Day 25 of Lupe’s 2019 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon & Alaska!
6:29 AM, Denali Highway approaching the Tangle River from the NW –
That’s it already, SPHP?
Yup. Tangle Lakes Peak dead ahead, Looper.
Doesn’t look like a very good day for it, does it?
Hard to say. Still early.
Actually, Lupe was right. The situation didn’t look encouraging. Floating above and beyond a moat of fog down in the Tangle River valley, a huge hill was ahead. Even above the fog, the atmosphere was all white. The hill appeared nearly featureless.
At the Tangle River, SPHP turned off on the road to Round Tangle Lake. Might as well have a look at the river! The Tangle River was shallow. Bits of foam sailed downstream. In the fog it all seemed mysterious and sad. A plaque along the road about long forgotten prehistoric people who once lived here added to a sense of gloom.
Returning to the Denali Highway, SPHP turned E crossing the river. A couple more miles, and it was time to start looking for a place to park. Almost immediately, a paved pullout appeared along the S side of the highway. Sweet! Right across the highway, a dirt road headed up a small hill. More parking up there.
According to the map, the summit of Tangle Lakes Peak was 3 miles due S. The morning haze was a problem, but maybe it would burn off? The real worry was vegetation. Small trees and tall bushes dominated the scene. A long trackless bushwhack would render an attempted ascent an ill-advised endeavor.
I don’t know, Loopster. Kind of looking like a no-go.
Well, we’re here, SPHP. Let’s at least check it out.
Unbelievable! A path left the pullout! This was a trailhead. A few feet into the bushes a single sheet of information was posted behind a cloudy piece of glass or plexiglass. A registry was also present.
Hah! I guessed wrong, Lupe.
About what?
The name of this mountain. The topo map doesn’t show any name for it. Since it’s only a few miles from the Tangle Lakes, I’ve just been calling it Tangle Lakes Peak. It actually does have a name, though. Says here, this is the trail to Swede Mountain (4,660 ft.)!
Oh, so we’ve got a trail to the top? That changes everything, doesn’t it?
Yes, indeedy! According to this, the trail doesn’t go to the top, though. It only goes as far as the alpine. Probably just as good! If it gets us above the bushes, Swede Mountain ought to be a cinch!
Despite yesterday’s expedition up East Glacier Gap Mountain (6,060 ft.) and back, SPHP had slept poorly. Plenty of time. How about a nap while waiting for the air to clear? The American Dingo was willing.
10:21 AM, Swede Mountain trailhead along the Denali Highway – Better! At least the nap had done some good. The air, however, remained hazy. Looking more and more like smoke again from forest fires much farther W. Even so, with the encouraging news about the existence of a trail, the Carolina Dog might as well take a stab at Swede Mountain.
As soon as SPHP was ready, Lupe hit the trail which headed S into the bushes. After passing the trailhead display, a swamp was soon visible in a low spot off to the E (L). The trail went down a minor embankment to lowlands, then turned SW along the base of the higher ground.
Within 5 minutes, Lupe came to an unmarked fork. To the R, the trail continued into an area overgrown with large bushes. To the L, it veered toward more open territory. The trail to the L looked more recently used, but Lupe went R.
SPHP had assumed that the trails joined up again after getting by the bushes, but they didn’t. The branch Lupe had taken was already fading as she reached a low spot. What remained of the trail appeared to be heading for a small hill fairly close by, so the American Dingo kept going.
The top of the little hill turned out to be an open sandy region, a mix of tundra and low bushes. However, there were no tracks up here and no sign of the trail. This hill was the N end of a ridge that extended quite a long way SSW. The rest of the ridge did not look sandy and open. More and more bushes! Chest high, too. Even if Lupe made it to the far end of the ridge, she would have to drop down into a distant bushy lowland, then travel quite a way E or SE to reach a forested slope leading up Swede Mountain.
Not liking this setup, Loop. Where’s the trail? I’m not seeing it.
Gone, SPHP. I’m not picking up anything, either.
Hmm. We can keep following this ridge, but it looks like the farther we go, the more of a bushwhack it will become. I doubt we can even cross that low region to get to the mountain. I read some of the comments at the trailhead registry. No one mentioned getting lost or any bushwhacks.
