Matanuska Peak, Chugach Range, Alaska (9-5-19)

Days 31 & 32 of Lupe’s Summer of 2019 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon & Alaska!

9-4-19, 1:45 PM, at a pullout along the Edgerton Highway –

About time, sleepyhead!

Heh, sorry about that Looper.  How long have I been out?

An hour.  Are you alright, SPHP?

Yes, much better, thank you.  That Benadryl I took really did a number on me.  Just couldn’t stay awake.  Fine now.  Ready to keep going?

Been ready!  Onward!  By the way, where are we off to, anyway?

Looks like it’s turned into a decent day again!  Want to head back toward Anchorage?  Take another shot at Wolverine Peak, or something else in that vicinity tomorrow?  Been a few days.  That hurricane ought to have died down by now.  Last chance!  Even if the weather stays good, won’t be too long before we really do need to leave Alaska.

Way back there again, SPHP?  You sure aren’t going to win any prizes for efficient route planning!  Whatever you want, though.  I’m easy!

That was true, enough!  As long as the Carolina Dog was on the road to adventure, she was never too particular about exactly which road that was.  After the late, late return from the Root Glacier last night, an easy day spent just getting into position for the next big thing sounded good.

9-4-19, 4:31 PM, Glenn Highway, MP 123.3 – Time to stretch those Dingo legs!  SPHP turned off the highway onto the road to Belanger Pass.  Syncline Mountain (5,471 ft.) was in sight, looking beautiful out in the clear!  Not smoky at all now like it had been when Lupe climbed it more than 2 weeks ago.  That had been a fun day!

Unfortunately, early afternoon’s sunshine had disappeared.  Clouding up.  Maybe heading back W had been the wrong thing to do?  Wouldn’t be the first time.

W of Gunsight Mountain (6,441 ft.), the G6 ran into rain showers.  By the time Lupe was in Palmer, the showers were over and done with.  Merely partly cloudy here.  Still, maybe Palmer was far enough?  Why go clear to Anchorage, when the weather was iffy?  Just more wasted miles, if tomorrow was a no-go.  Besides, if it turned out to be a really nice day, maybe Loop could take a shot at Matanuska Peak (6,093 ft.) right here in Palmer?

9-5-19, 9:41 AM, Palmer, Huntley Road at the Lazy Mountain trailhead –

Doh!

What’s wrong, SPHP?

Nothing really, Looper.  Just that I should have looked at the map before paying the parking fee is all.  We’re at the wrong trailhead!  Could have saved ourselves a mile on the Morgan Horse trail if we had parked at the end of Smith Road instead.

One measly mile won’t make much difference, will it?

No, except that Matanuska Peak is a huge climb.  5,400 ft. of elevation gain without counting any dips!  We might not feel like doing this extra mile again on the way back.

Oh, piddle!  Come on, let’s go!

The Morgan Horse trail left the Lazy Mountain trailhead winding SE through a forest full of Devil’s club.  Minor ups and downs, but nothing serious.  Little or no net elevation change.  The morning was clear and bright, which had been key for the decision to stay here in Palmer to climb lofty Matanuska Peak (6,093 ft.), no trivial romp even by American Dingo standards.

Numbered brown wands appeared along the trail at regular intervals.  The numbers apparently corresponded to distance in feet from the trailhead.  The Carolina Dog saw few signs that horses ever actually used the Morgan Horse trail.  Early on, she caught sight of the lower SW side of Lazy Mountain (3,740 ft.), the last Alaskan peak she’d climbed in 2016.

The Morgan Horse trail was easy going.  Shady and comfortably cool!

After a mile, the trail turned S and became arrow straight.  Off to the W (R), private homes could be glimpsed through the trees.  Shortly after passing the 6,000 foot marker, Lupe came to an intersection with the McRoberts Creek trail, a nicely graveled jeep-sized road that went E/W.

