10:47 AM, 66ºF, Latchstring Inn trailhead for Roughlock Falls at Savoy – So much for getting all the way to Cement Ridge (6,674 ft.) today! SPHP turned L on USFS Road No. 222 at Savoy in Spearfish Canyon, only to find the road blocked. Suddenly looking like Lupe would have to settle for Old Baldy Mountain (6,096 ft.) as an ultimate destination, instead of merely a preliminary goal.
The intention had been to drive past Roughlock Falls to a trailhead 5 miles away off USFS Road No. 134. From there, Lupe could have started out much closer to Old Baldy Mountain where Cement Ridge would have been within range, too. Oh, well! SPHP parked the G6 at the trailhead just beyond the Latchstring Inn instead.
Although Cement Ridge was not to be, the American Dingo didn’t care. Lupe was thrilled just to be out and about. Bounding out of the G6, she was soon on the pleasant one mile trail paralleling Little Spearfish Creek that went to Roughlock Falls. Good thing the trail was well above creek level! A week of cold, rainy weather had normally clear-running Little Spearfish Creek muddy and way out of its banks.
Turned out, flood damage was the reason USFS Road No. 222 was closed in the first place. Roughlock Falls had tremendous flow when Lupe got there. Little Spearfish Creek was still flooding the picnic area above the falls, and the road damage was apparent up here.
Lupe took advantage of this opportunity to cavort in Little Spearfish Creek on what is normally dry ground.
Continuing W beyond the Roughlock Falls picnic ground, Lupe and SPHP trudged along right on USFS Road No. 222.
Without a cloud in the sky, it was soon getting hot. After about a mile, SPHP noticed a trail N of the road. Turned out there were 2 trails. One went steeply uphill toward the canyon wall. Lupe took the other trail, which followed Little Spearfish Creek upstream, enjoying shady relief from the sun provided by trees growing along the trail.
After 0.5 mile, Lupe reached the Rod & Gun campground. Beyond the campground, the trail soon forked. Lupe took the Rimrock Trail, which climbed steadily up a side canyon leaving Little Spearfish Creek behind.
The upper rim of the canyon wasn’t much farther when a deer was seen fleeing through the forest. Upon reaching the place the deer had taken off from, a spotted fawn was seen laying quietly right beside the trail, its slender legs folded beneath it.
The fawn was alive, but remained completely motionless as Lupe and SPHP approached. Whether it was injured or not, was hard to say. The fawn was distressingly thin, with practically no meat on its bones. Its ribs stuck out a great deal. Was it starving? Without moving at all, the fawn regarded Lupe and SPHP with with sad brown eyes.
While it was tempting to examine the fawn more closely to determine its true condition, SPHP felt its chances were almost certainly best with its mother. The faster Lupe and SPHP left the area, the more quickly and likely she would return. Hard to abandon the defenseless, spotted fawn, but Lupe and SPHP paused only a moment before moving on.
10 minutes past the fawn, the terrain leveled out. A junction appeared with another trail shown as No. 76 on SPHP’s old Black Hills USFS map. A short break was taken here in the shade of a large pine tree. Lupe had Taste of the Wild, while SPHP consumed an orange.
After the break, Lupe headed W on Trail No. 76. It wound through the forest S of an area where there seemed to be a quarry or old mine, but Lupe didn’t stop to investigate.
A meadow surrounded by aspens appeared. Lupe came to USFS Road No. 134 just beyond it. A sign indicated that after crossing the road, the trail continued on to the Old Baldy Mountain trailhead, precisely where the American Dingo needed to go.
15 minutes after crossing No. 134, Lupe reached the Old Baldy Mountain trailhead. No vehicles. Not a soul here. SPHP paused long enough to take a look at a posted map.
The map showed 2 trails going to Old Baldy Mountain (6,096 ft.), still nearly 1.5 miles NW. An E route and a W route linked up again not too far from the mountain near a small lake named Baldy Lake. SPHP’s USFS map also showed a Trail No. 66 with two routes, and an unlabeled tiny blue speck close to where they rejoined.
At first, it wasn’t clear where to go. The only trail that left the trailhead went W, so Lupe followed it. The E route to Old Baldy Mountain soon split off to the R. Deciding to go that way, SPHP led the Carolina Dog N.
Trail No. 66 went uphill a bit before leveling out. Turning NE, it then started downhill. With all the recent wet weather, Lupe began coming to marshy areas feeding numerous little streams. Despite brief uphill sections, she lost elevation most of the time.
More and more water seeped from the hillsides. The trail became a small creek. Every drainage Lupe passed had its own stream running down it. These were all seasonal streams which wouldn’t ordinarily have had more than a trickle, if that. Lupe enjoyed splashing along through all the water, free to get a drink whenever she felt like it.
Trail No. 66 finally turned NW and went down a steepish, soggy slope. Upon reaching a low point, the trail bounced up and down, still winding along in the same general direction. SPHP concluded that the trail was destined for a particular mountain to the W that didn’t look very high.
No. 66 eventually started down a slope where the forest gave way to a lush, green field. Two streams, one from the SW and one from the SE, merged immediately upstream of a small earthen dam. The combined stream had succeeded in eroding a gap right through the dam, which no longer backed up any water.
