Since discovering the site Peakbagger.com in early May, 2014, SPHP has used Peakbagger.com to record many of Lupe’s climbs and explorations. Peakbagger helps keep track of which mountains Lupe has climbed along with various other statistics about Lupe’s climbing exploits. Peakbagger also maintains a data base on mountains worldwide including maps and all kinds of statistical information. Users can even add “provisional peaks” to the data base for review and possible acceptance to the permanent data base.
Even including the still provisional peaks, Lupe has already climbed nearly all of the Black Hills, SD mountains currently in the Peakbagger.com data base. Most of the remaining ones Lupe will never climb for one reason or another. Some of them, like the Cathedral Spires (6,840 ft.) and Peak 6920, are basically cliffs and require technical rock climbing equipment. Others, like Mt. Rushmore (5,725 ft.), are illegal for her to climb. A few peaks are on private property where it would be difficult to get permission from the landowner. Thunderhead Mountain (6,567 ft.) where the Crazy Horse Memorial carving is would be an example.
However, prior to Expedition No. 127 there were still a couple of Black Hills, SD mountains in the Peakbagger.com data base that Lupe had never climbed where she might be successful. Both are provisional peaks. Hat Mountain (4,883 ft.) (the one NW of Norris Peak (4,982 ft.), not the one S of Deerfield Reservoir) was one. Anchor Hill (5,720 ft.) was the other. Lupe had already made prior attempts in 2015 to climb both of these peaks. Hat Mountain was a secondary goal on Expedition No. 116 (1-24-15), and a primary goal on Expedition No. 117 (1-31-15). Lupe never even got to Hat Mountain either time, since SPHP had started both of those expeditions from too far away (rain, fog and short daylight hours also played a role).
Lupe had tried to find Anchor Hill on Expedition No. 119 after climbing to the Meade County High Point (5,460 ft.) , but the approach from Hwy 385 was confusing to SPHP and led to a dead end at the old Gilt Edge gold mine. On Expedition No. 120 Anchor Hill had been the most distant possible goal, but Lupe only reached Pillar Peak after SPHP wasted a bunch of time on another dead end down in Two Bit Creek valley. SPHP actually thought Lupe had succeeded in climbing Anchor Hill on Expedition No. 122 only to realize later that she had really climbed a slightly higher hill (now dubbed “Fake Anchor Hill”) about 0.5 mile to the NE of Anchor Hill.
SPHP resolved that Lupe was going to find and climb both Hat Mountain and Anchor Hill, or find out why she couldn’t, on Expedition No. 127. At last Lupe would have done all that she could do to climb all of the Black Hills, SD peaks currently in the Peakbagger.com data base.
At 10:18 AM, SPHP parked the G6 at the intersection of Norris Peak Road and Geary Blvd, a point just a little over 0.5 mile S of Hat Mountain. This was a much, much closer starting point to Hat Mountain than Lupe had on either Expedition No. 116 or No. 117. There were scattered little puffy clouds racing across the mostly sunny sky driven by a 25 mph NNW wind. With the wind, the 40°F temperature seemed a bit chilly. Fortunately, most of the time the forest provided considerable relief from the wind.
This time, Lupe had no problem getting to Hat Mountain. A very nice brief hike along mostly level ground through a forest crisscrossed by all kinds of little roads and trails brought Lupe to the SW slope of Hat Mountain in what seemed like no time at all. (For an even shorter hike to Hat Mountain, take USFS Road No. 721 from Norris Peak Road. No. 721 passes just S of Hat Mountain.)
Hat Mountain wasn’t really all that much of a climb. However, it still wasn’t certain in SPHP’s mind that Lupe could reach the top. SPHP had seen Hat Mountain from a distance before many times. From a distance Hat Mountain appeared round, and near the top it seemed to be surrounded by a ring of solid rock cliffs. It remained to be seen if the cliffs extended all the way around the mountain top or not. Lupe was soon at the base of the cliffs on the SW slope. The cliffs were only maybe 20-30 feet high, but there was no way up them for Lupe here.
Lupe started scouting around the mountain near the base of the cliffs along the S and then SE side. On the SE side was a narrow cleft in the rocks with a steep, but easy way up. In just a few minutes, Lupe had climbed up the cleft and gone on up to the summit of Hat Mountain. Success! Already, only Anchor Hill remained to be conquered.
Lupe wandered around exploring on top of Hat Mountain for 10 minutes or so while SPHP checked to see if there were other easier routes down. The cliffs went pretty much all the way around the summit, but they were highest to the S. In many places on other sides of the mountain, the cliffs were only 10-15 feet high or even less. There proved to be several places where there were ways up or down without any problem.
Lupe and SPHP took a very easy route down on the NNW side of Hat Mountain. From there Lupe headed S along the W side of the mountain just below the cliffs. Once completely down from Hat Mountain, Lupe headed S through the forest. She eventually came to the edge of a small cliff perhaps 10-20 feet tall. Lupe then headed E along the rocky rim of the cliff. Before long the rocks and cliffs played out, but by then Lupe was already pretty close to the G6. She reached the G6 again at 11:28 AM.