The Morgan Horse trail continued S, but Looper turned E.  This junction must have been about 700 feet W of the Smith Road trailhead.  The first wand she came to after making the L turn onto the McRoberts Creek trail was numbered 800.

The McRoberts Creek trail was an uphill march, but the American Dingo didn’t stick with it very far at all.  Soon a Matanuska Peak sign appeared next to a single track trail veering off to the L.  The 1400 foot wand was in sight just a little beyond the sign.

The Matanuska Peak trail climbed aggressively!  Gradually it became a little easier.  Lupe even came to a couple of tiny dips.  Overall, though, this first portion of the trail was just plain steep.  SPHP often paused to catch breath at the wands appearing at 200 foot intervals.

Approaching the 4,000 marker, the trail finally leveled out.  Still 3 miles due E, Matanuska Peak (6,093 ft.) was in sight for the first time.

A nice level stretch between the 4,000 and 4,800 foot wands provided a welcome respite.  The trail then climbed at an easier pace to about the 5,400 wand, where it steepened again.  The sky had been crystal clear early this morning, but clouds were now starting to form.  Felt humid, so that unfortunate trend might well continue.  Definitely a concern, but Lupe carried on.

After another long, steep climb, an opening appeared in the forest along a short level stretch near the 7,000 foot wand.  Lupe had a clear view of Bodenburg Butte (886 ft.) and the Matanuska River off to the SW.  The top of Pioneer Peak (6,398 ft.) was already in the clouds.

The climb resumed.  Approaching the 8,400 foot marker, it looked like the trail was about to level out again.  It did, but only as far as the 8,600 wand, beyond which there was a dip quickly followed by yet another steep stretch.

Shortly after passing the 9,200 marker, the Matanuska Peak trail topped out.  Although Loopster was still far from Matanuska Peak, this was an intermediate high point as far as the trail was concerned.  From here, a gradual descent began.  The trail turned N along a ravine, then sharply SSE after crossing a tiny stream near the 10,800 wand.  Shortly before reaching the 11,200 wand, Lupe had a clear view of the valley to the SE ahead.

By now, the top of Matanuska Peak was in the clouds.  Not good, but there was still hope.  Plenty of blue sky in some directions, and most of the mountain remained out in the clear.  Progress was a lot faster as Lupe trotted along a gentle downhill slope.

This was gorgeous territory!  Fields of pink fireweed and deep green bushes dominated the broad slopes ahead.  Keeping watch over them were the light gray summits of a row of minor peaks.

At the 11,900 foot wand, a very faint trail joined in from the N.  Perhaps it came from Lazy Mountain (3,740 ft.)?  No signage, except a second wand also at this same spot.  The second wand was numbered 14,000 and said “Trail” at the top.  5 minutes after passing these markers, Lupe actually could see Lazy Mountain back to the NW.

The super easy stretch was over.  Shortly after passing this junction, the Matanuska Peak trail bottomed out.  Lupe was going uphill again when she came to a couple of oddities.  The first was a 13,950 foot wand, also marked “Trail” at the top.  Perhaps the wand numbering system used earlier had ended?  Seemed strange that this next wand was a lower number than the one before it.

Ahead, an orange flag atop a metal tripod stuck up above the fireweed N of the trail.  Perhaps it would reveal something?

Upon arriving at the orange flag, no significance could be discerned.  No trail junction, no signs, no structures, not even a pile of rocks.  Huh.  Mysterious.

Oh, well!  Lupe continued on.  At a 14,750 marker, the trail entered a thicket of tall bushes.  This was a low spot, some minor drainage.  The American Dingo was soon through the thicket, and climbing up onto a little ridge.

The scene ahead was incredible!  Brilliant fall colors painted the slopes.  Beyond them loomed the dark summit of Matanuska Peak.

The trail followed the little ridge steadily higher.  This ridge eventually vanished as it merged into a larger slope.  Lupe was heading SE toward a bench at the base of Matanuska Peak.

