On November 10, 2014, 8″ of new snow fell at Lupe’s house. The weather turned very cold for more than a week with highs in the 10-12°F range and subzero lows every night. Another 4″ of snow fell. Lupe was bored waiting for it all to end. She stared out the window for hours, repeatedly sighing and putting her head down, then checking again a little bit later to see if anything had changed. Nope.
Finally it did warm up. A few days came when the highs got clear up into the 40’s or even 50’s. The snow started melting fast. Saturday the 22nd was Lupe’s big chance to get out on an expedition. The next day it was supposed to turn cold again. When Lupe realized SPHP was getting the backpack ready to go, she was one enthusiastic Carolina Dog!
By 9:04 AM (43°F), Lupe was eagerly leaping out of the G6. The G6 was parked at a little side road just W of Boulder Hill Road (USFS Road No. 358) about 0.5 mile N of Hwy 16. Lupe was about 0.75 miles S of Boulder Hill (5,331 ft.), and 0.5 mile NE of Silver Mountain (5,405 ft.). Lupe wasn’t going to Boulder Hill today. Instead, the plan was for her to go to Silver Mountain, and then on to Calumet Ridge (5,601 ft.) another 2.5 miles to the W.
Lupe and SPHP started out heading W on the little unmarked side road. There was still about 6″ of snow here. Glimpses of Silver Mountain could be seen between the trees to the SW. Lupe and SPHP soon left the road to start climbing toward it.
Lupe didn’t have to go too far from the road to leave the forest. She entered an open area where there was quite a bit of deadfall timber around. These trees hadn’t been killed by pine bark beetles. Almost all of Silver Mountain burned in the August, 2002 Battle Creek fire. Between the snow and the deadfall timber, the going was rather slow.
When Lupe started hearing gunfire off to the W, things got even slower. Lupe wanted to stop and hide. She kept begging SPHP to stop, trying to block the way forward by standing on her hind legs and leaning her front paws on SPHP. It took some doing, but SPHP finally persuaded her to keep going. Lupe soon reached the top of a little ridge. Ahead was a small snowy valley. Silver Mountain loomed just beyond it.
To avoid losing too much elevation, Lupe and SPHP went W along the ridgeline for a little way. Near the upper end of the small snowy valley, Lupe turned SW again to head directly for Silver Mountain. She lost a little elevation traversing the valley, but once across started regaining it quickly.
A band of live pines that had escaped the 2002 Battle Creek fire was still standing on the upper NE slopes of Silver Mountain. As Lupe got closer, SPHP realized the trees were swaying in the wind. It wasn’t windy at all down where Lupe and SPHP were, but apparently a strong wind had kicked up out of the SW. The higher Lupe climbed, the less protection the mountain gave her. By the time Lupe was out on the open ground up above the band of trees, the wind was just a gale. The strongest gusts were enough to make SPHP stumble on the rocky ground.
There were two separate rock formations up ahead in the summit area. One was to the E, and the other to the W. Lupe and SPHP were coming up between them. The E rock formation looked to be the highest. SPHP hoped it was. The W formation looked harder to climb. SPHP didn’t want to have to waste time searching around for an easy way up to the top in this hurricane. No way Lupe would want to either.
Lupe and SPHP headed for the E rock formation. Very close to it, Lupe passed by a crude 4-sided structure made out of small logs. It was too poorly built to have ever been a real cabin. It looked more like an elaborate kid’s fort. Lupe didn’t even bother investigating it. Gunfire was still continuing sporadically to the W. She stuck close to SPHP.
The E rock formation proved to be an easy little scramble. The wind was very strong, though. It really felt cold up on top. Even Lupe was shivering a little. SPHP sat down on the highest rocks and faced NE away from the wind. Lupe curled up on SPHP’s lap. She huddled together with SPHP in SPHP’s jacket to warm up. Protected from the wind in the jacket, snuggled up with SPHP, Lupe seemed happy and reassured. She was content to lay there warming up and gazing at the view.
There were a few low bushes at the top of the E rock formation, but no trees to block the views in any direction. Lupe and SPHP could see way out onto the plains E of the Black Hills. Boulder Hill was off to the NNE. Harney Peak (7,242 ft.) was off to the SW. Calumet Ridge, Lupe’s next peakbagging goal of the day, was off to the W.
One good thing. It was easy to see from here that the W rock formation wasn’t as high as the E one. Lupe wouldn’t have to climb it. Lupe was already on the true summit of Silver Mountain!
The views were great, but there was no sense staying up in the cold wind all day. Besides, Lupe still had her Calumet Ridge peakbagging goal ahead of her. Lupe and SPHP climbed down to the saddle area between the E and W rock formations. A little W of the “fort” there was a big rock. SPHP got Lupe up on it for a photo of Boulder Hill behind her. Lupe was having to look directly into the fierce SW wind. She refused to open her eyes. Oh, well!
Lupe and SPHP went over close to the W rock formation, and then began following it NW down the ridgeline. Lupe was on her way to Calumet Ridge. She lost considerable elevation coming down Silver Mountain. She was on exposed ground all the way, but the wind gradually diminished as she lost elevation.
Beyond the end of the W rock formation at the top of the mountain, Lupe passed by a series of other lower rock outcroppings along the way. The last of the large rock formations was fairly flat, but still high enough to offer some views. Lupe could still see Calumet Ridge and Mount Warner (5,889 ft.).
As Lupe continued NW losing elevation, the wind was weaker. That was a good thing, except that she could hear the gunfire coming from the W even better now. Lupe started becoming more and more anxious again.
Lupe made it beyond the burn area NW of Silver Mountain. She entered the forest again heading W. She came to a hillside where she could see USFS Road No. 366 just below. No. 366 went N/S, and Lupe would have to cross it to continue on to Calumet Ridge. Lupe was just E of the saddle at the highest point on the road.
But Lupe wasn’t going any farther. She was a nervous wreck. Volleys of 10 shots or more kept coming. She was much closer to them now than at Silver Mountain. Gunfire was heard to the W, SW and NW. At first SPHP had thought hunters were the source. The truth was, people were just out for some target practice, which is why the gunfire went on and on. It sounded like a war was in progress.
For a few minutes, SPHP stopped and looked at the maps. There was certainly time for Lupe to get to Calumet Ridge, and it was a very nice day out of the wind. SPHP ate some carrot sticks and pondered. Lupe wanted to hide right here until the coast was clear. The problem was, the coast wasn’t going to clear until it got too dark for target practice.
Lupe normally loves all of her Black Hills explorations, but she wasn’t having any fun now. She was convinced there was mortal danger all around. Her worries were unfounded, but there was no way to convincingly convey that to her. No reason to make her suffer. Time to turn around. Lupe would make it to Calumet Ridge another day, when target practice wasn’t in such vogue.
Lupe wasn’t relieved of her fears until she was back over to the E side of the NW ridge coming down from Silver Mountain. When she reached the G6 (12:09 PM, 50°F), she hopped right in ASAP! Turns out there are worse things than being bored – like fearing for your life!
It had been a very short Black Hills expedition, barely 3 hours, but Lupe did climb Silver Mountain. About half an hour after Lupe got home, Guille showed up unexpectedly. She brought a lot of food with her, including a beautiful big ham. Lupe and SPHP gorged on ham. Life was good.
SPHP was certain Lupe was completely stuffed when she started taking pieces of ham out to the back yard to bury them for future feasts. Carolina Dogs think ahead, you know!
Links:
Next Black Hills Expedition Prior Black Hills Expedition
Want more Lupe adventures? Choose from Lupe’s Black Hills Expeditions Adventure Index or Master Adventure Index. Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.