Day 4 of Lupe’s 2017 Dingo Vacation to the Wind River Range, Wyoming & Select Peaks in Montana
Lupe wanted out. SPHP unzipped the door of her “tiny house”, and she vanished into the night. A nearly full moon hung over the mountains bathing the world in a ghostly glow. It was late, very late. Hours of light rain showers were over. Fortunately, the tiny house and everything in it had escaped being drenched. The clear sky was a welcome sight.
SPHP scanned nearby terrain tying to pick out the Carolina Dog. She was nowhere to be seen. Many secrets remain concealed beyond the pale power of moonlight to reveal. SPHP listened. Nothing but a soft breeze sighing.
Ten minutes later, she came racing back all out of breath.
Out having adventures in the night without me, aye Looper?
Maybe. A short one.
Want to tell me about it?
Nope, gonna go back to sleep now.
Smart. You’ll need some of that energy for Wind River Peak in the morning.
SPHP zipped the door of the tiny house shut as soon as Lupe was in. Best get as much shuteye as possible. Dawn couldn’t be more than a few hours away.
The moon was gone the next time Loop wanted out. Sol blazed well above the horizon. Morning! This was it! Breakfast. Final preparations. Everything ready. The great moment arrived. Now or never! Wind River Peak or bust! Lupe and SPHP headed N abandoning the tiny house. Nothing but up, now! 2,000 feet should about do it.
Lupe, who had been too tired to eat yesterday evening, was chock full of energy and ambition. She ran this way and that sniffing around big rocks. No squirrels, today! The American Dingo was already above tree line. SPHP was feeling the effects of the thin air, and two long days struggling to get to base camp above Tayo Lake. At the top of the first steep rise, SPHP paused to catch breath.
The S slopes of Wind River Peak (13,192 ft.) were directly ahead. The way up seemed straightforward enough. Just keep climbing while avoiding any steep snow. Lupe would work her way NW to gain a S ridge that looked snow-free all the way to the top. It would be a long boulder hop, but that was OK. American Dingoes are great scramblers! Nothing was in view that should prevent Lupe from reaching the summit.
Lupe and SPHP continued on, pausing now and then to look around and let SPHP catch breath. The terrain grew rockier. Lupe gained elevation steadily, but reaching the rocks slowed SPHP down considerably. The Carolina Dog had plenty of time to wander, sniff and survey the tremendous views.
Looper couldn’t completely avoid the snow fields, but had no problem traversing them. She enjoyed the snow, and crossed at points that SPHP could manage. She made it above the last big snowfield, and gained the upper S ridge she’d been aiming for. The rest of the trek was just a long, long scramble up the rocks.
The morning had been breezy until now, but it was just plain windy way up here on the S ridge. A gusty 20 to 30 mph wind blew out of the W. Occasionally the air was calm for a moment or two between gusts, but most of the time the wind was powerful enough to be an annoyance. Lupe stayed E of the ridgeline for a little protection whenever possible.
After a long scramble up countless rocks, the S ridge began to level out. Loopster had to be getting close to the top! She encountered a couple of larger rock formations, but had no problem scrambling around them. Ahead the ridge broadened out to perhaps an acre or more of gently sloping jumbled rock. Was that the summit?
A rock formation at the far N end looked noticeably higher than anything else in sight. Lupe headed for it. Even before she got there, it became apparent she was indeed approaching the summit of Wind River Peak (13,192 ft.). SPHP was overjoyed! The Carolina Dog had made it! Lupe leapt up onto the rock formation. She stood proudly in the breeze atop the glorious mountain.
SPHP joined Lupe at the top of the mountain. The sky was a bit hazy, whether due to smoke or humidity was hard to say. Even so, the views were simply superlative! SPHP congratulated Lupe on her peakbagging success, and shook her paw. For 10 minutes, Loop and SPHP sat in the wind up on the highest rocks, while SPHP stroked her soft ears and fur.
It wasn’t noon yet, but seemed like time for at least a snack. Lupe and SPHP got down off the summit rocks, and took shelter from the wind next to them. While Lupe devoured Taste of the Wild, SPHP had a Cliff bar, then searched around for a survey benchmark shown on the topo map. Nothing. SPHP couldn’t find a Nalgene bottle that was supposed to contain a summit register, either.
Puzzling. Wasn’t this the summit? It seemed obvious that it was. There were a couple of competing high points that didn’t look too much lower, though. One was to the E and the other along the W edge of the summit area. Better have Loop check them out, too, just in case.