Anchor Hill was quite some distance away, so Lupe enjoyed a ride through the hills while SPHP drove to Galena about 5 or 6 miles SE of Deadwood. Back in the late 1800’s, Galena was a thriving mining camp for a few years, but eventually became a ghost town. These days Galena is no longer a ghost town. There are quite a few homes and cabins in the area scattered along Bear Butte Creek. The homes and cabins vary tremendously in size, age and condition.
SPHP drove through Galena and continued on Galena Road perhaps 0.25 or 0.50 mile to a big wide spot in the road and parked the G6 at 12:35 PM. This wide spot was a short distance from a sign indicating the end of county road maintenance. The puffy clouds in the sky were now bigger than before, but it was still sunny out. Surprisingly, even next to Bear Butte Creek the wind was blowing hard down through the deep canyon. The plan was to hike from Galena up through Butcher Gulch to an area just NE of Anchor Hill.
Lupe and SPHP headed back up Galena Road. SPHP had seen a sign along a side road crossing Bear Butte Creek to the N for public access through private land to Butcher Gulch. Lupe took this side road to enter Butcher Gulch. Soon the private property was left behind. Lupe came to a sign for the Vinegar Hill cemetery, where a little road in poor condition led up a steep hill to the left (W). Lupe had no bones to bury, so she skipped the cemetery.
The road up Butcher Gulch wasn’t that great either. It was narrow and rather rocky. Pretty soon Lupe reached a fork in the road. The best part of the road swung around the hillside switch-backing above where Lupe had just been and then disappeared from view. A very rocky and narrow road continued on straight ahead. SPHP guessed that straight ahead was probably the correct choice, which it later proved to be.
The road up Butcher Gulch is the type of road only a shocks, struts and tire salesperson could love. Unsurprisingly, SPHP found a couple of vehicle parts for recycling along the way. Happily, this poor excuse for a road made a great hiking trail. Butcher Gulch was full of squirrels to bark at and Lupe had a blast. There was absolutely no one else around, which was perfect. In addition to squirrels, highlights along the way up Butcher Gulch included a little creek, a couple of unusual pointy up rocks, and a terrace of three limestone walls positioned one above another (probably somehow connected with some old mining operation).
The climb up Butcher Gulch was unrelenting, but Lupe did finally reach the upper end of the gulch. Fortunately, the terrible road had gone all the way up the gulch and now intersected a better road. Lupe and SPHP went across this new road and took a break up on a small hill. Lupe had her usual water and Taste of the Wild. SPHP had the usual apple and pored over maps in between scans of the nearby terrain.
The highest ground nearby was a hill just to the NE. SPHP suspected this was the same hill, now known as Fake Anchor Hill, that Lupe had climbed back on Expedition No. 122. At the time, SPHP had believed it was Anchor Hill, but later concluded otherwise. After the break, the first thing Lupe did was to climb this hill to see if it really was Fake Anchor Hill. Sure enough, it was. That meant that the real Anchor Hill was still about 0.5 mile to the SW.
Lupe and SPHP left Fake Anchor Hill and headed SW. SPHP used topo maps and the curvature of the road encountered at the top of Butcher Gulch to navigate towards Anchor Hill. Everything was matching up. Anchor Hill was marked on the map as being just to the S of this same road about 0.25 mile SW of the intersection at the top of Butcher Gulch. All along the S side of the road, however, was a barbed wire fence with frequent signs saying “Danger” and/or “No Trespassing”. One said “EPA Superfund Site 2012”. Peering S from the road up through the forest, SPHP could see that Anchor Hill ended abruptly perhaps 40 feet in elevation above the road.
SPHP was now certain that Lupe would never climb Anchor Hill. The top 20 or 30 feet of elevation, at least as shown on the Peakbagger.com topo map, is no longer there. The summit of Anchor Hill had weighed anchor and set sail to the S or SE where it is now part of a big tailings pile, helped along by the former Gilt Edge gold mining operation. So Lupe’s quest to climb Anchor Hill, which had been a potential goal of four expeditions, had been doomed to failure all along. There was no question of climbing the tailings pile, as it is also clearly mining property. Interestingly enough, the tailing pile looks to be slightly higher than Anchor Hill originally was.
SPHP took consolation in the fact that Lupe had now at least climbed Fake Anchor Hill to the NE twice, which was a higher hill than Anchor Hill had ever been. Anchor Hill was only a provisional peak on Peakbagger anyway. It’s hardly likely to be accepted as part of the Peakbagger.com permanent mountain data base having gone AWOL.
Anchor Hill is shown on SPHP’s old USFS maps, but why remains a mystery. There were other hills just as high or higher nearby. What was so special about Anchor Hill? One thing was special about it for sure, there must have been some gold there to encourage the Gilt Edge mine people to go to so much trouble.
