SPHP had been thinking about taking Lupe on an expedition to the Bear Lodge Mountains in Wyoming for a couple of months. Checking the weather forecast early on 11-15-15, SPHP saw that it was going to be an extraordinarily warm day for mid-November in the Black Hills. It was probably now or never, if Lupe was going to go to the Bear Lodge Mountains in 2015.
Lupe was soon on her way, barking enthusiastically at cows and horses along I-90 who were too far away to even notice her passing by. Shortly after reaching Wyoming, Lupe and SPHP made a quick stop at a very nice information center just N of I-90. Lupe got out of the G6 for a few pictures to commemorate the occasion.
Although it hadn’t been windy at all back home, it was plenty windy here in Wyoming. A pretty stiff breeze was blowing out of the W across the high prairie. Lupe took shelter behind the Wyoming welcome sign.
The Bear Lodge Mountains are a small mountain range in NE Wyoming separated from the main body of the Black Hills of South Dakota by no more than 15-20 miles of grasslands. The Bear Lodge Mountains are part of the Black Hills National Forest. Lupe was going to get to climb a couple of mountains in the range, and visit a couple more as part of Expedition No. 145.
Lupe’s first goal was to climb Sundance Mountain (5,824 ft.) located just S of I-90 and the town of Sundance, WY. It was 10:04 AM, 54°F and windy out of the W, as Lupe set off to climb Sundance Mountain from the SE. She soon reached a 4WD jeep trail that took her all the way up to the top of the mountain. There were plenty of towers and various small buildings up at the summit.
Although there were some pretty nice views of Sundance, WY and Green Mountain (5,283 ft.) from the summit, the view SPHP liked best was hidden by the forest. Somewhat below the summit, a short dead-end side road covered with weeds provided an expansive view to the S toward Inyan Kara Mountain (6,360 ft.).
Lupe faced two dangers on Sundance Mountain. The first one was a patch of cactus growing on a grassy ridge just below where Lupe first reached the jeep trail. The second danger was a cliff on the N side of the mountain. The cliff was situated just below a tree Lupe ran down a very steep bank to, in order to bark at a squirrel. Fortunately, Lupe returned to the G6 unscathed by either cacti or cliffs.
After climbing Sundance Mountain, Lupe’s next stop was Warren Peak (6,650 ft.), the highest mountain in the Bear Lodge range at 6,656 feet. Lupe had been up on Warren Peak (6,650 ft.) once before on the first day of her 2014 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies and the Beartooths.
Getting to the top of Warren Peak 7 miles NNW of Sundance, WY is super easy. A short gravel road off USFS Road No. 838 (Warren Peak Road accessed off Hwy 14 a mile from I-90) winds its way up to a lookout tower at the top. It was 12:16 PM and 50°F with a gale blowing out of the W, when Lupe reached the top of Warren Peak. The views were great, but the wind was really annoying. Lupe stayed on Warren Peaks only long enough for a few quick photos.
Just N of the turn to the US Government property, USFS Road No. 838, which had been paved, turned to gravel. Shortly after turning to gravel, there was a bend in the road where there was a glimpse of an intriguing view to the NW. There was a large pullout along the side of the road at this point, so Lupe and SPHP stopped to get a photo.
After checking out the awesome, but distant view of Devils Tower and Missouri Buttes, Lupe and SPHP continued onward. Lupe’s next peakbagging goal was a peak neither she nor SPHP had ever been even close to before. It wasn’t even in the Peakbagger.com data base. Peakbagger.com’s topo maps showed it simply as Sheep Mountain. SPHP’s old USFS maps showed it as Sheep Nose Mountain (5,829 ft.). It lies about 4 miles ENE of Warren Peak on the E edge of the Bear Lodge Mountains.
Winding USFS roads led Lupe and SPHP to a trailhead that SPHP almost missed. Driving by, SPHP just caught a glimpse of a small sign saying “Sheepnose Trail”. There was a roomy parking area, and a map posted at this remote trailhead. The map showed two Sheepnose Trails. One was trail “M” (2.3 miles long), which led to the mountain. The other was trail “L”, which was longer (5.8 miles), branched off from trail “M”, and did not actually quite reach the mountain.
There was no obvious “trail”, just an old unmarked USFS road that headed E from near the posted map at the trailhead. Lupe and SPHP set out on this road, which appeared to be seldom used. A mile from the trailhead, it turned SE where Lupe found it was still marked as USFS Road No. 831.1C. There was an odd-shaped metal gate blocking the way to motorized vehicles. Markers from here onward showed that this was indeed Sheepnose Trail “M”.
