{"id":9679,"date":"2018-08-08T08:10:23","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T14:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=9679"},"modified":"2020-09-21T12:26:03","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T18:26:03","slug":"black-hills-sd-expedition-no-70-east-of-gillette-prairie-11-24-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=9679","title":{"rendered":"Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 70 – East of Gillette Prairie (11-24-13)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Start (9:39 AM, 40\u00b0F), intersection of Slate Creek Road (County Road No. 309) & USFS Road No. 424, about 5 miles SE of Deerfield Reservoir<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh no, not again!\u00a0 Ugh, seriously?\u00a0 What a chow hound!\u00a0 What was that icky red thing over there anyway?\u00a0 Some disgusting carcass no doubt.\u00a0 SPHP called a couple times before Big Sid came running.<\/p>\n

No wonder you’re Big Sid, you’ll eat anything no matter how dreadful it is!<\/em><\/p>\n

Sidney didn’t feel the least bit ashamed of himself.\u00a0 If anything, he\u00a0took pride in his new found wilderness survival skills.\u00a0 On Expedition No. 69, he’d done the same thing.\u00a0 He’d suddenly disappeared, and after a short search SPHP had found him chomping away on\u00a0an absolutely vile, sickly\u00a0green, huge mucous-covered sac or organ he’d found in the woods.<\/p>\n

What had it been that time?\u00a0 Maybe a deer liver or stomach.\u00a0 Whatever it was, Lupe had the\u00a0good sense to\u00a0show no interest.\u00a0\u00a0To SPHP the mere sight of it had been revolting.\u00a0 Yet there was Sidney, gulping it down with evident delight.\u00a0 An hour later, he puked it all up again.\u00a0 Charming.\u00a0 At least he hadn’t waited until he’d been returned home.\u00a0 The neighbors would have loved that.<\/p>\n

Lupe wasn’t even 0.5 mile from the G6\u00a0yet when Sidney discovered this latest delicacy.\u00a0 Big Sid was only on his\u00a04th expedition with Lupe.\u00a0 If he was going to be a regular, he was going to have to give up this nauseous-treat-in-the-woods routine.\u00a0 Other than that, Sidney had been doing fine on these expeditions and getting lots of needed exercise.<\/p>\n

Onward!\u00a0 Lupe, Sidney and SPHP continued NW up USFS Road No. 424.\u00a0 The road turned N and climbed up to a minor pass.\u00a0 Staying on the road any further meant losing elevation, so everyone left\u00a0it heading WNW.\u00a0 Snow was on the ground, but didn’t amount to much.\u00a0 Lupe was still gaining elevation.\u00a0 Before long, she was out of the trees and cresting a big, barren ridge.\u00a0 She had reached the E edge of Gillette Prairie.<\/p>\n

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Lupe reaches the E edge of Gillette Prairie, several square miles of rolling grasslands within the Black Hills. Photo looks W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Looking NW toward high country of the limestone plateau from the E edge of Gillette Prairie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This was Sidney’s 4th expedition with Lupe. He was supposed to be getting exercise so he could slim down, not finding disgusting things to eat in the forest, which he seemed to have a talent for. Photo looks W across Gillette Prairie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Loop on the barren ridge E of Gillette Prairie Photo looks E.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No definite plan existed\u00a0for Expedition No. 70, though SPHP thought\u00a0it might be fun for Lupe to go clear around Gillette Prairie.\u00a0 W of Gillette Prairie were high ridges, part\u00a0of the limestone plateau country.\u00a0 The ridges were some of the highest ground in the Black Hills.\u00a0 From Green Mountain<\/a><\/span> (7,167 ft.) <\/span><\/strong>Lupe ought to have some fabulous views.<\/p>\n

Going directly\u00a0across Gillette Prairie wasn’t an option.\u00a0 Nearly all\u00a0the open ground was privately owned ranchland, but it\u00a0was\u00a0all\u00a0surrounded by Black Hills National Forest.<\/p>\n