So much for Baldy Lake!
As if to remove any doubt, a sign saying “Baldy Lake” still stood along the edge of the meadow. Even while in good repair, the earthen dam couldn’t have ever held back much water. In the best of times, Baldy Lake must not have been any bigger than a typical stock pond.
Due to the circuitous route the E half of Trail No. 66 had taken, a check of SPHP’s USFS map showed that Old Baldy Mountain was still more than 0.5 mile away. Crossing a small bridge below the broken dam, Lupe went W up the hillside beyond it, as the trail took her up into a stand of aspens. After going over a ridge, the Carolina Dog reached the junction where the W branch of the Trail No. 66 loop joined in again.
Taking the spur to Old Baldy Mountain, Lupe followed a long stretch of trail serving double duty as a mucky stream bed. Once beyond this area, the trail began climbing. Near the end, Lupe gained more elevation than SPHP thought she would, as the trail switchbacked higher.
The top of Old Baldy Mountain (6,096 ft.) was forested and plenty roomy enough to move around quite comfortably. A sign stood at the end of the trail. From here, the summit area extended somewhat farther SW. Exploring out that way, Lupe could see Beaver Creek down in a big meadow to the S, a scene she had caught glimpses of on the way up.
From along the summit’s W edge, Lupe saw the deep forested canyon that Beaver Creek drains into sinking N toward a spot where tall cliffs of dark rock were visible along the upper rim of the gorge. Several ridges significantly higher than Old Baldy Mountain were in sight off to the W. SPHP spotted the Cement Ridge fire lookout tower on the ridge farthest N. It looked dauntingly high and far away. Clearly, Lupe wasn’t going to get that far today.
Relaxing in the shade, Lupe snapped at flies while having more Taste of the Wild. SPHP ate some fruit. Too bad Lupe didn’t have enough time to continue on to Cement Ridge (6,674 ft.), but the distant start due USFS Road No. 222 being closed had pretty much put it out of reach.
On the return trip, Lupe explored the W portion of the Trail No. 66 loop. Shortly after splitting off from the E route, the trail entered the huge meadow Lupe had seen S of Old Baldy Mountain. The Carolina Dog was nearly across the meadow when she came to a little stream that drained W into Beaver Creek. Leaving the trail, Lupe went down to have a look at the much larger stream.
Much of the ground near Beaver Creek was marshy, or just plain under water. Side streams with good volume were pouring in from every little valley and low spot.
After enjoying the view of Beaver Creek, Lupe turned SW toward a side valley where yet another tributary could be heard, but not seen. Upon reaching the valley, she turned SE climbing into the forest. This hillside was also full of springs, but Lupe quickly found the trail again.
No. 66 proceeded S steadily gaining elevation, before eventually turning E and winding its way back to the Old Baldy Mountain trailhead. From the trailhead, Lupe proceeded E to USFS Road No. 134, crossing it at the same place as she had earlier in the day.
Instead of getting on Trail No. 76 again, Lupe took a logging trail farther N that SPHP thought might be a shortcut. Heading E, the logging trail climbed over a modest hill past a series of little ponds where frogs sang cheerfully until the entire choir would suddenly go silent when the American Dingo got too close.
The shortcut worked. Lupe made it back to Trail No. 76 again not too far from the junction with the Rimrock Trail. Another short rest break was taken here beneath the same big pine tree as before.
Although curious, SPHP didn’t think it was a good idea to take Lupe past the spotted fawn again. Instead of going down that way, Lupe continued E on Trail No. 76, staying on high ground for another 0.75 mile. At that point, the trail suddenly turned sharply NW, whereupon it immediately turned E again, descending a big gulch.
Partway down, the American Dingo came to an unexpected divide. The clearest trail headed uphill over a ridge to the ENE, while a more faded path continued down the gulch. When SPHP started on the higher trail, Lupe raced ahead, but SPHP was soon having second thoughts. Probably should have gone down the gulch in search of USFS Road No. 222.
Returning to the lower path, it curved SE into a narrow gorge. Lupe came to a very secluded and private place where water dripped down tall rock walls covered with moss. Only a short stretch was flanked on both sides with scenic rock walls like that, but it was very cool.
Going around a bend, the roar of Little Spearfish Creek was suddenly heard down in the much larger canyon. Descending a forested slope, Lupe found herself at the same point where she had left USFS Road No. 222 to take the shady trail to the Rod & Gun campground much earlier in the day.
The rest of the return was identical to the route Lupe had taken this morning. SPHP collected Lupe treasures along No. 222, coming up with quite a few of them in short order. At the Roughlock Falls picnic ground, the water had receded from where it had been this morning, leaving mud drying in the evening sun.
7:32 PM, 62ºF, Latchstring Inn trailhead at Savoy – Expedition No. 61 was over and done with except for the drive home. Old Baldy Mountain had been a fun day, but the skinny spotted fawn’s fate would forever remain a mystery. At home, Lupe was happy to see Guille’s car, and rushed into the house to greet her.
Links:
Next Black Hills Expedition Prior Black Hills Expedition
Black Hills, SD & WY Expedition No. 141 – Old Baldy Mountain & Cement Ridge (10-11-15)
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