The trailhead and Sheep Nose Mountain are at about the same elevation. Most of the way to Sheep Nose Mountain, the terrain was quite level. Old USFS Road No. 831.1C did dip down almost 250 feet, though, partway to the mountain. At a saddle there was a small clearing, and an intersection with the longer Sheepnose Trail “L”. Sheepnose Trail “L” was another old USFS Road, which branched off from Trail “M” heading W.
Of course, Lupe had to regain all of the elevation lost going down to the trail intersection. Sheep Nose Mountain trail “M” wound around on the N side of the mountain regaining elevation. It turned back to the W side of the mountain, and then headed S. There was a big canyon to the W, but it couldn’t be seen through the forest from the trail.
The rocky little ridge at the summit of Sheep Nose Mountain came into view up a sparsely treed slope to the E. Lupe and SPHP left the road to climb straight up to it. It later turned out that the road doesn’t go all the way to the summit (although it gets close). The road and Sheepnose Trail “M” end at cliffs SE of the summit.
The summit of Sheep Nose Mountain felt lonely and remote, just the way Lupe and SPHP like it. It looked like an area very few people (or American Dingoes) ever see. Warren Peak could be seen to the WSW. Other than forest, not much could be seen to the N, but there were wonderful views to the S and E.
Lupe posed for some pictures. Then Lupe and SPHP took an apple and Taste of the Wild break on top of the mountain. Fortunately, the strong W wind Lupe had experienced up on Warren Peak was greatly diminished by now. Only a gentle breeze remained.
After the break, Lupe and SPHP left the summit of Sheep Nose Mountain going SE down a gradual slope to where old USFS Road No. 831.1C (Sheepnose trail “M”) had headed. Shortly after reaching the road again, Lupe found it ended at scenic cliffs.
After seeing the views from the S cliffs, SPHP was almost certain the following photo taken earlier in the day from just N of I-90 is a view of Sheep Nose Mountain from the S.
Lupe and SPHP both enjoyed the return trip along the same route from Sheep Nose Mountain back to the G6. There were squirrels and deer in the woods. There was silence and solitude. The whole trip to Sheep Nose Mountain and back took only 2 hours and 14 minutes. It was the best part of the day.
It was 3:18 PM and still 52°F when Lupe got back to the G6. There was still a little time left before sunset for more fun in the Bear Lodge Mountains. Lupe and SPHP took a drive through the mountains, exploring down toward Hulett, WY on USFS Road No. 849.
No. 849 followed Blacktail Creek out of the Bear Lodge Mountains. Once the road was out of the Black Hills National Forest, it passed through private ranch lands where the creek valley was wide and grassy. The slanting rays of the sun lit up the rocky edges of the low forested hills on the NE side of the valley. In the shadow of the hills to the SW, down in big fields near Blacktail Creek, deer were grazing.
Lupe could hardly believe her eyes. There wasn’t just a deer or two or three over there by the creek. There were herds of them. There were more deer than Lupe, or even SPHP, had ever seen before in one place. Every field had at least 50 deer grazing in it.
As SPHP drove along, Lupe must have barked at 1,000 deer or more. Some of the deer heard her, and dashed off across the fields into the trees. Others just continued grazing. By the time Lupe reached Hwy 24 S of Hulett, she was desperately thirsty and worn to a frazzle.
One of the deer Lupe and SPHP saw along the way had come to a bad end, though it wasn’t because of Lupe. A hunter was busy trying to pull a dead deer he had just shot up into the back of a pickup truck, as SPHP drove by. No doubt the hunter was happy and within his rights, but seeing the beautiful deer which had lost its life only minutes ago just felt terribly sad.
The last rays of the sun were about to fail by the time Lupe reached her last stop of the day. Devils Tower loomed in stony silence as the gloom of night approached. The big convenience store and KOA campground just E of the entrance to Devils Tower National Monument were both closed and deserted.
SPHP parked the G6 at the store. Lupe and SPHP wandered out onto the lawn for a quick photo of Lupe and Devils Tower. Before SPHP could take it, a loud shot rang out from somewhere not very far to the N. Lupe raced for safety back toward the G6. It took SPHP a few minutes to convince her she wasn’t going to wind up like the poor dead deer.
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