![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_3443.jpg\")
<\/a>The big view from Iron Mountain<\/a><\/span> (5,446 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> is off to the W toward Harney Peak<\/a><\/span> (7,242 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, the highest mountain in South Dakota.\u00a0\u00a0The main attraction for most people, however, is closer by\u00a0to the NW.\u00a0\u00a0Mount Rushmore<\/a><\/span> (5,725 ft.) <\/span><\/strong>can be seen only 3 miles away.<\/p>\n Lupe didn’t go to the official,\u00a0safely-fenced, tourist viewpoint.\u00a0\u00a0She\u00a0made the 20 foot climb up\u00a0onto the short, scenic rock ridge\u00a0where the true summit is to claim her pathetically\u00a0easy Iron Mountain peakbagging success.\u00a0 Once on top at the edge of the mountain, she had no interest in sticking around for the views.\u00a0 Every blast of the N wind, gusting 30-35 mph, was hitting her full force.\u00a0 Not Lupe’s idea of a good time!<\/p>\n Of course, Iron Mountain wasn’t Lupe’s real peakbagging goal for Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 184.\u00a0\u00a0Simply driving practically\u00a0to the top\u00a0of\u00a0the mountain would have been a poor excuse for an expedition.<\/p>\n Eight days ago, on Expedition No. 183, Lupe had made it from Lakota Lake\u00a0to nearby\u00a0Woodpecker Ridge<\/a><\/span> (5,680 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 Her route traveling SW along the length of the\u00a0ridge had\u00a0been\u00a0so difficult and taken so long, Lupe\u00a0had run out\u00a0of time\u00a0to go on to Peak 5688.\u00a0 Lupe was back to find and climb\u00a0Peak 5688<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0on Expedition No. 184.<\/p>\n Lupe stayed on the windy summit of Iron Mountain for only a moment or two.\u00a0 She wanted down out of that gale!\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP left the Iron Mountain summit area\u00a0heading first S, then W down to the Iron Mountain Picnic Ground along Iron Mountain Road (Hwy 16A).\u00a0 From the picnic ground, Lupe took Centennial Bypass Trail No. 89B going SW into the Black Elk Wilderness.\u00a0 The wind wasn’t much of a problem down here.<\/p>\n Lupe was a\u00a0lot farther along Centennial Bypass Trail\u00a0No. 89B before SPHP stopped to check the maps and realized the mistake.\u00a0 No matter, Trail No. 89B was one of the few trails\u00a0Lupe had never been on before in the Black Elk Wilderness.\u00a0 She was having fun exploring it.\u00a0 Soon Lupe would reach the junction with the main\u00a0Centennial Trail No. 89.\u00a0 She could turn S there.<\/p>\n Back in 2012, when Lupe first started her Black Hills, SD Expeditions, she explored virtually the entire length of the 111 mile long Centennial Trail No. 89<\/a><\/strong><\/span> over the course of the year, one section at a time.\u00a0 It seemed like a long time ago.\u00a0 When Lupe\u00a0turned S on Centennial Trail No. 89, at first SPHP didn’t recognize anything.<\/p>\n As Lupe headed S on Centennial Trail No. 89, she started seeing huge granite rock formations a little E of the trail.\u00a0 Before long, Lupe arrived at an intersection that did look familiar.\u00a0 SPHP remembered being confused back in 2012 as to which way to go from here.\u00a0 The correct choice had been to turn E, so Lupe did so again.<\/p>\n Very shortly after turning E, the trail started curving S again, arriving almost immediately at yet another intersection.\u00a0 Centennial Trail No. 89 went S staying to the W of the huge rock formations.\u00a0 If Lupe went that way, she would arrive at the Iron Mountain Horse Camp near Iron Creek.<\/p>\n There was a faster way to get to Iron Creek, though.\u00a0 Lupe left Centennial Trail No. 89\u00a0taking\u00a0Grizzly Bear\u00a0Creek Trail No. 7 (unmarked at the junction) instead.\u00a0 Trail No. 7\u00a0went SE between towering walls of solid granite.\u00a0 Lupe followed Grizzly Bear Creek Trail No. 7 all the way down to a trailhead at USFS Road No. 345 near Iron Creek.<\/p>\n From the trailhead along USFS Road No. 345, Peak 5688 was about 2 miles to the SSE as the crow flies.\u00a0 It had taken Lupe quite a while to reach Iron Creek on the route she had taken, but there was still plenty of time to\u00a0search for Peak 5688.