Near the end of Lupe’s great Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation, SPHP had to cut out of the plan some really terrific adventures. There just wasn’t time enough left for Lupe to do them all. The last of Lupe’s adventures she would actually get to complete would be in the fabulous Wind River Range of Wyoming. The first of these adventures was for Lupe to travel the Highline Trail from Green River Lakes to Beaver Park near Squaretop Mountain.
After arriving at Lower Green River Lake the previous evening, Lupe started Day 22 of her 2015 Dingo Vacation ready to hit the Highline Trail. She set out at 7:41 AM (52°F) under partly cloudy skies. Lupe reached the Highline Trail by crossing a bridge over the Green River just downstream of where it leaves the lake.
Once Lupe was across the bridge, the Highline Trail took her SSE paralleling the NE shore of Lower Green River Lake. The trail stays well above the lakeshore for the entire 2 miles or so it takes to get to the far end of Lower Green River Lake. The area along the trail is only sparsely forested, so there is a splendid view of Lower Green River Lake with Squaretop Mountain (11,695 ft.) looming in the distance almost the entire way. The scene is one of SPHP’s very favorite mountain scenes anywhere.
When Lupe got near the S end of Lower Green River Lake, the trail began to head down closer to lake level. The bushes at the S end of the lake were already showing some fall colors. Lupe crossed a bridge over Clear Creek coming down from Clear Lake to the E. A couple of miles up the Clear Creek Trail there is a natural bridge where Clear Creek flows through a big hole in a mountain. Lupe didn’t get to go there. She continued on the Highline Trail on the way to Upper Green River Lake.
The two Green River Lakes are less than a mile apart. The area in between is flat. Quite a bit of it is covered with bushes and tall grass. A bridge crosses the Green River between the lakes. Beyond the bridge on the W side of the valley are two trails. One heads around the W shore of Lower Green River Lake, so that it is possible to make a complete loop around the lake. The other heads SSW along the Porcupine Trail up to Porcupine Pass.
Lupe stayed on the E side of the river following the Highline Trail to Upper Green River Lake. If anything, the view of Squaretop Mountain beyond the upper Green River Lake was even better than the one from the lower lake. Lupe agreed not to look so stiff or scowl at the Upper Green River Lake.
The Highline Trail passes to the E of Upper Green River Lake. It goes up and down well above the lake through a much denser forest than exists along the NE side of the lower lake. There were fewer viewpoints along the way, but there were a few.
Squaretop Mountain lies 3 or 4 miles beyond the S shore of Upper Green River Lake. The Highline Trail follows the Green River valley upstream passing to the E of Squaretop Mountain. Sometimes the trail is close to the river, other times it is away from it up in the forest. Although the trail goes up and down, there is little net elevation gain. The views of Squaretop were more and more impressive as Lupe got closer.
SPHP has an old book called Wind River Trails. It is the 3rd edition printed in 1979. The book was written by Finis Mitchell, who moved with his parents in a mule-drawn wagon from Missouri to Wyoming in 1906, arriving at the Wind River Range on April 26th. Finis Mitchell spent much of his life in the Winds. Eventually he ran a fishing camp with his wife. Although only 5 lakes in the Wind River Range had fish naturally, Finis Mitchell used milk cans and horses to pack in 2.5 million little trout and stock 314 lakes.
In Wind River Trails, Finis Mitchell describes a route up Squaretop Mountain from the E. The route is supposed to be relatively easy. Finis talks about taking a child as young as 4 years old up Squaretop (the child had to be handed up over a lot of ledges), and Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops making the trip. The route up leaves the Highline Trail at Beaver Park, about 5 miles S of Upper Green River Lakes.
Looking at Squaretop Mountain, SPHP got the feeling maybe a guy who spent his entire life in these mountains might have a different view of what was easy. Maybe things would look different from Beaver Park. If children could do it, certainly an American Dingo could. There wouldn’t be time for it, though. For Lupe and SPHP this was just a scouting trip.
On a section of the Highline Trail passing through the forest, SPHP saw some rapids on the Green River down below. There were some nice rocks and rock ledges along the bank of the river, so Lupe and SPHP went down to investigate. The river had the beautiful color of rivers carrying glacial silt. The rapids were very pretty. There was a particularly handsome boulder out in the stream.
When Lupe ran down to the rapids, she waded in the stream to get a drink of water. She climbed right out again just fine, but SPHP saw that her right rear paw was all bloody! It took some persuading to get Lupe to lay down and let SPHP take a look. It must have hurt, because Lupe didn’t want SPHP touching that paw. SPHP had to be very gentle.
Her right rear dewclaw must have gotten caught on something. Part of it had snapped off, and SPHP could see that it had been bleeding. Nothing else looked injured, and the dewclaw did not look torn from the rest of her paw. SPHP washed the blood off Lupe’s paw. She licked it for a while. After about 10 minutes she seemed to feel better about it. She was ready to get up.
Lupe posed for some pictures along the beautiful Green River. She waded a little bit in the cold water, which probably made her dewclaw feel better. By the time Lupe left the rapids to return to the Highline Trail, she seemed to have already forgotten all about the injured dewclaw.
