Day 2 of Lupe’s 1st 2019 Dingo Vacation to the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming!
6:12 AM, 57ºF, dense fog at the I-90 Powder River rest stop – That darn black pickup truck was still idling! Had been all night, with not a soul in it, no less. Who does that anyway? May as well put a “Please Steal My Truck” sign on it! A thief wouldn’t even have had to turn the key. Yet here it was, still running with no owner in sight. No one had touched it. Gotta love Wyoming!
Ready to roll, Lupe hopped back into the G6. Hopefully this fog would clear up by the time she got to the Bighorns.
It did – almost immediately. Turned out it wasn’t anything more than just a ground fog stuck down in the Powder River valley. Cheery blue skies appeared as the G6 climbed out of the valley. Approaching Buffalo half an hour later, Looper stopped for a quick look at the Bighorn Range illuminated by the morning sun. Snow was visible on all the higher peaks.
W of Buffalo on Hwy 16, SPHP initially missed the L turn onto USFS Road No. 32 (Hazelton Road) a mile before the Lost Cabin campground (about 9 miles E of Powder River Pass). This error was quickly corrected. The American Dingo was soon bounding out of the G6 at a huge meadow along Hazelton Road several miles S of Hwy 16.
Snow-clad Loaf Mountain (11,722 ft.) far to the NW looked enticing, but Hazelton Peak (10,264 ft.) was her objective today. Little, if any, snow was visible up there. Hazelton Pyramid (10,534 ft.), which Lupe had climbed back in 2016, was also in sight to the SW.
Continuing SW on Hazelton Road, concern grew. Most of Hazelton Peak looked perfectly climbable, but could Lupe really get to the summit? The mountain’s main ridge featured some mighty steep rocky knobs. It was hard to tell exactly which knob was the true summit from down here, but several of the highest points looked a bit daunting.
Two miles beyond Lower Doyle Creek campground (a turn not taken), SPHP turned R (W) on USFS Road No. 506. This road wasn’t great, but still passable for the G6. After bumping along for 1.5 miles, a junction was reached just E of some private property. Beyond a wood railing fence an old cabin sat in a meadow next to Doyle Creek.
According to the topo map a road leading NW past the cabin was right where USFS Road No. 508 ought to be. Lupe had been intending to go this way, but there was no sign. Was that road public or private now? A sign along No. 506 did indicate there was a public easement for 0.3 mile across private property S of the cabin.
SW wasn’t really the right direction, but SPHP stayed on No. 506, driving through the private property on the easement, and crossing Doyle Creek in the process. Beyond the W boundary of the private land, the road turned S, directly away from Hazelton Peak. Clearly no sense in driving any farther! SPHP parked the G6. Lupe could start for Hazelton Peak from here. (10:16 AM, 63ºF)
Setting off N through the forest, the intention was to avoid the private property, but Lupe wound up on it. She quickly came upon a dirt road that led past a pond with 2 docks. A little farther on was another road. SPHP surmised this was likely the same one that had gone NW past the old cabin. About this time, a much newer, nicer cabin was glimpsed off to the W. Lupe did not go near it. Instead, she simply crossed the road and Doyle Creek again, continuing all the way N to a fence. Once beyond the fence, she was back on USFS land.
Definitely would have been better to have started from E of the old cabin and avoided the private property by following the fence line, but that didn’t matter now. Lupe roamed N through a gently sloping open forest, happy and completely oblivious to the private property issue she had already put behind her.
After gaining a little elevation, Lupe came to a clearing. The rugged S end of Hazelton Peak was now visible ahead. Having seen the ragged main ridge from Hazelton Road, climbing this end of the mountain would almost certainly be a waste of effort.
Beyond the clearing, Lupe re-entered the forest. The plan was to stay on easy terrain W of the mountain. Wandering N, Lupe came to an old road in an immature forest. She followed it a little way until it turned E. A branch to the N soon faded away. Losing a bit of elevation going NW down a slope, she came to a small stream. Loop lost no time availing herself of a drink and this chance to cool off.
The map showed this stream was a tiny tributary lying well E of the main course of Doyle Creek. It meandered down open meadows from the N. Lupe was just where she wanted to be! The plan was to follow this stream up a long valley to a saddle at 9,520+ ft.