\u00a0 No road or trail led to it from here. \u00a0Lupe would have to make her way to Peak 5688 by\u00a0exploring the forest, but she loves doing that!<\/p>\n The first task was to cross Iron Creek, which was S of the road.\u00a0 Lupe crossed USFS Road No. 345, went to the creek, and quickly found a way over it.<\/p>\n Beyond the creek, Lupe continued S, climbing up onto\u00a0a small ridge.\u00a0 She could see\u00a0massive granite\u00a0formations typical of this part of the Black Hills back to the N.<\/p>\n Lupe and SPHP wandered through the forest, trying to\u00a0travel S in the general direction of Peak 5688.\u00a0\u00a0For a while,\u00a0it was hard to keep one’s bearings.\u00a0 The rumpled terrain kept forcing Lupe in different directions.\u00a0 There were no clear\u00a0landmarks in view.\u00a0 Lupe had never been here before.<\/p>\n After wandering around for a while, Lupe finally saw a high hill ahead.\u00a0 The high hill was part of Woodpecker Ridge, where Lupe had been 8 days ago on Expedition No. 183.<\/p>\n Lupe continued her explorations, eventually\u00a0entering an area of deadfall timber and thistles that looked vaguely familiar from Expedition No. 183.\u00a0 She came across a primitive road that led up to some high ground.\u00a0 Studying the topo map, SPHP became convinced this road was part of a route shown on the map a little W of Woodpecker Ridge.<\/p>\n Lupe saw a long forested ridge off to the SSW.\u00a0 That ridge\u00a0almost certainly had to be Peak 5688.\u00a0 Lupe was closest to it’s NNE end.\u00a0 She headed S\u00a0toward it, crossing High Point 5428\u00a0on the topo map along the way.<\/p>\n Lupe crossed a dirt road in the saddle between High Point 5428 and the NNE end of Peak 5688.\u00a0 Instead of heading for the very end of the ridge, Lupe climbed up its\u00a0NW slope to gain the ridgeline a little farther S.\u00a0 This part of the ridge was narrow, forested, and strewn with boulders.<\/p>\n Lupe was still about 0.5 mile from the summit of Peak 5688, which is near the SSW end of the ridgeline.\u00a0 Lupe followed the ridge toward the summit, gaining elevation gradually along the way.\u00a0 She started coming to places with big views again, especially toward the N and W.<\/p>\n Although the\u00a0wind hadn’t been a problem since leaving the summit of Iron Mountain, it was still blowing just as hard now as it had been earlier.\u00a0 Up on the Peak 5688 ridgeline, Lupe was increasingly exposed to the wind again as she progressed toward the summit.\u00a0 She often stayed a little\u00a0E of the ridgeline to avoid the worst of it.<\/p>\n Lupe came to a higher, broader, more open part of the ridge.\u00a0 At first, SPHP thought this might be the summit.\u00a0 There were great views from this area, but with only a few trees to slow it down here, the wind was exceptionally strong.<\/p>\n From the high open ground, a more heavily forested area was partially\u00a0in view to the SSW.\u00a0\u00a0Uncertain whether Lupe had already reached the\u00a0top\u00a0of Peak 5688\u00a0or not, Lupe and SPHP continued on to check it out.\u00a0\u00a0In a few minutes, Lupe came across a small cairn on larger rocks.<\/p>\n Stuffed in a crack in the rocks\u00a0right below the cairn\u00a0was a small, torn, zip-lock plastic bag.\u00a0 It contained a few crumpled pieces of aluminum foil,\u00a0some damp rotten paper, and\u00a0a plastic toy of two dogs water skiing.\u00a0\u00a0There was also a piece of paper with the names\u00a0William Wade & Charles Wade Johnson on it.\u00a0 It was dated 8-13-12, and signed CWJ.<\/p>\n After a short break near the cairn, Lupe and SPHP toured the general area to make absolutely certain Lupe had reached the true summit of Peak 5688.\u00a0 She had!\u00a0 Although the summit was mostly hidden by trees, there were nice views available close by.<\/p>\n The days are short\u00a0near the end of\u00a0November.\u00a0 Even though it wasn’t all that late, the sun was low.\u00a0 It would be down within the hour.\u00a0 Lupe still had a long way to go to get\u00a0back to the G6.\u00a0 She at least needed to reach USFS Road No. 345 near Iron Creek before it got dark.\u00a0 It was time to leave Peak 5688.\u00a0 Lupe was tired of the wind, anyway.<\/p>\n Lupe started back to the G6 going NNE along the Peak 5688 ridgeline.