Day 7 of Lupe’s 2017 Dingo Vacation to the Laramie Range, Wyoming & Beyond!
S of Casper, roughly a mile W of Hwy 77, the wide, dusty gravel road (County Road No. 105) came to a “Y”. Off to the SW, beyond an expanse of prairie, rose an isolated mountain range. Although reaching more than 9,000 feet in elevation, these mountains didn’t appear particularly high, rugged or striking. The Shirley Mountains looked more like a collection of big forested ridges.
Lupe was coming to visit the Shirley Mountains High Point (9,151 ft.), but SPHP knew next to nothing about this place. Copies of an old topo map showed a long dotted road winding 7 miles or so in from the N that passed near the high point. A 4WD road? Probably. In that case, the G6 wouldn’t be able to do it.
That wasn’t the real issue. The Carolina Dog could travel the 7 miles on her own easily enough. Two other questions loomed larger. First, was there even access? This might be all private land. In that case, some landowner would have to be sought out, and permission obtained to even enter the area.
Second, even if access was available or could be obtained, did the road shown on the map exist in good enough condition so Lupe could follow it? If not, the American Dingo might end up lost in the forest, as SPHP tried to make sense of a multi-mile bushwhack based solely on the old topo map. These mountains didn’t appear to have many prominent features to orient by. Wandering around up there might prove confusing.
A sign at the “Y” was somewhat encouraging. Left was BLM Road No. 3115 (E end). Right was the way to BLM Road No. 3115 (W end) in 6 miles, County Road No. 291 in 19 miles, and Miracle Mile in 25 miles. A BLM road going up into the Shirley Mountains at least meant there was public access!
SPHP took a L driving S toward (on?) BLM Road No. 3115 (E end). Lupe rode with her head out the window. She was loving this! Herds of pronghorn antelope were out on the prairie. Unlike cows and horses, the antelope paid attention to the yippy-yappy Dingo. Racing across the prairie, they inspired even more vigorous, frantic Dingo antics. No doubt about it, as far as Loop was concerned, the day was off to an exciting, exhilarating start!
SPHP wasn’t nearly as thrilled. The whole trip S on BLM Road No. 3115 (E end) was a fiasco. After exploring 3 more “Y’s”, including a useless trip W partway into the impressive Creek Land & Livestock Company ranch, a road could be seen going W up into the Shirley Mountains. The stony, rutted remnant of a road the G6 was on appeared to link up to it a few miles farther on.
No way! The G6 was getting beat to death on this miserable excuse for a road. Continuing without high clearance and a rugged suspension system was a disaster waiting to happen. Disaster wasn’t likely to hold off much longer, either. SPHP did the prudent thing and turned around.
Another jarring, nerve-wracking, exciting ride back past the antelope ensued. To SPHP’s great relief, Lupe reached the first “Y” again. This time, SPHP drove W on County Road No. 105. This road did not deteriorate, and some 6 miles farther on Lupe reached another intersection. A sign indicated that a side road going S was Shirley Mountains Loop Road No. 3115. Prior Flat Campground was 0.4 mile away.
Hmm. It was a bit odd that BLM Road No. 3115 (West End) apparently entered the Shirley Mountains from the N instead of W, but whatever. No point in quibbling. SPHP was actually rather pleased. This might be the same road shown on the topo map, in which case Lupe would have public access all the way to the Shirley Mountains High Point.
SPHP made the turn S. 0.4 mile up a grassy slope, Lupe arrived at Prior Flat Campground.
Prior Flat Campground was awesome! Two loops with campsites were tucked up in or near the trees at the base of the N end of the Shirley Mountains. To the N was an expansive view of Prior Flat, a broad prairie. Beyond were thirsty-looking low mountains, ridges and hills.
The whole place felt remote, abandoned. Not a soul seemed to be around, and apparently the campground was free! No mention of fees or registrations required anywhere. A most excellent situation! Lupe and SPHP grabbed a spot along the W loop, backing the G6 into the shade of aspen trees near a picnic table.