The meadows near the stream were damp, sometimes boggy. Staying E of the stream, Lupe traveled N on slightly higher ground in the forest. She crossed a series of rivulets trickling down hillsides seeping water. After going some distance in this manner, the meadows and damp areas ended, and the tributary of Doyle Creek seemed to have vanished.
Following animal trails, Lupe explored a mature forest of tall pines. The forest floor was bare except for pine needles. Although the American Dingo was now gaining elevation at an increasing rate, the forest hid all but her immediate surroundings.
The situation did not change. Lupe gained quite a bit of elevation, and it seemed as though she had gone a long way, but she did not come to the 9,520+ ft saddle or any viewpoints. She finally arrived at another little trickle of a stream coming down from Hazelton Peak, the first one she’d come across in quite a while.
Loop would inevitably reach the saddle, if she continued up the valley, but SPHP was getting impatient. How much farther was it? Had she missed it somehow? That didn’t seem possible. Where did this little stream originate? Out of curiosity, SPHP led Lupe E following the trickling stream higher. It led to a dam of white rocks.
The dam wasn’t real. No water was behind it, only a steep forested slope. Maybe by now Lupe was far enough N to consider climbing up to Hazelton Peak’s main ridge? Loopster was willing to give it a shot, so up she went.
The American Dingo climbed and climbed. She came to fields of talus, which SPHP tried to avoid by staying in the forest whenever possible, but the forest was only a little easier. From the rocks, Lupe started getting better and better views.
Eventually Lupe was high enough so SPHP could recognize features shown on the topo map. Hazelton Pyramid (10,534 ft.) off to the NNW was unmistakable. Beyond the valley Lupe had been traveling up before starting this much steeper climb Peak 9753 was in sight.
Much closer was an impressive high point along Hazelton Peak’s main ridge. Was that possibly the true summit? SPHP hoped not. It looked questionable whether Lupe could get to the top from this direction.
Approaching the ridgeline, the boulders Lupe was climbing grew in size. The top of the ridge proved to be a narrow jumble of massive rocks hidden among pines. Maneuvering along this rugged terrain was slow, tricky work. Lupe had plenty of time to gaze about from various lofty perches while SPHP inched along.
The rough, narrow section of the ridge ended, broadening out as Lupe closed in on the high point to the N. She reached open ground where SPHP could make rapid progress. The view was encouraging! Circling around the E side to where an ascent from the N might be possible looked easy.
However, climbing this high point proved unnecessary. SE of it, Lupe came to a minor saddle along the ridgeline. On the other side, a huge forest-forest filled amphitheater stretched off to the NE, the upper edge rimmed by a series of rocky prominences clearly higher than the one she was close to now.
Wow! We’re nowhere close to the top of Hazelton Peak yet, SPHP! It’s gotta be somewhere way over there!
Yeah, I see that. Been a while since I’ve checked the map, maybe it’s time I did? Let’s take a break here. Maybe we can figure out where we’re at.
Lupe was happy to lap up some water, then lay panting in the shade.
Alrighty, Loopster, I think I’ve got it.
So where are we?
Oh, you lucky Dingo! Good thing I didn’t get impatient down in the valley any sooner than I did! We barely went far enough N before turning E up to the ridgeline, or we might have had quite a time of it, maybe even been forced to retreat. Appears we are just SE of HP 9886 right now.
Is that good? Can you tell which of those high points to the NE is actually the true summit?
Probably none of them Loop. If I’m right, the summit is still more than 1.5 miles away. Should be past anything we can see from here. Won’t truly know if the news is good or bad until we can actually see the summit.
We better get going then!
Staying close to the NW side of the amphitheater, Loopster headed NE. She remained on open ground as long as possible, but wound up cutting through the forest to save time, losing a bit of elevation in the process. Less than halfway around the amphitheater, she reemerged from the forest. Directly ahead, mostly open ground led to another pass between rocky high points. Lupe headed for it.
Upon reaching this second pass, it turned out not to be a pass at all. Beyond it the ground continued to rise, but more gradually. Another even higher line of rocky knobs was ahead.
The 3rd pass wasn’t much of a pass, either. Dramatic rock formations marked a boundary with more level territory to the N. Yet another rocky knob was off in that direction. Maybe that was the true summit of Hazelton Peak? It wasn’t the only high point around, though, and it was still hard to tell for sure.