The highest part of the ridge Lupe was on was off to the NW.\u00a0 That might be the best way to go.\u00a0 Lupe and Sidney kept climbing along the ridge.\u00a0 The high point was back in the forest, but Lupe had enough of a view to see South Slate Creek valley ahead.\u00a0 Lupe would have to lose elevation crossing it.<\/p>\n

Losing\u00a0some elevation wasn’t a big deal.\u00a0 Lupe and Sidney proceeded on down toward the valley.\u00a0 Lupe was half way down or more when she came to a fence.\u00a0 The fence ran N\/S.\u00a0 A house could now be seen\u00a0on the NW side of the valley.\u00a0 That meant the\u00a0land beyond the fence was likely private property.\u00a0 Continuing NW apparently wasn’t an option, at least not here.\u00a0 Lupe\u00a0would have to follow the fence N\u00a0for a while.<\/p>\n

No problem, except where was Sidney?\u00a0 He was missing again!\u00a0 Lupe never wanders off for more\u00a0than a few minutes.\u00a0 She was here,\u00a0but Sidney was nowhere in sight.\u00a0 Where had he disappeared to this time?\u00a0 What had he\u00a0gotten into\u00a0now?\u00a0 SPHP quickly scanned the forest for movement.\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 Oh, brother – not good!<\/p>\n

Shortly before\u00a0reaching the fence, Lupe had crossed a dirt road.\u00a0 Loop and SPHP went back to it.\u00a0 No Sidney in either direction.\u00a0 No Sidney in any direction.\u00a0 SPHP started calling for Sidney.\u00a0 Several minutes went by.\u00a0 Big Sid did not appear.\u00a0 Worrisome, very worrisome.<\/p>\n

Suddenly finding Sidney was top priority.\u00a0 The neighbors would\u00a0be unhappy if SPHP delivered a queasy Sidney home to puke on their carpets, but absolutely and justifiably\u00a0outraged if SPHP managed to completely lose their precious pooch!<\/p>\n

The snow on the ground\u00a0was insufficient\u00a0to track him, and\u00a0his Carolina Dog buddy wasn’t any help.\u00a0 Lupe didn’t seem the least bit concerned where her friend Sidney was.\u00a0 Maybe she reasoned that Big Sid had enough reserves to easily last him a month in the wilderness, and he would be fine.\u00a0 That might be true enough, but “We’ll go back to Gillette Prairie in a month or two to find Sid when he’s all nice and slim and trim.”<\/em> sure wasn’t going to fly back home.<\/p>\n

Gah!\u00a0 What to do?\u00a0 Where had he gone?\u00a0 Back to the red carcass?\u00a0 Back to the G6?\u00a0 Following some new wretched scent off into the forest?\u00a0 SPHP stood on a stump looking for movement, calling and calling for Big Sid.<\/p>\n

Finally Big Sid reappeared, trotting happily back along the road from the S without a care in the world.\u00a0 Sheesh!\u00a0 He hadn’t been gone all that long, but SPHP was very glad to see him.\u00a0 At least Sidney\u00a0finally responded when called, but better keep a closer eye on him from now on.\u00a0 SPHP was\u00a0used to letting Lupe roam at will without having to worry she would disappear\u00a0like that.\u00a0 Lupe always\u00a0kept close tabs on SPHP, not the other way around.<\/p>\n

OK, back to business.\u00a0 Lupe, Sidney and SPHP went down to the fence again and began following it N.\u00a0\u00a0Ten minutes later, the fence turned NE.\u00a0 Following it NE way down South Slate Creek valley meant losing a lot more elevation.\u00a0 Sigh.\u00a0 Maybe it was best to simply go S instead?\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps Sidney had the\u00a0right idea after all?<\/p>\n

Fine, let’s try that.\u00a0 Everyone went S.\u00a0 It was a fiasco.\u00a0 The fence went S\u00a0for a while, a little W of\u00a0the barren ridge Lupe and Sid had been on before, but eventually turned SE instead of SW.\u00a0 SPHP finally checked the USFS map and found that Lupe would have to go clear back to the G6, and then even farther S to get around Gillette Prairie this way.\u00a0 Everything to the W was private property.<\/p>\n