After a quick bite to eat, Lupe and SPHP left the G6 at the campground, and started up Shirley Mountain Loop Road No. 3115 (11:04 AM, 52°F). For nearly a mile, the road went steadily SW up a forested valley. SPHP was quickly convinced this was Prior Draw. Lupe was on the exact same road on the old topo map that would lead her close to the Shirley Mountains High Point.
At the upper end of Prior Draw, the road turned E near a saddle on a ridge to the S. Lupe left the road and climbed up to the saddle. She had a view to the SW, but was more interested in a lone snow bank back in among the trees. After frolicking and cooling off on the snow, Loop returned to the road.
No. 3115 now went 0.5 mile SE, then 1.0 mile S. Lupe gained elevation the whole time. The forest sometimes gave way to large, open meadows. A high, distant mountain could be seen off to the W, but SPHP was uncertain what mountain that might be. After passing by driveways to a couple of cabins in a more wooded area, Lupe reached flatter, open ground.
The Carolina Dog was getting fairly high up now. Ahead she could see a tower at the top of a ridge. This tower was at High Point 8712 on the topo map.
Lupe followed No. 3115 to the top of the ridge. Two side roads, not far from one another, led off in different directions. The first road went NE to the tower, which was now close at hand. The second road disappeared into a forest to the WSW. Instead of going to the tower, Loop took the road into the forest. This had to be the way to Peak 8720.
Peak 8720 was a Brian Kalet peak, meaning simply that Brian Kalet, a prolific peakbagger, had entered the mountain into the Peakbagger.com database that Lupe also uses to track her ascents. Early in 2017, Lupe had visited quite a number of Brian Kalet peaks in the southern Black Hills.
Since the Peak 8720 summit was only a 0.5 mile side trip, Lupe might as well visit this Brian Kalet peak, too! She’d already basically climbed it. The top of the mountain was no more than 40 to 60 feet higher than where she was now.
The side road going through the forest brought Lupe to a humongous snow drift. The road disappeared beneath it.
The giant snow bank was just inside the W edge of the forest. The snow must have drifted in last winter driven by winds sweeping over a huge flat meadow that was directly ahead beyond the trees. Since the road disappeared beneath the snow, Lupe had no choice but to go right over the drift, a task she thoroughly enjoyed.
On the other side of the snow bank, the road reappeared. Lupe followed it as it emerged from the forest and continued through the meadow. The terrain was flat as a pancake. The meadow extended all the way to the edge of a canyon, but the road turned N halfway there. Lupe left the road to go find out what could be seen from the meadow’s edge.
A strong W wind swept across the meadow. Lupe was traveling right into the teeth of it. The wind grew stronger and stronger as she neared the edge of the meadow. By the time she got there, Loop was standing in a gale. She had a good view of the Cave Creek valley below, and mostly forested mountains and ridges beyond.
The view was nice, but Lupe didn’t want to linger in this gale any longer than she had to. According to the topo map, the true summit of Peak 8720 was somewhere in the nearby forest to the N. Among the trees and away from the edge, it wouldn’t be nearly so windy over there. Lupe was more than happy to go looking for the summit.
As the map indicated, the terrain was somewhat higher in the forest than in the meadow, but not by an awful lot. This whole area varied very little in elevation. Lupe and SPHP marched around for a while looking for a clear high point, but found nothing obvious. Close enough for Dingo work! Lupe posed for a photo at a point that seemed to be about as high as anywhere else, and called it good.
No more time to waste on this! Lupe still had miles to go to get to the Shirley Mountains High Point. She left Peak 8720’s official Dingo summit heading back out of the woods and across the big, windy meadow.
Lupe returned to BLM Road No. 3115 again near the tower at High Point 8712. No. 3115 had been quite a good road all this way. SPHP might easily have driven the G6 this far. This would have been about it, though. As Lupe continued SE on No. 3115, the road lost elevation steadily and became rougher than the G6 would have liked.
More than a mile S of the tower, No. 3115 bottomed out where it crossed a small, clear stream only a few feet wide. This was Cave Creek. Lupe took a little break here for water and Taste of the Wild. She had lost more than 450 feet of elevation since leaving Peak 8720, and was about to have to regain all of it and more.
