Syncline Mountain, Talkeetna Range, Alaska (8-22-19)

Day 18 of Lupe’s 2019 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon & Alaska!

8:38 AM, 36ºF, 1.5 miles NW of Glenn Highway MP 123.3 – Belanger Pass!  Almost immediately after making the L turn, SPHP was forced to park the G6 in a convenient slot among the bushes on the L side of the road.  A stream was just ahead.  Wide, but only inches deep, the G6 could have forded the stream easily enough, but only a little beyond it a huge mud puddle covered the entire road.  Better scout that out before getting too rambunctious!

Lupe bounded out.  Not a cloud in the sky!  Should have been a perfect day for Syncline Mountain (5,471 ft.), but it wasn’t.

Kind of smoky, isn’t it, SPHP?

Yup.  Must be some big forest fires somewhere.  With this haze as evenly spread out as it is, though, I suspect the fires aren’t anywhere around here.

We’re still going then, aren’t we?

Yeah.  Might as well give it a shot, provided the smoke doesn’t get too much worse.  Disappointing, but it’s the best chance we’ve had.  This far from home, it’s not like we’re going to get a zillion opportunities.

The shallow stream was an easy rock hop.  Getting around the giant mud puddle was a bit trickier.  A fetid swamp right next to the puddle forced Lupe into a brushy young forest up on an embankment.  An animal trail helped get her by and back to the road.  The murky puddle looked too big and deep to chance it.  The G6 was staying right where it was!

The road headed WSW.  Apparently this area was all private property.  Lupe passed by one lot after another on both sides.  Many had rough driveways with no trespassing signs strung across them.  No structures built anywhere yet, just a bunch of junk owners had been ambitious enough to drag out here and abandon.  Humans!  Sheesh!

Two more huge puddles covered the road in the next 0.25 mile.  Loop came to a junction.  A primitive route signed as the way to Squaw Creek continued straight ahead.  The road to the R was in better shape and signed for Belanger Pass.  Lupe took that one, sniffing curiously along the edge as SPHP trudged up a long hill.

After 0.5 mile, the road leveled out.  Beyond a broad flat region, Belanger Pass was now in sight, still 1.5 miles away.  This same road could be seen winding toward it.

Despite the smoke, it was a grand day.  Hard to believe it, but Loop was on her way!  Syncline Mountain (5,471 ft.) had been on Lupe’s “to do” list ever since she’d first seen it from Gunsight Mountain (6,441 ft.) where she’d met her friend Australian adventurer Luke Hall in 2016.

Gunsight Mountain was a higher, far more impressive peak, but during the Carolina Dog’s descent 3 years ago, SPHP couldn’t help noticing an enormous ridge off to the N.  Wouldn’t it be fun to roam that giant ridge?  Looper would love exploring it!  A map at the Gunsight Mountain trailhead had shown that the huge ridge was called Syncline Mountain.  A network of trails went all around it, but not on top.

Later, further investigation (topo map) had shown the easiest access to Syncline Mountain was probably from the E end up at Belanger Pass.  The true summit was way over at the opposite W end of the giant ridge at the “Fred” survey benchmark, a good 6 or 7 miles from the pass.  No doubt about it, Lupe was in for a long day with a fair amount of up and down, even once up on the mountain.

This day had been a long time coming.  Since climbing Gunsight, Lupe had been by Syncline Mountain 5 or 6 times, but conditions had always been miserable – raining, cold, sometimes windy.  Usually the mountain had been lost in fog.  A pity it had to be so hazy out, but this was by far the best opportunity that had presented itself.

The road dipped.  Last stream to cross.  Lupe enjoyed wading through and helping herself to a drink.  SPHP leapt over.  All uphill now the rest of the way to Belanger Pass.

While SPHP trudged higher, Lupe played hide and seek with rabbits.  Team Rabbit always won, racking up a lop-sided shutout, but it was a thrilling game nevertheless as the Dingoes kept threatening to score.  The road steepened.  Views back to the S improved.  Before long, Belanger Pass was just ahead.

At Belanger Pass, the road curved R (E) and disappeared over a little hill.  That was the wrong way.  Lupe needed to head W.  SPHP was surprised to see a jeep trail slicing steeply up a 50 foot high embankment on the W side of the pass.  Might as well follow it!

From the top of the embankment, it was instantly clear this was just the beginning.  The jeep trail took off heading W up a long slope leading to another higher pass.  The road made getting there a piece of cake.

