Powder River Pass – Peak 10215 & Peak 10493, Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming (6-29-19)

Day 4 of Lupe’s 1st 2019 Dingo Vacation to the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming!

6:20 AM, USFS Road No. 29 – Frost on the G6!  Chilliest night of this Dingo Vacation yet.  The sun was already up and climbing higher, though.  Partly just to warm things up a bit, SPHP drove back to Munkres Pass (9,447 ft.).  Lupe was bright-eyed and alert, anxiously watching for deer or moose along the way.

The Carolina Dog had no success with that, but a squirrel or two at Munkres Pass provided ample entertainment.  SPHP heated up breakfast – beef and barley soup.  After eating, not feeling terribly energetic, SPHP piddled around getting the backpack ready.  With squirrels to watch, Loop was in no rush to do anything else, anyway.

Even so, by mid-morning, Lupe was at Powder River Pass (9,677 ft.).  The pass was a busy place!  Many vehicles stopped briefly at the huge paved pullout along Hwy 16 here.  People got out to stretch their legs, and see the sights from the highest point the road reached on the journey over the magnificent Bighorn Mountains.

Powder River Pass was just a starting point for Loop, though.  With any luck, she was going to climb a couple of mountains N of Hwy 16 today.  And, yes, fortune was smiling upon the American Dingo!  Blue skies, a nice breeze, and perfect temperature.

Despite all those advantages, there was a problem.  Feeling drained after 3 straight days of peakbagging, SPHP was overcome by drowsiness and promptly drifted off to sleep.  Lupe must have felt the same way.  At least she didn’t object.  She conked out, too, snoring rhythmically on her pink blanket atop pillows and gear.

11:40 AM, 63°F, Powder River Pass – Oh, yeah!  So much better!  A couple of hours lost, but no harm done.  Peak 10215 and Peak 10493 weren’t that far from Powder River Pass, or all that much higher.  Still time enough to visit both.  Consciousness and energy restored, Lupe and SPHP crossed Hwy 16.  The Carolina Dog started up the grassy slope at the base of the crag N of the road.

This crag was actually the lower S end of Peak 10215.  Staying toward the W (L), Lupe was soon above the grassy region climbing on talus.  She kept going until she was high enough to see the rest of the mountain.  Ahead was a long rough ridge flanked by talus-strewn slopes.  The topo map showed the summit at the most distant high point along the ridge.

Live and learn!  At a glance it was clear that Lupe would have had an easier, more direct route to the summit knob, if she had stayed farther W and lower.  She could have skipped this first talus climb and been on the grass longer.  Nothing to be done about that now, and it didn’t matter too much, anyway.  Loop headed for the true summit, bounding along the talus.  Meanwhile SPHP slowly rock-hopped behind her.

The summit of Peak 10250 is only 0.33 mile from Hwy 16, so the talus trek didn’t take too long.  The American Dingo lost a little elevation, but was soon climbing again.  The higher Looper got, the steeper the climb became.  None of it was terribly difficult, though, until she started getting close to the ridgeline.

The last part of the climb became quite steep.  Picking a way through the rocks was slow going.  Not far from the top, Lupe came to a nice flat area next to vertical rock walls.  Ready for a bit of a break, Lupe and SPHP paused here.  This was a good spot to catch one’s breath, but would have been even better if there had been more shade.  The sun was hot.  Having worn her fur coat, Lupe wanted to avoid it.

Continuing higher, N of the flat spot Lupe came to a nearly vertical chute just below the top of the ridge.  Fortunately, this chute wasn’t very tall, and proved to be negotiable.  Looper scrambled up, and found herself at the top of Peak 10215.

A small, skinny cairn sat along the W edge close to where Lupe came up.  The summit region was roomy, but with lots of rocks at weird angles.  The whole thing was split in half by a line of sharply slanting slabs 2 or 3 feet high, the true summit being the highest rocks along this line.  The Carolina Dog hopped up on these rocks to claim her first peakbagging success of the day!

Lupe had come up NW of the line of rocks splitting the summit region, but the SE side offered the only halfway decent spot where she could lay down for a bit.  Even the best spot was cramped and rocky.  SPHP put down a jacket to provide her a little cushioning.

The views were great!  To the SE, Lupe could see the mountains she had been climbing the past couple of days.  Hazelton Peak (10,264 ft.) poked up from behind Hesse Mountain (10,385 ft.) and Peak 10372, which she had climbed only yesterday.  Hazelton Pyramid (10,534 ft.), which Loop hadn’t been to since 2016, was also in sight.

The temperature was pleasant, in the mid 60’s ºF, with a 10 to 15 mph W breeze, but Lupe still felt hot in the sun.  The only bit of shade around was a small cavity beneath the rock Loop was laying next to.  There was only room enough for her to stick her head under there, so that’s exactly what she did.  Some shade was better than none at all!