Break time done, Lupe crossed Cave Creek. A long, dull, dusty road trek ensued. No. 3115 went SW for 0.80 mile, ultimately climbing a good way up a steepish hill. It then turned and went S more than a mile before bending to the SE. Most of the terrain was forested, but Lupe came to scattered meadows, too. A few brief downhill sections broke an otherwise steady grind higher.
Lupe passed a few minor side roads, which went who knows where? None of these roads, including No. 3115, had any traffic at all. Signage was missing or meaningless. No. 3115 eventually topped out at a large, tree-rimmed meadow. The road turned E here, then began losing elevation. Lupe quickly came to what appeared to be a more significant intersection.
A sign at the intersection meant nothing to SPHP, but less than a mile off to the SE Lupe could see a forested hill a couple hundred feet higher than where she was now. The Shirley Mountains High Point? Although certainly ready to get there by now, SPHP hoped that wasn’t it. It didn’t look like Loop would see anything but trees from there.
Lupe stayed on No. 3115 going E from the intersection. The road dipped a little more, then angled SE climbing the forested hill she had seen. When No. 3115 looked like it was about to start losing elevation again, Lupe left it. If this hill was really the Shirley Mountains High Point, the summit ought to be only a couple hundred yards to the SW from here.
A small meadow sloped up toward open forest. In the forest, Loop found several rock outcroppings higher than anything else around. The two highest were separated by 200 feet. A big snow bank was melting quietly away on part of the ground between them.
The rock formation to the S, a short ridge of white rocks 15 feet taller than the surrounding terrain, was clearly the highest point on this hill. Lupe scrambled up. Ten feet S of the highest rocks at the N end of the little ridge, Lupe found what she was looking for – a survey benchmark stamped “Shirley”.
This was it, the Shirley Mountains High Point (9,151 ft.)!
Old pieces of wood and long strands of smooth wire no longer serving any discernable purpose were scattered around the summit ridge near the benchmark. Odd. Lupe went and stood on the highest rocks at the N end of the little ridge to claim her peakbagging success.
Sadly, after coming all this long way, Lupe had no views of anything other than the forest from the Shirley Mountains High Point. Unsurprising after seeing this forested hill from the NW, but still disappointing to SPHP. Lupe seemed happy enough, though.
Lupe’s last rest break back at Cave Creek had been a while ago. Now that she’d made it to the Shirley Mountains High Point, it was time for another one. Loop went NNW from the summit over to the snow bank closer to the 2nd highest rock formation. Here she had some Taste of the Wild and relaxed in the shade.
Lupe had followed No. 3115 a good 7 miles to get here. Yes, it was great that Loopster had reached the Shirley Mountains High Point, but SPHP remained dissatisfied with the lack of any significant views. From the top of an entire mountain range, you’d think you would see something. Not here. Even on the long trek, Lupe hadn’t seen too much of interest.
Hours had gone by and it was a long way back, but maybe Lupe wasn’t done yet? The map showed another benchmark on another mountain 1.25+ miles to the SE as the crow flies. Quealey Benchmark (9,150 ft.) was only 1 foot lower than the Shirley Mountains High Point. Maybe Lupe could see something from over there?
Going to Quealey Benchmark actually meant another mile E on BLM Road No. 3115, plus a 0.67 mile bushwhack S of the road. By the time Lupe reached Quealey Benchmark, she would be nearly 9 miles from Prior Flat Campground. Worth it? Unknown. Now or never, though. When her break was done, Lupe returned to BLM Road No. 3115 and headed E.
A long forested ridge came into view. Not too promising. Somewhere near the S end of it was Quealey Benchmark. The road lost 250 feet of elevation before starting to climb the ridge. Instead of following the road all the way to its next high point, Lupe cut SE through the forest to save a little distance.
Once the American Dingo reached the ridgeline, she turned S. The broad ridge sloped gradually upward. This was easy terrain. At first, Loop was in open forest. She eventually came to meadows, but even at the meadows, forest always prevailed along the edges of the ridge. No views.
At the first big meadow Lupe came to, a rocky high point was in view not too far away. She went to it and scrambled to the top. No sign of the actual benchmark.