The second pass wasn’t really much of a pass at all, more of a flat spot on a ridge.  To the SW, Lupe could see part of Syncline Mountain’s upper E/W ridge with a series of lesser ridges extending SE from it.  The jeep trail curved NW here, apparently on its way up to the main ridge.

A road hike hadn’t been what SPHP expected at all, but the jeep trail sure made things easy!  45 minutes after leaving Belanger Pass, Lupe trotted up onto Syncline Mountain’s main ridge.

Treeline had been surpassed even before Loop reached Belanger Pass.  Up here not even small bushes were to be seen.  A thin layer of tundra blanketed a series of rounded hills stretching ever higher toward the SW.  The jeep trail headed off that way, staying near the SE edge.

Upon reaching the first minor high point, Lupe took a break.

Syncline Mountain (5,471 ft.) has 3 major high points strung out along the length of its enormous upper ridge.  The true summit is near the far W end, but even the lowest high point, which is the farthest E, is only 109 feet lower.  Close to 2 miles, and drops of roughly 600 feet separate each summit.  The topo map also showed survey benchmarks at both the E “Alfred” and W “Fred” high points.

Gazing SW along the ridge from this first rise, a succession of 4 or 5 hills could be seen.  One of the more distant ones, still nearly 1.5 miles away, had to be the location of “Alfred”, the E high point at 5,362 ft.

Setting off again, Lupe continued along the jeep trail, which took her to, or very near, the top of each hill along the way.  These first few “hills” turned out to be separated only by minor dips.  After passing several of them “Alfred” was just ahead.

The jeep trail divided near the bottom of the slope.  The most heavily traveled route skirted Alfred to the N.  Only a spur went clear up to the top of HP5362.  Naturally, the American Dingo took the spur.

The top of Alfred proved to be a spacious region that sloped gently away on all sides.  A big cairn sitting next to the NW side of the spur trail seemed a likely spot to look for the “Alfred” survey benchmark.  Initial inspection was disappointing in that regard.  No benchmark to be seen at or anywhere close to the cairn.

However, the Carolina Dog made a wonderful discovery.  A marmot was hiding in the cairn!  So much for any interest in survey markers.  Lupe was entranced!  She circled the cairn repeatedly, alternately barking shrilly or digging furiously, all to no effect.  The wise marmot had not the slightest intention of leaving its heavily fortified position.  In the end it became a waiting game.

Meanwhile, SPHP wandered about searching for “Alfred”.  40 feet NE of the cairn on the same side of the spur trail, a small pin was marked “U.S.G.S B.M.” but that was all SPHP could find.  Maybe that was it, but the pin was small, and didn’t say Alfred or show the elevation.

Giving up on finding anything more, SPHP persuaded Lupe to abandon the marmot in favor of another rest break along HP5362‘s W edge.  Both of Syncline Mountain’s other major high points were visible.  Still 4 miles off as the crow flies, the true summit beyond HP5400+ looked very far away.

The most direct route from here to HP5400+ was to go WSW down into a wide valley, but the jeep trail didn’t go that way.  Instead, the better track that had stayed N of Albert could be seen curving NW toward the other side of Syncline Mountain.  After some indecision, it was decided to stick with the jeep trail.  Lupe cut straight down the slope to pick it up again.

The marmot up on Albert had been a marvelous discovery.  A mountain that had one marmot might have more!  Furthermore, Lupe loved the wide open spaces up here.  Suddenly the Carolina Dog was really getting into it!  On the way down to the jeep trail, Looper took off racing great distances across the tundra, stopping only briefly here and there to pant and sniff.  Sure enough!  Every now and then an unseen marmot would whistle a warning somewhere off in the distance, and she streaked off in a new direction.

The smoke haze might be ruining the views, but Loopster was having a blast!  In the American Dingo’s opinion, Syncline Mountain was clearly the best adventure yet of this whole Dingo Vacation.

Back on the jeep trail, SPHP kept an eye on Loop during her frequent off-road excursions while following the road to a dip on the far side of the mountain.  Here the trail curved back to the W, climbed a minor ridge and disappeared from view.

Up on the minor ridge, the jeep trail turned SSW.  For 0.5 mile the road stayed just W of the ridgeline and slightly below it.  The ridge ended as Lupe approached a valley she would have to cross to get to HP5400+.

As the minor ridge ended, the jeep trail curved W down a long slope, then NW as it crossed a saddle before heading up onto a bigger ridge that would eventually be a dead end.  Loop took the road down to the saddle, then left it heading SW down into the deeper valley.