Other than a couple of dips crossing minor drainages, the trail climbed steadily.  The second dip came at the 18,980 foot wand.  At about 19,500, Lupe passed a ruined wreck of a picnic table.  Beyond wand 19,600, the word “Trail” once again started appearing at the top of all the wands Loop was coming to, with a corresponding jump in numbers.

At wand 22,200, a much larger dry wash was just ahead.  On the far (SE) side of this ravine was a ridge connected to the towering slope leading to the summit of Matanuska Peak.  The trail went down into the ravine, climbed a little way within it, then wound up a short steep slope on the other side to reach the ridgeline.

Shortly after climbing out of the ravine, Lupe came to a pile of white rocks not far from wand 22800.  She was now about as high as Lazy Mountain. This seemed like a good spot for a longer breather.

Clouds had been building and spreading all day.  However, toward the end of SPHP’s rest break, they suddenly shifted.  The top of Matanuska Peak was in sight for the first time in quite a while!  A good omen!

Heh.  A brief omen.  Within minutes, the summit vanished again.  In fact, much of the mountain disappeared as an even larger cloud swept in and devoured most of Matanuska Peak one gulp.  Bad omen?  Yeah, sort of.  The weather still didn’t seem threatening, but if Lupe did manage to get all the way to the top of Matanuska Peak, it would sure be nice to be able to see something.

At the moment, Lupe wasn’t the least bit worried about that.  High up on the far side of the big ravine she had just crossed, Loop saw something just below the fog of even more interest than the summit.  Dahl sheep!  2 of them.  No, make that 3!  The Carolina Dog whined excitedly!  These sheep were way too far away for any interaction.  Nevertheless, Lupe kept a keen eye on them as she resumed her ascent.

Lupe hadn’t seen anyone else for a long time now, but suddenly a voice was heard.  Someone who had the lungs to chat on a cell phone while climbing mountains was coming up!  A young man in superb condition soon overtook SPHP.  He paused from his busy social life long enough for a brief chat, then disappeared into the fog now only slightly higher, still powering his way up the mountain.

By the time the young man had overtaken SPHP, a steepish short climb after the rest break had brought the American Dingo to a gently sloping bench, the last relatively flat area Lupe would come to.  She had already come a long way, gaining over 3,000 feet of elevation in the process.  Yet the real climb was just about to begin.  One more mile, and in that mile, another 2,300 vertical feet to go!  Perhaps it was a good thing clouds cloaked the enormous, steep slope ahead.

Onward!  Puppy, ho!

And with that, Lupe started up into the fog.

The trail was good.  Packed dirt with some scree.  Looper climbed and climbed.  Already tired, SPHP was super slow.  Many breathers to gasp for air.  Vegetation faded.  Fewer wands.  The endless slope got rockier and rockier.  In the fog it was impossible to tell how much farther Loop still had to go, or how much progress she had made.

The slope was almost featureless.  No big rock formations or cliffs.  The angle of attack was gradually getting even steeper, but without readily discernable inflection points.  Staring back down into the foggy abyss was a bit unnerving.  Matanuska Peak was so steep!

Gritty sand disappeared.  The trail became nothing but rocks covered with black lichens.  Then the trail itself all but disappeared.  SPHP kept losing it.  There seemed to be many trails.  Rocks that had been disturbed were lighter colored, and showed that at least a few others had come this way before.  Wands were becoming scarce.  Now and then Lupe saw unmarked wooden posts.

SPHP was surprised when the young man reappeared.  It had been so long since Lupe had seen him, SPHP had assumed he must have taken a different route down.  Sven had made it to the top.  How much farther?  Oh, not far, 0.5 mile or so.  Another 0.5 mile of this?  That was a long, long way!  Sven offered encouragement.  Only another 45 minutes at your current pace.

Sven was super friendly.  He stayed and chatted cheerily much longer this time.  Sven even suggested climbing another mountain together.  Why not?  Contact information exchanged, off he went.

45 minutes later, Lupe was still climbing.