You’ve got a rare talent, SPHP.
Don’t I, though? Not even 15 minutes from the start and already lost.
Maybe we ought to go back to the fork and try that other branch?
Yeah, seems like the only sensible thing to do. If that one dead ends, too, Swede Mountain just isn’t happening.
The L branch at the fork had been the way to go. Less than 30 seconds after striking out on this grassy route, the trail curved E and crossed a plank bridge. The trail then turned S toward Swede Mountain. Lupe found herself following a series of plastic grids embedded along the path.
The plastic grids went on and on crossing a low region that must be wet in a typical year. In places the grids were completely overgrown. Lupe gradually gained elevation as the grids led straight for Swede Mountain. By the time the grids ended, Loop was at the edge of a stunted forest where the terrain steepened.
Beyond the wetlands, the trail gained elevation more rapidly, but with occasional level stretches, too. The spruce forest gave way to tall bushes, and even relatively open spots. As the Carolina Dog climbed, the trail eventually began to trend SE.
Near the end, the route steepened. The trail had been going E when it suddenly veered SW. A set of stone steps led higher.
Above the steps, the trail went E again. Lupe was now up on the rim of the long slope she had been climbing. She soon came to a cairn perched on a big rock. This appeared to be the end of the official 1.5 mile long Swede Mountain trail.
Despite the annoying smokey haze, the views to the N weren’t bad. Round Tangle Lake, Peak 6200, Sugarloaf Mountain (5,341 ft.), and Tangle Benchmark (5,715 ft.) were all in sight. A big bare spot down along the Denali Highway marked the approximate location of the G6 back at the trailhead.
Loopster might have reached the end of the official Swede Mountain trail, but she was still miles from the top of Swede Mountain. Gently rounded slopes led toward a huge high point way off to the S.
The description of the Swede Mountain trail back at the trailhead had promised to get Lupe up to the alpine. True enough, the region right around the boulder where the cairn sat was mostly low tundra, yet the vegetation hadn’t generally changed that much. Trees were scarce, but bushes chest high or more dominated the enormous long slopes ahead. A bushwhack through this dense jungle was a daunting prospect. It would take forever.
After pausing briefly to enjoy the views at the end of the official trail, Lupe checked out the prospects for success. The American Dingo had barely started higher when she came to a second smaller cairn no more than 100 feet away from the first one back at the big rock. Beyond this second cairn a readily discernable path continued into the bush.
Prospects brightened considerably with the discovery of this informal trail. How far it might go was unknown, but if it went far enough, Loop would eventually get above and beyond the bushes.
Trending steadily N, the very direction the American Dingo needed to go, the trail went on and on. Sometimes it faded, but never so badly that Lupe couldn’t follow it. Now and then wildlife trails intersected. What choice to make wasn’t always clear. With no significant breaks in the bush empire, Loop had to rely upon SPHP. Except for the trail itself, she really couldn’t see much of anything.
For a long way the situation hardly changed. By the time the trail began to fade away for good, the outline of a small ridge had appeared only a little farther on. 40 minutes after leaving the small cairn, Lupe popped up onto the ridge.
This ridge was the NE edge of a 30 or 40 foot deep drainage cutting SE/NW across the long slope Lupe had been ascending. The bottom of the drainage appeared to be choked with flourishing alders. The top of the ridge was more open than any spot Looper had come to along the unofficial trail.
Which way? The ridge Lupe had reached sloped up to the SE, and could be seen curving toward a distant higher ridge that looked like a decent route to the top of Swede Mountain, but that higher ridge was still a long way off.
Going NW didn’t make any sense. Loop would lose elevation, NW was the wrong direction, and the drainage appeared even more choked with alders that way. However, not too far away another drainage could be seen coming down out of the SW to join the drainage Lupe was next to.
Heading SE might well have worked, but seemed like a huge detour. Pacing back and forth along the ridge, revealed an animal trail slicing down into the ravine at a point where there were hardly any alders. An easy way across the drainage! That was the ticket!