As it turned out, a 6″ diameter round white plastic canister was tucked back in the dark recesses of this same cavity.  What was in it?  SPHP checked it out, expecting to find a registry, but there was none.

The contents were sparse: a dull pencil; a torn piece of a map with the names Buck & D’Lynn Cowdin from Kaycee, WY 9-3-18; a Coors Lite key chain; 2 Miller Lite bottle openers; a badly disintegrating scrap of paper with the names Steven Topalin, Thomas Szczygiel, & Matt Thompson 7-15-15 (road trip from Michigan); a band-aide (still good) with the names Michael Markorsky, Milo Hansen & Johnathan Oarkyus 7-21-18.

The most interesting item was a plastic laminated card left by EskoClimber.

Getting up Peak 10215 had been harder than expected.  Lupe and SPHP hung around for a good 50 minutes relaxing and enjoying the views.

Mid-afternoon already!  With such a late start, the Carolina Dog couldn’t afford to dilly-dally up on Peak 10215 too long.  Peak 10493 was calling!  Lupe could see it, a long ridge to the N a mile or more away in front of Loaf Mountain.  Beyond a long talus slope and a forest, a broad grassy saddle to the NE led to the extreme SE end of Peak 10493.

Lupe started down Peak 10215’s NE ridge, staying N of the ridgeline.  It was slow going on talus for quite a distance.  Upon finally reaching the pines, the terrain was less rocky and easier.  Lupe was delighted to find patches of melting snow to cool off on.

A little farther NE, the ridgeline became rockier again.  The American Dingo explored the SE side of the ridge here before switching back over to the NW.  Instead of continuing all the way to the grassy saddle, Loop now left Peak 10215’s NE ridge traveling NNW through the forest.  She lost extra elevation this way, but was taking a shortcut to Peak 10493.

Another time-consuming descent on talus got Lupe back to the forest.  Even among the pines there were rocky areas.  However, the terrain quickly became much easier as she continued losing elevation.  Lupe eventually reached the edge of a broad meadow.  A long strip of open ground rose NE all the way to the saddle, and also went much further down a valley to the SW.

Beyond the huge meadow, the S slopes of the Peak 10493 ridge extended far to the NW.  The lower regions were a mix of forest and meadows, the upper slopes nearly all rock and scattered patches of snow.

After crossing the meadow, Lupe started climbing steadily on mostly easy terrain.  By the time things were getting rocky, she was able to look back and see that she was once again almost as high as Peak 10215.

The last part of the climb to the ridgeline was a very steep talus slope.  Just short of the top was another nearly vertical chute, taller and more daunting than the one the Carolina Dog had successfully negotiated to reach the summit of Peak 10215.  SPHP scrambled up first.  Normally surefire Lupe leapt up next, but didn’t make it!

She almost did.  Lupe hung on the upper edge of the chute whimpering and clawing desperately to avoid falling backward.  No way!  She was about to fall!  In a flash, SPHP grabbed her front left paw and tugged.  It was enough.  Loopster scrambled to safety.  Scary!  Closest call ever, but the American Dingo was fine.  She regained her composure immediately.

Lupe was safely up on Peak 10493’s ridgeline now, but it was instantly clear she wasn’t at the summit yet.  To the NW were two slightly higher points, both capped with cairns.  The more distant one was the highest.

The top of the ridge was all rock.  The ridgeline was so rough that Lupe often had to travel a bit below the top along one side or the other, usually toward the NE.  She passed within a couple of feet of the first cairn, and eventually made it over to the more distant high point.

Surprisingly, just SE of this high point was a roomy patch of fairly level ground. This area was still scattered with large rocks, but also some sparse vegetation.  Another cairn was present down here, in addition to the one on top of the high point.  More high points, all apparently close to the same elevation, could be seen farther NW along the ridgeline.

Perhaps due to her scare back at the chute, the Carolina Dog showed little interest in climbing to the top of this high point.  However, a marmot appeared, and that changed everything.  Suddenly Lupe was scrambling all over this pile of rocks jutting out at weird angles.  She leapt up, down, and all around, repeatedly circling the high point while searching for the wily marmot.

Naturally, the marmot was safe.  This high point was its home territory.  It knew every nook and cranny.  The marmot vanished as quickly as it had appeared.  Lupe searched the Marmot Castle in vain.  However, all the excitement had made her more than willing to visit the top, just in case the marmot might be lurking somewhere up there.

No marmot, but there were some pretty nifty views!

From the Marmot Castle, two more high points were visible farther NW along the ridge.  They both looked about equally high, possibly even a tad higher, so Lupe couldn’t linger on the Marmot Castle.  She scrambled down.  Before leaving the area, she took another look back at Peak 10215 and some of the other mountains she had been to.