\u00a0 She didn’t follow\u00a0the ridge\u00a0nearly as far back as she had originally come up along it.\u00a0 As soon as she could, she headed NW down off the ridge.\u00a0 Within 20 minutes of leaving the summit, Lupe was out of the wind in a beautiful grassy valley.<\/p>\n The sun\u00a0sank down behind the hills.\u00a0 Lupe found a fairly good dirt road on the other side of the beautiful valley which led N.\u00a0 She followed it for a little way.\u00a0 When it turned toward the W, she left the road.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP wandered N in the forest.\u00a0 Well before twilight faded, Lupe reached Iron Creek again\u00a0at a small frozen pond.<\/p>\n Beyond Iron Creek and the frozen pond, Lupe returned to\u00a0USFS Road No. 345.\u00a0 She followed\u00a0the road\u00a0NE\u00a0two miles to the Iron Mountain Trail No. 16 trailhead.\u00a0 Along the way, she passed Camp Remington and the Grizzly Bear Creek Trail No. 7 trailhead.\u00a0 She\u00a0went by old cabins scattered along the road.\u00a0 Everything was quiet and deserted.\u00a0 Not\u00a0a soul\u00a0was around.<\/p>\n Twilight was almost gone by the time Lupe started up Iron Mountain Trail No. 16.\u00a0 The flashlight had to be put to use.\u00a0 Wind\u00a0still\u00a0blew\u00a0in the trees.\u00a0 Faint stars\u00a0appeared in the sky.\u00a0 It was that last quiet hour of darkness Lupe often experiences at the end of her Black Hills expeditions while\u00a0traveling back to the G6.<\/p>\n Uncharacteristically, SPHP decided to try a few night time shots using the camera’s flash.\u00a0 What would they show?<\/p>\n Lupe finally\u00a0arrived at\u00a0the intersection with Centennial Bypass Trail\u00a0No. 89B.\u00a0 No wonder SPHP had missed the intersection earlier in the day!\u00a0 A huge amount of deadfall timber was strewn all over Iron Mountain Trail No. 16 in this area.<\/p>\n Lupe took Trail No. 89B back to the\u00a0Iron Mountain Picnic Ground.\u00a0 She crossed Iron Mountain Road.\u00a0\u00a0Lupe\u00a0returned to the summit of Iron Mountain.<\/p>\n The wind had died down only a little.\u00a0 Tiny snowflakes\u00a0whipped by in the\u00a0gusty breeze.\u00a0 SPHP\u00a0fumbled around trying\u00a0to get a photo of Lupe on top of Iron Mountain in the dark.\u00a0 Success was limited.<\/p>\n Oh, well. \u00a0Lupe’s Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 184 to Iron Mountain & Peak 5688 was over.\u00a0 At least, Lupe had been successful!\u00a0 Time to go home. \u00a0(5:52 PM, 31\u00b0F)<\/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 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":" Windy.\u00a0 Not all that cold out, but not\u00a0terribly warm, either.\u00a0 SPHP dithered.\u00a0 Lupe was due for another of her Black Hills expeditions, but what were conditions going to be like up in the hills?\u00a0 Lupe\u00a0was\u00a0anxious\u00a0to go.\u00a0 SPHP checked the forecast again.\u00a0 Not much of a change expected all day long.\u00a0 It would probably be OK.\u00a0 … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 184 – Iron Mountain & Peak 5688 (11-28-16)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7510,"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":[105,699,9,106,691,104,1120,304],"class_list":["post-7512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-hills","tag-american-dingo","tag-black-hills","tag-black-hills-expeditions","tag-carolina-dog","tag-iron-mountain","tag-lupe","tag-peak-5688","tag-south-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_3462.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\/7512","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=7512"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22001,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7512\/revisions\/22001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a>Before long, Lupe came to a sign along the trail.\u00a0 SPHP intended for Lupe to take Iron Mountain Trail No. 16 going S to Iron Creek, but the sign didn’t mention that trail.\u00a0 The sign was actually\u00a0at the intersection, but deadfall timber hid Trail No. 16 from view.\u00a0\u00a0SPHP failed to look carefully enough to find it, and missed the turn.<\/p>\n<\/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><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>