SPHP trudged up the hill.\u00a0 The slope was moderate, until Lupe arrived\u00a0at the base of a\u00a0rocky ridge with a line\u00a0of small cliffs facing SW.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went around the S end of the rocks, and easily got up\u00a0on top.<\/p>\n The Strawberry Ridge summit area\u00a0was large and flat.\u00a0 Nothing stood out as the absolute high point.\u00a0 The most interesting part of the mountain was the line of small cliffs to the SW.\u00a0 Forest hid the views in every direction.<\/p>\n Following the edge of the cliffs NW a little way, Lupe came to a small opening where Custer Peak<\/a><\/span> (6,804 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> could be seen off to the SSW.\u00a0 That was about it for views.\u00a0 At least the clouds had lifted quite a bit by now.\u00a0 Although hazy ill-defined clouds still dominated the sky, they weren’t nearly so low as earlier in the day.\u00a0 At times, the sun even came out.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP looked around for the highest spot on Strawberry Ridge, but it really was all about the same elevation.\u00a0 SPHP finally chose a spot for Lupe’s summit photo.\u00a0 She grinned cheerily for the camera.\u00a0 Then she went and explored some of the interesting rocks along the line of small cliffs.<\/p>\n After exploring Strawberry Ridge, the short\u00a0march back to the G6 was uneventful except that Lupe found a squirrel to bark at, and SPHP found the first Lupe Treasure of the day.\u00a0 A big black tarp had been abandoned in the forest near Gilt Edge Road.\u00a0 SPHP managed to get it stuffed into the trunk of the G6 (10:24 AM, 62\u00b0F).<\/p>\n For a moment, Lupe\u00a0was reluctant to hop into the G6.\u00a0 She was worried that Strawberry Mountain was going to be it for the day.\u00a0 Why, the day was\u00a0hardly getting started.\u00a0\u00a0She didn’t want to go home yet!\u00a0\u00a0SPHP persuaded her there\u00a0was more fun in store.\u00a0 Lupe leaped in.\u00a0 She mostly enjoyed\u00a0the ride to\u00a0the next stop, but whined a little when there weren’t enough cows, horses or deer to bark at along the way.<\/p>\n SPHP parked the G6 at the Sugarloaf trailhead\u00a0of the Mickelson Trail<\/strong><\/a><\/span> along Hwy 85 SW of Lead (10:37 AM, 66\u00b0F).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lupe wasn’t going to take the Mickelson Trail, however.\u00a0 She had another peakbagging goal nearby, and the trail didn’t go to it.\u00a0 Lupe was going to climb\u00a0Sugarloaf Mountain<\/span><\/a> (6,037 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Sugarloaf Mountain was only 0.33 mile SW of the trailhead, but SPHP didn’t know how to get to it.\u00a0 A private home blocked the\u00a0way through the valley\u00a0E of the mountain.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP tried finding a way past the private property by following Whitetail Creek upstream along Hwy 85.\u00a0 The creek was pretty, but due to its proximity to the highway, there were a lot of Lupe Treasures along it.<\/p>\n The exploration up Whitetail Creek was a failure.\u00a0 Lupe kept coming to more private property along the creek.\u00a0 It didn’t look like there was any access to Sugarloaf Mountain from here.\u00a0 Lupe had to turn around and go back.<\/p>\n SPHP finally found a way up onto a ridge E of Sugarloaf Mountain.\u00a0 Lupe never got to the top of the ridge, but followed it S until she could cross the valley to the W.\u00a0 Down in the upper reaches of the valley, Lupe came to a tiny stream flowing over\u00a0an abandoned road.\u00a0 The stream was full of silt and mud.\u00a0 Lupe laid right down in it to cool off.\u00a0 A two-toned American Dingo emerged from the mud.<\/p>\n Lupe seemed quite pleased with her new two-toned look!\u00a0 Or maybe it was just that the cool mud felt good.\u00a0 It was getting warmer and sunnier out.\u00a0 The air was very humid.\u00a0 As Lupe headed NW up out of the valley toward Sugarloaf Mountain, SPHP started sweating.\u00a0 SPHP stopped to put on sunscreen, as much for the breather as for protection from the sun.<\/p>\n While\u00a0Lupe climbed Sugarloaf Mountain, SPHP started thinking about how it was getting to that time of year when Lupe needs to be exploring higher mountains than the Black Hills.\u00a0 Heat\u00a0always saps SPHP’s energy.\u00a0 Lupe isn’t immune either.\u00a0 Climbing mountains in the heat is even\u00a0worse wearing a fur coat!<\/p>\n The Carolina Dog soon arrived at the top of Sugarloaf Mountain<\/span><\/a> (6,037 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 The summit area was a narrow ridge maybe 50 feet long running N\/S.\u00a0 A big rock toward the N end was clearly the highest point on the mountain.\u00a0 A few feet N of it, a 3″ diameter pipe stuck up several feet out of the ground.\u00a0 Lupe hopped up on the summit rock to complete her ascent.<\/p>\n Sugarloaf Mountain was forested, but there were several places along the narrow summit ridge\u00a0where it was possible to get a distant view.\u00a0 Lupe could see Terry Peak<\/a><\/span> (7,064 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and Deer Mountain<\/a><\/span> (6,652 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0to the W.\u00a0 To the NE was the town of Lead.<\/p>\n After a lengthy rest break on Sugarloaf Mountain, Lupe and SPHP headed S down off the mountain.\u00a0 Lupe was on her way to her last peakbagging goal of the day, the highpoint of Woodville Hills<\/a><\/span> (6,280 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 The journey started out well.\u00a0 As expected, Lupe came to a gravel pit shown on the maps while still coming down Sugarloaf.