Yeah, that was a good idea. Lupe had discovered a pika living among the summit rocks and was chasing it. The pika knew its home well, and had an easy time avoiding the Carolina Dog bent on its destruction. Completely fascinated by the elusive pika, Lupe was racing and bounding around oblivious to monstrous cliffs only a few feet away. Better put a swift end to this merry chase before it was Dingo overboard and the pika scored a victory!
Lupe found nothing among the large rocks at the E high point. Since she was close to the E edge of the summit area, she went a little further to check out the views over there.
Having seen the views to the E, Lupe visited several of the highest rocks along the mountain’s W edge. No sign of any benchmark or registry turned up here, either. However, the views to the W were even more glorious, due in no small part to the eye-catching proximity of Temple Peak (12,972 ft.) and East Temple Peak (12,600 ft.).
Beyond Haystack Mountain (11,978 ft.), Lupe could see the famed Cirque of the Towers, a gorgeous area she had been to before in 2015. Closer by, a slice of Black Joe Lake was in view more than 2,900 ft. below the American Dingo’s lofty vantage point.
Unfortunately, there was enough humidity, smoke or whatever it was in the air to ruin any really distant views Loop would have had on a totally clear day. With 360° of incredibly beautiful nearby panoramic splendor to admire, though, it hardly mattered.
While Loop relaxed, SPHP took some close ups.
Loop? Loop, where are you?
The American Dingo had been resting at SPHP’s feet just a minute or two ago, but she wasn’t here now. SPHP quickly scanned Wind River Peak’s summit area. Nada. Where had she gone off to?
Sneaky Dingo!
Suddenly there she was, leaping and scrambling madly around the rocks over at the true summit. She hadn’t forgotten that pika, and had slunk off to pursue it again. No doubt mountaintop pika hunting was great sport, but it involved an element of real danger for both pika and Dingo.
Once more, SPHP put an end to the merriment.
Lupe stayed up on the summit only a short while longer. An hour had flown by already. Maybe it was time to think of moving on? Many hours of daylight remained, but as slow as SPHP is climbing a mountain, SPHP somehow manages to be even slower going down rocky slopes like those on Wind River Peak.
Partly for the pika’s sake, and partly to get on with it, Lupe and SPHP left Wind River Peak’s true summit for the final time ambling S. Loop got up on a boulder for a last look at Temple Peak.
Lupe and SPHP continued S toward the rock formations near the start of the steeper descent down the S ridge. Of course, the views here were tremendous, too. Lupe delayed the start of her descent until SPHP had taken a few more photos of the magnificent Wind River Range.
An hour and a half after she’d arrived at the summit of Wind River Peak, Lupe began her descent in earnest. The Carolina Dog did lots of exploring, sight-seeing and waiting around as SPHP slowly clambered down the long rocky slopes. Two hours passed before Lupe was below the big snowfields again.
Another two hours passed before she arrived back at her “tiny house”. Although Wind River Peak didn’t look 2,000 feet higher from here, it most certainly was. Lupe and SPHP could both vouch for that now. At least 4 hours of daylight remained, but it had been another strenuous long day already. Lupe joined SPHP inside her tiny house for a needed nap.
It was evening by the time Lupe emerged again feeling refreshed. The rest had done SPHP some good, too. SPHP proposed a stroll over to Lake 11,145. Lupe was enthusiastic about the idea, but she never made it all the way to the lake. Streams and marshes blocked the final approach, and SPHP didn’t want to get wet feet.
Loop circled around to the S end of the big ridge her tiny house was pitched on. For a long time, Lupe and SPHP sat together on a rock overlooking Tayo Lake watching the evening light fade from the mountains.
When the mosquitoes got bad, it was time to return to the tiny house. Lupe remained outside while SPHP arranged things inside for the coming night. When all was ready, SPHP went back out.
N farther up the ridge, more than 100 feet away, Lupe was all alone. She rested on the ground, still scanning the vast darkening wilderness. She saw SPHP, but didn’t come. For 10 minutes Lupe and SPHP watched each other from a distance. Loop didn’t move a muscle. What was she pondering all by herself?
Hard to say. SPHP would never really know, but if a guess had to be made, she may have been thinking about the elusive pika she would never see again that lives at the very top of towering Wind River Peak.
Related Links:
Wind River Peak, Wyoming – Part 4: Tayo Lake to Worthen Meadow (7-12-17)
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