No way!\u00a0 The northern route was better, shorter.<\/p>\n

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Following the fence S along the E side of the private ranchlands in Gillette Prairie backfired. There was no way W across the private land, and the fence eventually turned SE instead of SW. When SPHP finally checked the map, it was clear that going N was the best way around. All this time, Lupe and Big Sid had the same slightly closer view of Green Mountain (L) on the far side of Gillette Prairie that they’d had before. Photo looks W.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and Big Sid wound up back on USFS Road No. 424 heading N up to the same minor pass again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This time they stayed on the road beyond the pass, losing elevation for a while before leaving the road to venture NNW.\u00a0\u00a0They climbed up to a different rocky high point overlooking South Slate Creek valley\u00a0where they\u00a0stopped for a Taste of the Wild and water break.<\/p>\n

The big useless loop back to the S and E\u00a0had consumed 1.5 hours of daylight.\u00a0 Completely circumnavigating Gillette Prairie wasn’t going to be possible now.\u00a0 Maybe\u00a0Lupe could still get over to the high country on the NW side, though, before turning back?<\/p>\n

Lupe and Sidney continued on.\u00a0 They went clear down to South Slate Creek, crossed it, and found USFS Road No. 424.1B, a muddy road which led N up a\u00a0hill on the other side of the valley.\u00a0 At the top of the hill, another road came in from the W.\u00a0 Since they had to be N of Gillette Prairie by now, Lupe and Sid turned W and followed it.<\/p>\n

When the new road turned SW, Lupe and Sidney left it wandering W on level ground\u00a0through the forest for a while.\u00a0 Exploring was fun, but the terrain eventually forced them S back to the road.\u00a0 Soon afterward,\u00a0the road intersected USFS Road No. 297, the main N\/S gravel\u00a0road through Gillette Prairie.\u00a0\u00a0A marker said the side road they had been\u00a0following was No. 297.4D.<\/p>\n

Lupe and Sidney were finally getting somewhere!\u00a0 Another, better road (unmarked, but likely USFS Road No. 656) was on the W side of No. 297.\u00a0 No fences were over here, so it appeared to be USFS land.\u00a0 Lupe liked exploring the forest, so everyone left No. 656, but continued paralleling it a little to the N.<\/p>\n

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After a lot of circling around, Lupe and Sidney finally started making progress toward Green Mountain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For a little while, Lupe and Sidney were making great progress toward Green Mountain.\u00a0 It was too good to last.\u00a0 No. 656 turned S and led into private property.\u00a0 A fence, a\u00a0house and horses were up ahead.\u00a0 To get around them, Lupe would have to continue W down a thickly forested slope.\u00a0 How far she would have to go\u00a0and how much elevation she would have to lose, was unclear.<\/p>\n

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Once USFS Road No. 656 turned S and entered private property, the jig was up. To continue W off the road down into this thick forest before starting a big climb up Green Mountain was not an option. It was too late in the day for such an adventure. Photo looks NW. Hat Mountain<\/a><\/span> (6,779 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> which Lupe and Sidney had climbed on Expedition No. 69 is in view in the distance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Too much time had been lost earlier.\u00a0 It was too late in the day for a long off-road, off-trail\u00a0adventure through thick forest leading to a long climb.\u00a0 Green Mountain wasn’t happening.\u00a0 Ahh, well.\u00a0 So it goes.\u00a0 No big views today.\u00a0\u00a0Better turn back.<\/p>\n

Lupe and Sidney didn’t care.\u00a0 Going to Green Mountain or back to the G6 was all the same to them.\u00a0 They were still having a blast exploring.\u00a0 At least Big Sid hadn’t disappeared again.<\/p>\n