\u00a0 The gravel pit had a number of\u00a0very small\u00a0ponds along the E side of it.\u00a0 Frogs were croaking away, but stopped abruptly when Lupe drew near.<\/p>\n S of the gravel pit, Lupe found a road.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP started following it SW, but came to a No Trespassing sign.\u00a0 A big house could be seen off to the W, a short distance ahead.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP went S to avoid it, but came\u00a0to a big housing subdivision at the W end of Ruby Flats.\u00a0 The housing subdivision was quite new.\u00a0 Many of the lots were undeveloped, although beautiful new homes were scattered around, too.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP passed through the subdivision on paved streets named Rubys Way and Outlaw Pass.\u00a0 Outlaw Pass seemed appropriate enough, but no one stopped outlaws Lupe or SPHP.\u00a0 Lupe made it through the subdivision without incident, and returned to the forest heading SE.\u00a0 It wasn’t too far to a new obstacle – a\u00a0deep gash in the land.<\/p>\n The gash was man-made.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP followed the gash to the S from up above.\u00a0 At the S end, Lupe went down an embankment to arrive at a rough road that came through the gash.\u00a0 Lupe needed to continue SE, but a log entrance across the rough road was marked with a “private property, no trespassing” sign in that direction.\u00a0 Reluctantly, Lupe and SPHP turned N going through the gash.<\/p>\n Lupe had hardly started on the way N, when an ATV suddenly appeared at the N end of the gash and came toward her.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP got off the rough road to let the ATV go by, but the driver stopped to chat.\u00a0 The couple in the ATV turned out to be the owners of the private property to the S.\u00a0 They quickly informed SPHP that the rough road was part of Old Rail Road, and wasn’t part of their property.\u00a0 No problem going S following the road.<\/p>\n That was good news!\u00a0 As soon as the ATV roared off, Lupe and SPHP turned around and headed S again.\u00a0\u00a0A\u00a0small pond was down below the W bank of Old Rail Road just beyond the log entrance.\u00a0 Frogs croaked in the pond as Lupe passed by above.\u00a0 Old Rail Road stayed almost level as it wound its way around to the E and then S again.\u00a0 Lupe was now making good progress toward Woodville Hills.<\/p>\n After more than 0.25 mile on Old Rail Road, other roads started coming in from the W.\u00a0 Old Rail Road got bigger and turned to gravel.\u00a0 Lupe started passing by homes on large forested lots.\u00a0 Old Rail Road\u00a0led to\u00a0a valley where it\u00a0intersected Englewood Road near Aqueduct Creek.\u00a0 The Mickelson Trail ran through the valley paralleling the creek.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP paused at the Englewood trailhead for a short break.<\/p>\n After the\u00a0brief break at the trailhead, Lupe continued S a short way upstream near Aqueduct Creek.\u00a0 While SPHP gathered a few Lupe Treasures along the bank, Lupe cooled her paws off in the stream.<\/p>\n Brownsville Road intersects Englewood\u00a0Road just S of the Englewood trailhead.\u00a0 Lupe could have followed Brownsville Road 1.5 miles around to the S end of the Woodville Hills ridge to a point not far from the summit, but the wide gravel road\u00a0was a rather dull option.\u00a0 Instead, Lupe left Aqueduct Creek, and crossed over to the E side of Brownsville Road.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP disappeared into the forest.<\/p>\n The Woodville Hills ridge is all forested, and\u00a0runs for more than a mile in a NNW\/SSE direction.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP made a steep climb up onto a secondary ridge protruding out to the W.\u00a0 Lupe followed the secondary ridge E\u00a0toward the main ridge.\u00a0 She came to an interesting\u00a0big rock formation of fairly sharp rocks along the way.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP skirted around to the S of it.<\/p>\n Beyond the sharp\u00a0rock formation,\u00a0Lupe still had to keep climbing to the E in order to get up onto the main ridge.\u00a0 She reached\u00a0it not too far from its N end.\u00a0 The true summit of Woodville Hills was still a mile or more to the S.<\/p>\n Shortly after starting S on the main ridge, Lupe found an abandoned fort.\u00a0 She promptly took possession of it, proudly proclaiming it Fort Dingo!<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP expanded American Dingo territory exploring the Woodville Hills ridgeline to the S.\u00a0 Lupe came to a series of minor high points along the way.\u00a0 She climbed most of them.\u00a0 Although there was elevation loss between each high point, overall Lupe was still clearly gaining elevation.<\/p>\n Lupe finally reached the true summit of Woodville Hills<\/a><\/span> (6,280 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> very close to the S end of the ridge.\u00a0 SPHP had hoped there would be a good view of Custer Peak<\/span><\/a> (6,804 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, but the Woodville Hills summit was buried in the forest like the rest of the ridgeline.\u00a0 There really wasn’t much of a view in any direction.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP explored a bit farther S along the ridgeline.\u00a0 Lupe had hardly left the true summit, when she\u00a0arrived at\u00a0a dirt road that came up from the E.\u00a0 Clearly, Lupe hadn’t taken the easiest route to the summit, but SPHP remained convinced\u00a0her route had been more interesting.