Minutes later, Lupe was through a thin line of alders climbing the SW side of the drainage. Still lots of bushes ahead, but patches of tundra, too. Things were starting to open up. The Carolina Dog kept going, now angling SW or even WSW.
The plan was to try to get to the edge of the second drainage that had been seen joining the first one, hoping that the edge would have fewer bushes to contend with.
Worked pretty well, too! Upon reaching the second drainage, the edge actually was easier traveling than charging straight through the bush would have been. Lupe was already on the correct (E) side and didn’t need to cross this smaller ravine. The American Dingo simply followed it higher.
By the time Lupe reached the upper end, the sea of bushes was finally giving out. Those that remained were too short to present much of an obstacle. Abandoning the ravine, the Carolina Dog turned SSE heading straight for Swede Mountain (4,660 ft.).
A feeling of elation swept in as Lupe sniffed and explored her way up the long, colorful slope. The terrain was an easy, featureless trudge higher. Seemed inevitable now that the Carolina Dog would soon be standing proudly at the top of Swede Mountain! Two big hills were ahead, and she was gaining on them with every step.
Reaching the top of the closest hill revealed a couple of surprises. First of all, the hill wasn’t really a hill, just a slope leading to a wide flat plain. The second hill wasn’t too far away now. It no longer appeared to be a hill, either, just a slope leading to yet another plain a little higher up. A big rectangular box sat up there close to the edge.
Whatever that big box was, it had been visible from way down on the Denali Highway. From there the box had appeared to be perched on top of Swede Mountain. Not true! Lupe could now see an even higher hill farther S.
Naturally, the mysterious box had to be investigated. Crossing the plain, Lupe climbed the next slope. The box turned out to be the Tangle Lakes repeater station owned by Copper Valley Telecom.
It hardly bears repeating that the Tangle Lakes repeater station was not at the top of Swede Mountain. The summit now appeared to be a 15 minute march S of the repeater. With her repeater station inspection complete, Lupe headed for it.
Reaching the top of the next rise, Lupe discovered she still wasn’t at the top of Swede Mountain. Across a plain was a two-tier hill. Well beyond the two-tier hill, another hill could be seen that looked potentially higher yet. Hardly seemed possible the summit could still be that far away!
Two large rocks stood out among all the others scattered across the plain leading to the double-tiered hill. The first one stood on end, and was the smaller of the two. The second rock was a boulder 8 or 9 feet high. SPHP dubbed it “Disentangled Boulder” in honor of being in the Tangle Lakes district, and somehow having managed to disentangle itself from the rest of the mountain to bask in luxurious sunshine.
From Disentangled Boulder, it wasn’t much farther to the base of the two-tier hill. A short climb got Loop up to a smaller plain leading to the last bump higher. Lanes of vegetation provided a choice of easy routes to the top among the only collection of big rocks resembling anything that might be called an actual rock formation that Lupe had seen anywhere on Swede Mountain.
The top of the bump greatly resembled the plains the Carolina Dog had crossed to get here. A 3 acre summit region was liberally strewn with blocky gray rocks decorated with black lichens, a patchwork of red, tan, and gold tundra interwoven among them. The N end where Lupe had come up was a little lower than the S rim.
This was it – the summit of Swede Mountain (4,660 ft.)! The distant hill seen from the plain where the Disentangled Boulder rested was in sight, and clearly lower. Loopster didn’t have to go all the way over there.
Strange! Although Lupe had never been to Swede Mountain before, something familiar was here. Like on Peak 4716 and HP4757 back on Whistle Ridge a couple of days ago, over at the SE edge of the summit area a single grassy mound stood a few feet higher than anything else.
What did it mean? Why was it there? Loop went over for a sniff. On Whistle Ridge, SPHP had the impression that the grassy mounds there might have been man-made. Not here. The mound on Swede Mountain looked completely natural. Maybe the ones on Whistle Ridge were, too? But what created them? 3 big hills with large summit regions, each with a single grassy mound of similar size noticeably different from the rest of the terrain, always along the SE edge. No possible explanation came to mind, yet there it was.
The SW rim of the summit region was almost as high as the grassy mound, and offered views of nearby lower hills to the S. A rest break was in order, so Lupe and SPHP went over there to relax.