The next high point wasn’t far from the Marmot Castle, only 100 to 200 feet away.  The intervening ground was more rough, rocky ridgeline.  Loop scrambled over there, but beyond this high point was yet another high point much farther away.  SPHP couldn’t tell if where Lupe was now was any different in elevation from the Marmot Castle or the much more distant high point still to the NW.

The ridge ahead looked easier than the part Lupe had already explored.  It was widening out with some grassy spots, but some ups and downs along it might conceal big drops.  Did the American Dingo really need to go way over to that distant high point, or had she already reached the summit?

Hard to tell.  SPHP resorted to comparing the layout of Hwy 16, much of which could be seen to the S, with the topo map.

Yep.  Seemed pretty certain.  The angles weren’t quite right yet.  The 10,493 foot elevation marked as the presumable summit on the topo map was definitely farther NW.  Lupe continued along the ridge.

This considerably longer trek along the ridgeline was easier than what had come before.  Most of the time Lupe could travel up on top of the ridge.  The terrain went up and down some, but none of the dips or climbs revealed cliffs or impassable spots.  The sun was starting to sink, but what a beautiful, fun ridge hike!

The biggest drop came near the end.  Loop got past it, and faced a bit of a climb back up to a narrow flat-topped wall of rock.  Ahead a big whitish boulder sat perched by the edge of a small cliff.  Beyond it were slightly higher rocks, quite possibly the true summit of Peak 10493!

Yes, this was it!  When Lupe got over to the area just beyond the whitish boulder, a short stretch of Hwy 16 just W of Powder River Pass pointed right to this spot.  Even though yet another high point could be seen still farther NW, Lupe was where the 10,493 foot elevation was marked on the topo map.  One of these rocks (a number of them looked equally high) was the true summit.

SPHP congratulated Lupe.  No need to go further.  She had not only reached the true summit of Peak 10493, but had narrowly escaped falling off the mountain!  For a little while, Lupe and SPHP hung around.  The early evening sunlight streaming over the Bighorns enhanced the gorgeous views in all directions.

20 glorious minutes at the true summit was about it.  Lupe was ready to head back to Powder River Pass.  After all, 1.5 hours had gone by since SPHP had helped her up onto Peak 10493’s long ridge, so it wasn’t like she hadn’t gotten a chance to appreciate the mountain.

Before departing, Loop and SPHP paused to consider the incredible view to the SSE.  There was Hesse Mountain (10,385 ft.) which Lupe had first climbed in 2014, and then again yesterday along with Peak 10372.  Hazelton Peak (10,264 ft.) was hidden by clouds, but highest of them all, Hazelton Pyramid (10,534 ft.) loomed in sunshine beyond Peak 10372.  And of course, not even 1.5 miles away, there was Peak 10215, which the Carolina Dog had left only 4 hours ago, looking like a pyramid as well.

So beautiful, and to think that Lupe had been up on all of those splendid peaks!  It was time, though.

Puppy, ho!  Onward!

Eager to avoid so much difficult talus-strewn terrain, Lupe’s return route was much different.  She left Peak 10493 heading first W, then slowly circling S down a bowl-shaped valley.  For quite a long way, she was still on talus, but as she got lower, the slope wasn’t as steep.  Lanes of vegetation appeared among the rocks, which sped things up considerably.

Below the talus, there were stands of pines scattered on a long slope of mostly meadows.  The last part of the journey was all in a forest that was a maze of bogs, little streams, deadfall and animal trails.  Lupe never did come to USFS Road No. 523111 shown on the map.  She probably passed E of it.  In any case, she eventually arrived just as planned at the curve in Hwy 16 WNW of Peak 10215.

Half a mile or more back to Powder River Pass!  Lupe and SPHP plodded along the wide shoulders of Hwy 16.  Traffic was lighter than it had been earlier in the day.  Peak 10215 was bathed in brilliant sunshine shortly before Lupe reached the G6 again.  (8:04 PM, 60ºF)

Days are long in June!  Even so, the sun wouldn’t be up much longer.  Still, maybe enough time remained to do one more thing today?  Might be possible to get to High Park Lookout (9,477 ft.) to see the sunset.

8:20 PM, 56ºF, end of USFS Road No. 429  – Better hurry!  Lupe and SPHP hit the 15 minute trail to High Park Lookout without hesitation.  The trail wound among stately pines, moss and lichen covered boulders, then up long flights of stairs.

Faint rays of sunshine still gleamed on the higher peaks of the Bighorn Range as Lupe arrived up at the old fire lookout station.  For a few brief moments, the American Dingo stood atop rocks brightened by the glow of fiery clouds that had just swallowed the sun.

Undeniably, the towering mountains to the NE were the most impressive scene from High Park Lookout, but on this particular evening attention was drawn to two lesser points.  Miles away, sunlight had already faded from Peak 10215 and Peak 10493.  There they were, though, looking small and unimportant.

Yet what a fun day they had been!

Twilight deepened.  A final glance, and Lupe trotted back down the stairs into the dark gloom of the stately pines.

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