimes it rained, sometimes it snowed, sometimes it didn’t do anything except blow.\u00a0 The one thing that didn’t change was the unrelenting gloom.\u00a0 Lupe stared out the window for hours.\u00a0 She dozed when the boredom got to be too … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 170 – Kirk Hill, Tetro Rock & Custer Peak (5-1-16)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5588,"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":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[105,9,106,119,635,104,304,634],"class_list":["post-5603","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-custer-peak","tag-kirk-hill","tag-lupe","tag-south-dakota","tag-tetro-rock"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0903.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\/5603","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=5603"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28356,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5603\/revisions\/28356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>