Beyond the rapids, the Highline Trail continued S passing to the E of Squaretop Mountain. Lupe was starting to get close to Beaver Park. She was looking for a footbridge across the Green River. At the footbridge she would cross over to reach the upper end of Beaver Park.
Looking upstream (S) along the Green River from the bridge to Beaver Park.When Lupe reached Beaver Park, she went out into the big field to take a look around. It was certainly a beautiful spot. SPHP saw no easy way up Squaretop Mountain from down in Beaver Park. The first part of Finis Mitchell’s route required a climb of 1,000 feet from Beaver Park up to Granite Lake just SW of Granite Peak.
It would probably have been possible to get a much better look at the route up the ledges to Squaretop Mountain that Finis Mitchell talked about in Wind River Trails from Granite Lake. Earlier in the day going to Granite Lake had seemed like a great idea, but by now the 1,000 foot climb seemed like too much work.
Besides, the American Dingo had an injured dewclaw! It was probably best not to overdo it. Never mind that the Dingo seemed to have forgotten all about it. The trek to Beaver Park along the Highline Trail had been a pleasant one, with lots of fabulous scenery and without a ton of elevation gain or loss. Why not just enjoy the day? Lupe still had to go all the way back to the G6.
Lupe and SPHP went over to the Green River again and took a break. Lupe had Taste of the Wild and water. She relaxed on the bank above the river and grew a bit sleepy. SPHP looked at maps. There were dramatic high cliffs on the mountain on the other side of the river. After a little while, the sky seemed to cloud up more. The day grew darker.
Lupe had explored only a short segment of the Highline Trail coming to Beaver Park from Green River Lakes. Backpackers doing the most popular through hike from Green River Lakes to Big Sandy reported estimated trip lengths of 7 to 9 days. The entire trail is over 100 miles long, although portions beyond Green River Lakes and Big Sandy at either end are seldom used.
Lupe was only here for a day hike, though. Beaver Park was about as far as Lupe and SPHP could go and still return in a day. When it started to rain with tiny hailstones, Lupe and SPHP took refuge under tall pines near the Highline Trail. It was time to think about heading back. About the time the rain stopped, a forest ranger came along the trail from farther upstream. This was an amazing thing in itself!
In all her many explorations and adventures, Lupe had never seen a forest ranger away from the pavement before. This forest ranger was actually out in the forest, and doing what one thinks of as forest ranging. SPHP talked to him. His name was Chad. Chad was quite friendly and full of information about the Wind River Range. This was his 3rd year working in the Winds.
Chad said the Finis Mitchell route up Squaretop was rather hard to find, since some of the landmarks (like burnt areas in the forest) which Finis Mitchell used to describe the route had changed since Wind River Trails was written. SPHP had been wondering if there wasn’t another easier route via the Porcupine Trail. Chad confirmed that there was. It was longer, though. Chad had been up on Squaretop Mountain and knew what he was talking about.
After a fun chat with Chad, he needed to be moving along. He was on his way up into high country near the Golden Lakes, and from there clear up to the glaciers beyond, to check on wildlife, hunters and climbers. He would remain on the Highline Trail for a little while longer before looking for a place where he could leave the trail and climb up to Golden Lakes.
Lupe and SPHP followed Chad along the Highline Trail. Despite carrying a huge, heavy pack, Chad was faster than SPHP. Lupe and SPHP did catch up to him again several times when he stopped to chat to people along the trail. The last time Lupe and SPHP reached him, he had stopped to have a sandwich before leaving the trail. Chad very kindly gave Lupe some of his cheese sandwich. (Dingoes love cheese!)
On the way back, Lupe stayed on the Highline Trail until she was between the two Green River Lakes. There she crossed the bridge over to the W side of the Green River. Lupe headed for the intersection of the Porcupine Trail and Lakeside Trail. To complete a loop around Lower Green River Lake, Lupe took the Lakeside Trail heading NNW near the W shore.
The Lakeside Trail was in forest much of the way. There were only a few spots with open views from the trail on this side of the lake. Most of the time, the Lakeside Trail stayed well above the shore.
It was 7:52 PM (66°F) when Lupe reached the G6 again. After a glorious day along the Highline Trail to Beaver Park and back, she was ready for a whole can of Alpo before curling up with her blankie. Maybe someday she will return to explore further along the Highline Trail, or take the Porcupine Trail and find the way up Squaretop Mountain.
What was for certain was that her final big adventure of her great Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation would start the next day. It would also take place in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.
Related Links:
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Squaretop Mountain, Wind River Range, Wyoming – Part 2: Beaver Park to the Summit (7-21-18)
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So… did you ever make it up Square Top?
Unfortunately, no. Despite Finis Mitchell’s mention in his book Wind River Trails of a route up Squaretop from the E via the Beaver Park area, the mountain looked daunting to SPHP from this direction, almost like a cliff, so I never got to even try it.
I did return with SPHP in July, 2017 intent upon summiting Squaretop from the W via Porcupine Pass. I made it up to the top of New Benchmark, from which I could see the top of Squaretop from several miles away. However, there was far more snow around than expected. A very large and steep snow bank on the E side of New Benchmark prevented SPHP from going any further.
I’m hoping to return to the Wind River Range in the summer of 2018 for another attempt!