Would have been so much better on a clear day! The smokey haze was worse than ever. Sadly, the intricate Tangle Lakes which ought to have been on display in the lowlands a few miles W were scarcely visible. Only the outlines of Whistle Ridge and East Glacier Gap Mountain were detectable. In all directions, anything anywhere close to the horizon was an indistinct smudge.
Yet it was still incredible to be here with Lupe.
40 serene minutes flew by. Better take a tour before time was up! Going counter-clockwise around the summit’s perimeter, Lupe returned to the grassy mound, the true summit of Swede Mountain.
Continuing on, a rocky slope went E down to a giant golden shoulder. Paxon Mountain was seen faintly on the horizon. From the N edge, Lupe gazed down on the final plain she had crossed to get here. She would soon be crossing it again.
To the W, the Tangle Lakes could now be seen with the naked eye, but the camera couldn’t pick them up. Having gone full circle, Lupe reached the S rim again.
And that was it. The Carolina Dog headed N cutting across the middle of Swede Mountain’s summit. Near the N edge, she paused. One last look back. There was the puzzling grassy mound she would never see again.
The American Dingo lingered as SPHP started down.
The return trip was marvelous! A quick stop at Disentangled Boulder, then an easy downhill grade crossing one plain and slope after another, all while reveling in the beauty of this isolated Alaskan peak.
Progress was rapid. Lupe raced about the tundra enjoying the freedom complete solitude brings. Evening now. The air seemed to clear a bit, as the sun slid toward the horizon.
All went well. Down by the second drainage Lupe had followed on her way up, she came to a stretch of amazing purple-red tundra.
Lupe found the same exact spot to cross the first drainage, and made it up onto the little ridge where she’d originally encountered it. SPHP grew uneasy. The unofficial trail ended somewhere not too far S of here, but where?
Loopster! Do you remember where the trail picks up? All these bushes look the same.
We can’t be far from it, SPHP. If you don’t see it, try an animal track. We’ll probably come to it.
Criminitly! I should have marked where the trail ended somehow, so we could find it again. Guess we don’t have any choice. Find us an animal track, and let’s scoot.
The trail the Carolina Dog chose looked promising enough, but it soon became apparent this wasn’t the same trail she had followed up the enormous slope. This place was a maze! SPHP tried to use intersecting trails to weave back and forth E and W across the slope looking for the right path. Looper made good progress down the mountain, but the bushes kept getting taller and taller. Chaos! Trails began dead ending, or intersecting at weird, unhelpful angles.
Eventually visibility was lost. The bushes were way over SPHP’s head! They’d never been this tall on the way up. Crashing through the brush, Lupe finally came to a genuine dead end. Oh, joy!
What’cha think, SPHP? Which way?
I suspect we’ve crossed the right path at least once without recognizing it. If I had to guess, and it looks like we do, I think we’re too far E.
There was a trail that went W only a little way back. Should we go back and try it?
Yeah. I don’t know what else to do. We have to try something.
The trail going W went uphill a short distance. It was enough to get out of the super tall bushes. And suddenly, there was Looper standing on an adjoining trail that sure looked promising.
Fabulous work, Lupe! I think you found it.
She had. The correct trail actually hadn’t been far from that hopeless tangle down at the dead end. Whatever. Saved now! 5 minutes on the unofficial trail, and there was the little cairn, followed quickly by the cairn on the big rock at the end of the official trail.
All’s well that ends well. The American Dingo headed down the stone steps. Her Swede Mountain (4,660 ft.) adventure was about over.
Back at the Denali Highway (6:27 PM), SPHP moved the G6 to the dirt parking area up on the little hill across from the paved pullout. Dinner facing W. Way over there, the sun was sinking between two new friends, Whistle Ridge and East Glacier Gap Mountain. Now Swede Mountain was a friend never to be forgotten, too.
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Lupe, you against the red tundra is quite the sight, as is that sunset photo – wow! XXOO Chinle
One of the reasons we’ve always gone to Alaska & the Yukon in late August and early September is how incredible the tundra is that time of year! The colors can be so vivid and unusual that entire landscapes possess almost other worldly qualities. Almost looks like a fake world from some science fiction tale. Spectacular!