Onward! Continuing S, suddenly there was movement! Close by, a coyote emerged from the forest heading E across the meadow. When Lupe saw it, she trotted toward the coyote wagging her tail. She recognized it as another canine and was hoping to make a new friend.
The coyote didn’t want to be friends with Lupe, and most certainly didn’t want to be friends with SPHP. As Lupe approached, the coyote fled. Instantly, the emboldened American Dingo gave chase!
It was an exhilarating moment, but the coyote was gone in a flash. Lupe returned to SPHP. She continued S finding more rock formations, each one higher than the last. Lupe investigated them all, but turned up nothing.
The big meadow ended. Forest was ahead. Lupe plunged right into it. She was still gaining elevation, so it was no wonder she hadn’t found the Quealey Benchmark yet. She emerged from the forest at a second big meadow. Another rock formation, largest of any she’d come to so far wasn’t far off.
As Lupe drew near it, SPHP could see some wood and smooth wire up there. Oh, that was promising! Lupe led the way up.
When SPHP joined Lupe at the top, it was clear in an instant that this was the highest point on the ridge. Another substantial high point off to the SW wasn’t quite as high as this one. Everywhere else, the terrain was sloping down. Best of all, Lupe had a sweet view of a big snow-capped mountain far to the S from here.
Lupe was at the true summit of this whole long ridge! The Quealey Benchmark had to be around here somewhere, didn’t it?
A shiny metal hubcap was hidden under a juniper bush. Moving the hubcap aside revealed – yes, a survey benchmark!
To SPHP’s surprise, the benchmark was not stamped “Quealey” as shown on the old topo map. Instead it was stamped “Que Ley”, Spanish for “What Law?”.
Quealey or Que Ley, which was right, the map or the survey benchmark? No telling. Lupe and SPHP preferred Que Ley! What Law? was a cool name for a mountain. It conjured up images of outlaws hanging around in this territory back in the days of the Old West. Maybe a really Old West, if the Spanish had named this place.
At any rate, Que Ley Benchmark (9,150 ft.), though officially one silly foot lower than the Shirley Mountains High Point, was everything the Shirley Mountains High Point was not. Coyotes roamed this place. The Que Ley name was cool. The view of the distant snow-capped peak was awesome. The summit was farther from the road, and felt even more remote. SPHP was glad Lupe had come here!
Yes, Que Ley Benchmark was worth the extra effort!
After enjoying the views up on Que Ley Benchmark, Lupe went to visit the other high point to the SW. Just to make absolutely certain it wasn’t higher, you know. It wasn’t, but also offered some decent views.
And that was that. Except for the long trek back, nearly all of it retracing her route here, Lupe’s big adventure in the Shirley Mountains was over.
Of course, the Carolina Dog made the most of the return trip! She ran, explored, and sniffed.
She rolled in snow banks.
She sniffed and examined beautiful flowers.
She returned again to the Shirley Mountains High Point (9,151 ft.).
Loop even made the 0.5 mile side trip back to look for Peak 8720’s Dingo summit again. The sun was down by the time she got to the big, flat meadow. The wind, which hadn’t been much of an issue up on the Shirley Mountains High Point or Que Ley Benchmark, was still blowing here, though not nearly as powerfully as earlier in the day.
Lupe and SPHP searched around for the same Dingo summit as before, but couldn’t find it. Light was fading and the forest was getting gloomy, so a new Dingo summit had to be selected. Naturally, this still counted as an official ascent as far Lupe and SPHP were concerned!
Once Looper was back at BLM Road No. 3115 following her 2nd visit to Peak 8720, it was all downhill the remaining 2.5 miles to Prior Flat campground. The Carolina Dog was still on high ground, but twilight was fading fast, when she saw the distant high peak to the W again.
What peak was that? No telling. The sky grew black, then lit up with stars. SPHP still pondered the question as Lupe arrived back at Prior Flat campground (10:12 PM). To this mystery remains an unresolved mental souvenir of Lupe’s long, happy day spent high in the remote Shirley Mountains of Wyoming.
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