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Although this was only Big Sid’s 4th expedition with Lupe, he was getting the hang of how things worked. He really enjoyed the long days in the hills, although his owners reported back after each trek that he was totally exhausted and could barely move for days on end afterwards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Loop and Sidney, neighbors and exploring partners, shortly after starting back for the G6. They got along well on their joint expeditions. Sidney was a welcome addition to the pack!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For a while, the route back was a retracement of Lupe and Big Sid’s earlier travels.\u00a0 The dogs paralleled No. 656 through the forest back to No. 297, crossed it, and followed No. 297.4D to the junction with No. 424.1B.\u00a0 They then went S on muddy No. 424.1B down to South Slate Creek.<\/p>\n

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Going S down muddy USFS Road No. 424.1B into the South Slate Creek valley. Lupe and Sidney had taken their Taste of the Wild and water break earlier in the day up on top of the hill seen ahead. Photo looks S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Loop checking for squirrels on the way down to South Slate Creek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Upon reaching South Slate Creek, Loop and Sid made a change in the route back, exploring a road leading E downstream.\u00a0 The sun was getting low now.\u00a0 It seemed best to stick to the roads, at least until they were closer to the G6.<\/p>\n

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Bare aspen trees in South Slate Creek valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Down in South Slate Creek valley, the sun was already getting low.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Sidney in the snow in South Slate Creek valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Lupe liked the snow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe and Sidney didn’t have to go too far down South Slate Creek valley before reaching a junction with USFS Road\u00a0No. 424 again.\u00a0 They were farther N on it than they’d been before and took it heading S.<\/p>\n

No. 424 would have led all the way back to the G6, but\u00a0upon reaching\u00a0the minor pass for the 3rd time today, this time from the N,\u00a0SPHP decided to climb High Point 6624, the hill to the E.\u00a0 The\u00a0last rays of sunlight were still glowing faintly on the highest distant peaks when Lupe and Big Sid arrived on top 15 minutes later.\u00a0 Everything else was in shadow.<\/p>\n

The views were beautiful\u00a0– peaceful, serene.\u00a0 The Black Hills stretched N to the horizon.\u00a0 To the E, the prairies of western South Dakota were dimly\u00a0perceived beyond the hills.<\/p>\n

The remaining light faded\u00a0quickly from even the highest hills.\u00a0 A slow, steep trek down an ugly S slope covered with deadfall timber and thistles ensued.\u00a0 Reaching No. 424 again far down in the valley took a while, but the G6 was now close by.\u00a0 It was\u00a0nearly dark when Lupe and Sidney jumped in (4:53 PM, 30\u00b0F).<\/p>\n

A warning light came on when SPHP started the G6.\u00a0 Yikes!\u00a0 Not one, but two<\/strong> tires had low air pressure!<\/em>\u00a0 Fortunately, enough pressure remained in each to make it home.\u00a0 Sidney was returned to his owners.\u00a0 Somehow he managed not to puke up any noxious materials overnight.<\/p>\n

Even though Lupe’s adventures East of Gillette Prairie hadn’t led to any great accomplishments, it had still been a lovely day spent exploring the hills.\u00a0 Both dogs had fun, and various tragedies had been avoided.\u00a0 Some adventures that’s as good as it gets.\u00a0 Best to have enough sense to appreciate it!<\/p>\n

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South Slate Creek valley near sundown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\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 Prior Black Hills Expedition<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0 Check out her Black Hills, SD & WY\u00a0Expeditions\u00a0Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, Master Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a>!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Start (9:39 AM, 40\u00b0F), intersection of Slate Creek Road (County Road No. 309) & USFS Road No. 424, about 5 miles SE of Deerfield Reservoir Oh no, not again!\u00a0 Ugh, seriously?\u00a0 What a chow hound!\u00a0 What was that icky red thing over there anyway?\u00a0 Some disgusting carcass no doubt.\u00a0 SPHP called a couple times before … Continue reading Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 70 – East of Gillette Prairie (11-24-13)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9691,"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":[105,822,9,106,821,104,802,304],"class_list":["post-9679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-hills","tag-american-dingo","tag-big-sid","tag-black-hills-expeditions","tag-carolina-dog","tag-gillette-prairie","tag-lupe","tag-sidney","tag-south-dakota"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/SDC11259.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\/9679","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=9679"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28216,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9679\/revisions\/28216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}