Lupe and SPHP headed back down Butcher Gulch again on the way back to the G6. Lupe had lots of fun again. She certainly was taking the decapitation of Anchor Hill in stride. Going downhill was so easy and pleasant that even SPHP was soon in a great mood again. It was 47°F and 4:23 PM when Lupe reached the G6. Still hours of daylight left and time to do something else!
SPHP had been considering what else Lupe might do on the way down Butcher Gulch. Peakbagger.com really needed a decent photo of Custer Peak (6,804 ft.). About 0.5 mile to the WSW of Custer Peak was a 6,600 ft. high ridge from which a very nice photo of Custer Peak might be obtained. There was even time for Lupe to climb Custer Peak for the third time.
So Lupe and SPHP got in the G6 and headed back through Galena. After a little side trip for a photo of Custer Peak from the NE, SPHP wound up parking the G6 at a sharp turn in USFS Road No. 216 at 5:06 PM. Custer Peak was now 0.5 mile to the NW, although a much greater distance along the road. During the drive from Galena, the weather had changed. Now big clouds covered most of the sky. It was only 35°F and occasional snow squalls were sweeping over the area. The wind was still roaring up in the trees. Lupe and SPHP started hiking up USFS Road No. 216.
Lupe and SPHP followed USFS Road No. 216 up to a side road that goes all the way up to the lookout tower. About 100 feet in elevation from the top, a thin sheet of ice covered about 2/3 of the ground. The wind wasn’t too bad until the last 50 feet. There it was a steady 30 mph gale out of the N. Mentally SPHP thanked the Canadians for their traditional generosity with their healthy and undeniably fresh air, but Lupe wasn’t so sure.
At the lookout tower, Lupe and SPHP took shelter from the wind at the S corner of the tower. Lupe had icicles hanging down from the fur on her belly, but that didn’t seem to bother her. She didn’t want to stay in an extra jacket SPHP had brought along to warm her up. She eagerly ate some Taste of the Wild. SPHP ate the last apple. The view was pretty awesome. To the E of the Black Hills, the prairie was all lit up in sunlight. Bear Butte (4,422 ft.) was glowing in the light. The W edge of the Black Hills had some sunlight and fewer clouds too. But all of the heart of the Black Hills was in shadow and snow showers could be seen here and there.
Lupe could only be persuaded to pose for one photo up on the N side of the lookout tower exposed to the relentless wind. She clearly wanted to leave and head down the mountain. Lupe is the brains in this operation, so when the wind showed no signs of giving any respite, SPHP conformed to her wishes. The retreat down the mountain along the road was actually pretty pleasant soon after leaving the totally exposed summit. SPHP did manage to get a couple of photos from just below the summit looking WSW toward the 6,600 foot ridge about 0.5 mile to the WSW. SPHP was hoping to get over there for a nice photo of Custer Peak.
Lupe was happy going down the mountain. The wind at the top was her whole objection. At the saddle between Custer Peak and the 6,600 foot ridge to the WSW, she was quite happy to follow SPHP away from the road and up through the dense forest and maze of deadfall timber. Amazingly this little trek up to the 6,600 foot ridge proved to be the most satisfying part of the day.
Little intermittent snow showers pelted the area with round mini-ice balls instead of normal fluffy snowflakes. With the sun getting low, at times the forest seemed dark and forlorn. But a little layer of snow on the ground brightened the setting. Every now and then the sun made a brief brilliant appearance up on Custer Peak. The clean fresh snow and brisk air seemed wonderful after the warm dry Expedition No. 126 just 8 days earlier.
The climb got steeper and steeper. Near the top, Lupe and SPHP were at the edge of a little cliff along a spine of the mountain. The sun broke through and shone on the surrounding forest. The snow was pure white, the spruce tree needles bright green, Lupe’s fur a glowing golden brown, and the sky a clear light blue above. The wind was fresh and exhilarating, and not so strong as up on Custer Peak. SPHP hoped Lupe could make it to the top of the 6,600 foot ridge in time for a photo of Custer Peak before clouds hid the sun again.
She did! Lupe and SPHP were in beautiful slanting sunlight for 10 minutes or so at the top of the 6,600 foot ridge. Lupe posed for several photos of Custer Peak. And then it was over. The sun sank beneath the last big cloud to the WNW. A hoped for glorious sunset never materialized. Lupe and SPHP headed down the steep W slope off the 6,600 foot ridge. The slope was much steeper than SPHP had anticipated, but fortunately no cliffs were encountered. Heading S as much as possible, Lupe and SPHP worked their way down through the maze of deadfall timber on the W slope.
After losing maybe 200 or 250 feet, the ground began to level out. SPHP continued to lead Lupe S or SSW as much as possible. SPHP knew that USFS Road No. 216 couldn’t be too far away to the S. Lupe and SPHP had been in the area many expeditions ago. Soon No. 216 was found and could be followed all the way back to the G6. It was a great hike and over too soon. There was still some light in the sky when Lupe arrived back at the G6 at 8:04 PM. The G6 said it was 32°F. That didn’t stop Lupe from sticking her nose out the window to sniff the cold air for miles on the way home.
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