This deeper valley was a saddle too, the saddle between HP5362 and HP5400+.  Lupe reached the bottom well below the highest part of this valley, which was farther SE.  The American Dingo went up the valley a little way before turning S to begin climbing a long, steep slope leading to HP5400+’s E ridge.

Finally reaching the E ridge was a relief.  The Carolina Dog still had to keep climbing from here, but at a much gentler pace.

Still 0.67 mile to the top of HP5400+!  Lupe followed the gently rounded ridge first W, then SW, climbing steadily most of the way.

On or near the highest ground on HP5400+, Lupe came to a small cairn, sadly much too small to harbor any marmots.  Like back at Alfred, the summit region encompassed quite a large area, but here the summit was more elongated instead of round.  The little cairn sat near the E end, not far from where Lupe came up.

As Lupe continued beyond the cairn, the terrain fell off only slightly as she explored a long arm of the summit region extending NW.  Syncline Mountain’s true summit was in view again, and as Lupe got closer to the W end of HP5400+, she could see a line of lower hills and ridges snaking off toward it.  Even from here, getting to the true summit appeared to be quite a trek.

Uphill and down!  Enjoying every minute, Lupe sniffed and ran, exploring the line of hills and ridges weaving W toward Syncline Mountain’s true summit.  No roads.  There hadn’t been any since she’d left the jeep trail, but in some places there were animal trails to follow, which may have meant the sniffing was pretty good.

Skirting the N side of the last hill, Lupe finally reached the slope that went down to the saddle leading to the true summit.

The saddle’s lower slopes were rutted, as though vehicles had been up here, although where they might have come from wasn’t clear.  If these ruts were actually animal trails, quite a herd must have come this way!  This saddle was the low point between HP5400+ and the true summit.  Once Lupe crossed it, she faced another long, steep climb.

The final ascent began.  By the time Lupe reached a bit of a level spot, she didn’t have much farther to go.  The upward slope resumed, but more gradually than before.

The end was a fun, easy stroll to the top.  The highest ground seemed to be a little N of the center of a crescent-shaped summit region with arms extending both N and W.  The crescent wasn’t as large an area as the summits of either HP5362 or HP5400+, but still hundreds of feet long with plenty of room to walk about.  A cluster of gray rocks, apparently the remnant of an ancient cairn, rested at the true summit.

Syncline Mountain (5,471 ft.)!  Hard to believe Lupe was really here.  After 3 years spent dreaming about it, and such a long trek, the Carolina Dog had arrived.  A shame it was so smoky out.  Only the outlines of nearby mountains could be glimpsed through the haze.  Hardly anything could be seen to the NW where the smoke was thickest.

The “Fred” survey benchmark was supposed to be somewhere around here up at Syncline Mountain’s true summit.  SPHP searched the rocks of the collapsed cairn, but found nothing.  Pacing back and forth along the crescent proved fruitless, as well.  Not even a little USGS pin like back at Alfred.

Except for the smoke, conditions were perfect – upper 40’s ºF with a mere 5 mph N breeze.  For a pleasant hour, sweet Lupe relaxed at the true summit enjoying her Syncline Mountain success, while SPHP gazed toward inscrutable horizons, and peered into deep valleys.  All too quickly, it was time to go.

Oh, it had been fun!  Lots more to come, too!  Lupe began retracing her entire long route all the way back to Belanger Pass, and down to the G6.  She continued to display great energy and spirit searching for elusive marmots, sometimes racing ahead just for the pure joy of running.

Along the way, the American Dingo returned to both HP5400+, where she stopped for a Taste of the Wild and water break, and HP5362, which she might easily have bypassed.

Happy hours flew by.  It had been a day like few others.  Down in the lowlands far below Belanger Pass, Lupe saw rabbits galore on the road ahead.  Game on!

It was dusk by the time Lupe reached the short animal trail leading around the last big mud puddle blocking the road.  In the fading light she didn’t realize she was racing straight for the swamp!  Streaking past SPHP, Loopster hurtled off the embankment with a mighty leap instantly transformed into a belly flop.  Fortunately, the water wasn’t over her head.  A shocked American Dingo clawed her way out.

Not 5 minutes from the G6, and now this!  Nothing to be done about it.  Lupe was weary.  SPHP was weary.  Onward!  Moments later, SPHP opened the door, and the filthy Carolina Dog jumped in.  What a day!  What a fabulous day!

And now for a fragrant night with the smelly, wet Dingo from the Black Lagoon.  (10:01 PM, 50ºF)

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Gunsight Mountain, Talkeetna Range, Alaska (8-23-16)

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