The giant scramble continued, but things were starting to change.  The broad slope Loopster was on was getting skinnier.  The fog brightened.  Clouds developed a bluish tinge.  Suddenly, blue sky!

Soon it was possible to see!  No sign of the top yet, but it couldn’t be too much farther, could it?  Lupe reached a 29,200 wand.

The next wand said 27,400.  Sheesh!  The scramble continued.  A sense of excitement was growing.  Big clouds in lots of directions, but it was easy enough to see that the Carolina Dog really was getting close.  Talus slopes were narrowing fast.

No more wands.  27,400 was the last one.  Suddenly it was over!  Sure, the slope Lupe had come up was plenty steep, but the other side of Matanuska Peak was a precipice!  A gray, craggy finger pointed N into thin air.

Lupe passed an American flag wrapped around a horizontal aluminum pole.  She had come up near the W end of a small summit region.  The collection of boulders at the highest point off to the E was already close at paw.  The tiptop boulder was an airy spot, but the American Dingo easily leapt up onto it.

9-5-19, 5:42 PM, true summit of Matanuska Peak – Blue sky, but lots of clouds, too.  From the summit boulder, Lupe had stunning cloud-broken views off to the N and E.  Virtually nothing could be seen to the S or W, except for a towering cloud threatening to engulf the whole mountain.  At unpredictable intervals, fog swirled by on a light, variable breeze.

Not at all stormy, but the early evening sunshine Lupe was enjoying might end at any moment.  Better take a good look around, while the Luck of the Dingo held!

Hideous cliffs were just to the N.  Spires of dark rock were only a little lower along a short NW ridge.  The snaky E ridge was thin and jagged.  Not the scariest summit Looper had ever been to, but SPHP nervously cautioned the Carolina Dog not to move around too much.  A small patch of dirt provided a comfortable spot where she could relax without being on the verge of some precipice.

Far to the ESE, a series of higher peaks strung out along a distant ridge was always at least partially enveloped by clouds.  Sometimes glaciers were visible over that way.  SPHP kept hoping for that ridge to clear, but it never did.

At first, Lupe was often in sunshine.  That changed.  Increasingly, her time was spent in shadow, but Matanuska Peak was so grand that all thoughts of leaving were banished as long as possible.

Hoped for glimpses of Lazy Mountain, Palmer, the Matanuska River and other points to the W or SW never materialized.  A couple of times it looked like they might, but those hopes were always quickly dashed.

35 minutes after Lupe reached the summit, clouds came boiling up from the SW.  Even the views to the N and E were closing off.  The Luck of the Dingo was running out.

Matanuska Peak had treated Lupe kindly.  The Carolina Dog had been fortunate to see anything other than fog up here.  Getting late, anyway.  It was a long way back, and SPHP would be every bit as slow during the tremendously steep descent as coming up had been.

As the clouds swept in, Lupe returned to the boulder at the true summit.  Her final moments atop mighty Matanuska Peak (6,093 ft.) had arrived.

45 minutes at the summit was all she wrote.  Lupe began her descent.  Down, down through the fog!  Excruciatingly slow, but it all went well.  By the time Loopster emerged from the murk, she was already close to the flattish bench at the bottom end of the SW slope.  The sun had stayed up only long enough to say good-bye.  Lupe didn’t even get to the big dry wash before it was gone.

Dusk deepened while traveling the little ridge.  A few stars appeared.  For a while, lights of Palmer could be seen.  Then it was into the black forest.  Still miles to go.  SPHP sang to ward off bears or moose.  Proven 100% effective yet again!  Exhaustion.  Sore paws.  The dreary extra mile long hobble along the Morgan Horse trail finally came to an end.

Matanuska Peak!  What a stupendous day!  (9-6-19, 12:34 AM)

Links:

Next Adventure                            Prior Adventure

Lazy Mountain, Chugach Range, Alaska 9-1-16

Bodenburg Butte near Palmer, Alaska 9-1-17

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