<\/p>\n Nearby, a\u00a0narrow gap in the trees offered a still hazy look at Custer Peak.\u00a0 Brownsville Road could be glimpsed through the forest down below to the S.\u00a0 Lupe’s explorations of the Woodville Hills were now complete.\u00a0 It was time to turn around.\u00a0 Lupe returned to the summit briefly, before pressing on to the N.<\/p>\n For the most part, Lupe’s return route was the same.\u00a0 She returned to Fort Dingo, she followed Old Rail Road again, and passed through the new subdivision at the W end of Ruby Flats.\u00a0 Lupe even returned to make a\u00a0second ascent of Sugarloaf Mountain.<\/p>\n However, the last part of Lupe’s journey back to the G6 was different.\u00a0 Lupe followed a dirt road S of the summit around the E side of Sugarloaf Mountain.\u00a0 SPHP expected it to descend down into the valley to the E, but it did not.\u00a0 Instead it curled around the N side of the mountain, dropping steeply,\u00a0before finally coming out between a couple of cabins at the NE end of the White Tail Court Resort along Hwy 85.<\/p>\n From the White Tail Court Resort, it was only 0.25 mile back to the G6 parked at the Sugarloaf trailhead of the Mickelson Trail.\u00a0\u00a0 It took Lupe and SPHP quite a long time to get there, though.\u00a0 Along the way, SPHP collected the great majority of the Lupe Treasures found during the day between Hwy 85 and Whitetail Creek.<\/p>\n There were more Lupe Treasures available than SPHP was able to carry, but\u00a0 Lupe was satisfied.\u00a0\u00a0Once she got back to the G6\u00a0(7:34 PM, 57\u00b0F), she didn’t want to go back for more.\u00a0 She had accomplished all three of her peakbagging goals, established Fort Dingo in the Woodville Hills, and been on top of Sugarloaf Mountain twice.\u00a0 That was enough!\u00a0 She hopped in the G6.\u00a0 The next treasures she\u00a0wanted to see\u00a0were a nice bowl of Alpo and a soft bed at home.<\/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\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<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lupe had been revved up for a couple of days.\u00a0 SPHP had promised to take her\u00a0on one of her Black Hills expeditions this morning,\u00a0yet she almost didn’t get to go.\u00a0 Lupe was up early, but the morning sky was totally overcast.\u00a0 Low clouds\u00a0socked in the\u00a0nearby hills.\u00a0 It looked like rain and fog were in Lupe’s … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 173 – Strawberry Ridge, Sugarloaf Mountain & Woodville Hills (5-21-16)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5771,"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":[105,9,106,104,304,645,283,646],"class_list":["post-5792","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-lupe","tag-south-dakota","tag-strawberry-ridge","tag-sugarloaf-mountain","tag-woodville-hills"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1004.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\/5792","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=5792"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22485,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5792\/revisions\/22485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0999-e1554871469967-768x1024.jpg?resize=660%2C880\")
<\/a>![\"Custer](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1000-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1001-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Near](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1002-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Exploring](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1003-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Starting](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1004-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Whitetail](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1005-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1006-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1007-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1008-e1554871541886-768x1024.jpg?resize=660%2C880\")
<\/a>![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1009-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1011-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Big](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1012-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1013-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1014-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1015-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1016-e1554871629740-768x1024.jpg?resize=660%2C880\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1023-e1554871752636-768x1024.jpg?resize=660%2C880\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1017-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Yellow](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1018-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1019-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1020-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Looking](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1021-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"A](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1022-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1024-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>![\"Lupe](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_1025-1024x768.jpg?resize=660%2C495\")
<\/a>Lupe Treasures collected: 11 plastic bottles, 19 glass bottles, 34 aluminum cans,\u00a0a large black tarp, a baby’s sweater, and miscellaneous trash.<\/em><\/p>\n