The views from the rock formations at the 3rd pass were terrific! Lupe spent some time scrambling around while enjoying the sights. Stretched out along a line to the NW she could see Hazelton Pyramid (10,534 ft.), Peak 10372, and Hesse Mountain (10,385 ft.). Much farther to the NNW, massive, snowy Bighorn Peak (12,324 ft.) was in view.
Continuing N, the high point that had been visible from the 3rd pass looked more and more like it actually was the true summit. It was rocky and steep, but not an awful lot higher than the surrounding ground. With just a little luck, Lupe ought to be able to get to the top!
A quick scramble with only one tricky spot, and the American Dingo stood perched on the highest rock. This was definitely it – Lupe had reached the true summit of Hazelton Peak (10,264 ft.). Getting here hadn’t been bad at all!
The summit region was small, but roomier than expected. Several rocks along a short ridge were all nearly the same elevation. A bit lower to the SW, a grassy spot tucked among big rocks provided a little shelter and shade where Lupe could rest.
After a quick look around, Lupe was ready for a break. Taste of the Wild, water, and a bit of a snooze sounded good to her. After furnishing the needed supplies, SPHP gazed at the splendid scenery while Looper relaxed.
Such a beautiful day! Conditions were close to ideal. 65ºF with a 10 to 15 mph breeze out of the SE. The Dingo snoozed. SPHP gazed. No rush at all. A white canister at the summit contained only trash, no registry.
More than 2 hours shot by. Lupe woke up. Hours of daylight left, but the sun had been sinking for a while. Sadly, it was time to get a move on. Before departing, the Carolina Dog returned briefly to the true summit. She then conducted her own little tour of the sights again.
From the top of Hazelton Peak, a big green field could be seen down in the saddle leading to Hazelton Pyramid. If Lupe could get down there, she ought to have an easy time returning to the valley of the tributary of Doyle Creek she had partially explored earlier. This route wouldn’t be as scenic as retracing her path through all the minor passes, but ought to be faster and easier.
Late enough now for speed to be a consideration. Lupe is always happy to see something new, anyway. As the American Dingo left the summit, searching for a way down to the big green field was the new plan.
Once down off the summit, Lupe didn’t have to go back over any of the minor passes. Instead, she turned WNW. The ground sloped away only gradually at first, but became progressively steeper as she continued. Open ground higher up gave way to forests, rocks, and snow banks on the way down. However, the terrain never became too challenging.
The plan worked! After losing 1,000 feet of elevation, Lupe emerged from the forest in the big green field.
It was still a long way back, but the rest was easy. The big green field was a saddle at 9,520+ ft., the same elevation as another saddle more than 0.5 mile SW. That other saddle was the one Lupe would have reached on the way up, if SPHP hadn’t become impatient.
Traveling SW through the forest, being careful not to stray too far from the W slopes of Hazelton Peak, Lupe eventually did reach the 9,520+ ft. saddle she had been trying for earlier in the day. She crossed a meadow there, then descended into the valley of the tributary of Doyle Creek.
Back in the forest again, light was already beginning to fade even though the sun was still up. Only a little sunlight filtered through the trees. Lupe and SPHP hastened on for what seemed like a long way. It wasn’t until the Carolina Dog came upon the “dam” of white rocks again that SPHP really knew where she was.
That confidence didn’t last. The trackless forest was all too much the same. Nothing looked familiar. Lupe came to no other landmarks, at least nothing SPHP recognized. Believing she might be too far W, SPHP eventually turned SE. Soon after climbing over a hilly area, Loop finally reached a road.
Know where we are now, SPHP?
Yes, lucky Dingo! Completely by accident, but we couldn’t have planned it better if we’d tried. I thought we were too far W, but that wasn’t true. This is USFS Road No. 506. We’re E of the old cabin. We’ll have to go by it on the way back to the G6.
Oh, so we managed to avoid the private property then!
True dat. We’ll still have to take the public road easement back through it, but that’s not an issue.
All’s well that ends well, SPHP!
Also true, and the evening did end well with a peaceful mile long trek back along the road. Hazelton Peak (10,264 ft.) had been a great day! (8:55 PM)
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Hazelton Pyramid, Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming 7-18-16
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