Freeze Out Point & Riley Point, Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming (6-24-20)

Days 1 & 2 of Lupe’s 1st Summer of 2020 Dingo Vacation to Wyoming!

Dave Covill‘s visit to the Black Hills at the end of May brought an abrupt end to over half a year of nearly unbroken adventure-free monotony.   Lupe had already despaired of ever living a life of adventure again, but suddenly hopes, even great expectations, were revived.  The Carolina Dog was enthused!  She had gotten to go to Warren Peaks (6,650 ft.), Missouri Buttes (5,374 ft.), and Black Elk Peak (7,231 ft.) while Dave had been around.

SPHP always said summer begins June 1st, and June was now magically here!  Without a doubt, adventures galore were heading the American Dingo’s way!

And then – nothing.  The old routine returned.  Lupe spent day after day laying on the carpet staring sadly out the window.  Outside, the grass was green, had been for two months.  Puffy white clouds plied brilliant blue skies, birds sang and flew by on warm, soft breezes.  The mountains were waiting, but no Dingo appeared.

Almost half shot already, 2020 – the Year of Perfect Vision, had gotten off to a very strange start.  Consequently, SPHP was way behind, still trying to “catch up”.  Despite SPHP’s assurances that good things were coming, those promises were empty.  Days turned to weeks.

Oh, there were morning walks in the park, and evening walks through the neighborhood.  People, dogs, and the mail carrier strolled by every day.  Now and then squirrels risked making an appearance.  Mondays were the height of excitement – official Barking Day!  The garbage and recycling trucks came, both making two passes in order to serve each side of the street.  SPHP couldn’t get a thing done then.  Not while the frantic Carolina Dog dashed inside and out, upstairs and down, all the while sounding a shrill ear-splitting alarm.

Barking Day was fun, but small potatoes.  A few hours of rambunctious action followed by yet another week of boredom.  The solstice came and went.  The glorious summer of 2020 was sailing by, never to return, and Lupe was missing out.

6-23-20, 1:19 PM, 79ºF – Loop knew the signs!  Oh, yeah!  She’d happily followed SPHP back and forth between the house and the G6 umpteen times this morning, before finally giving up and just laying in the shade of the big tree in the front yard to watch.  SPHP was slow even at this task, but now the wait was over.  The G6 was pulling out of the driveway, the American Dingo riding high on a pile of gear, supplies, pillows and blankets.  Seemed like it had been forever and a day, but at long last a shiny new Dingo Vacation was underway!

So where we headed, SPHP?

Oh, not too far Looper!  The Bighorn Range of Wyoming.

I love the Bighorns!

Me, too, Loop.  We’ll be there before dark.  Tomorrow you’ll be climbing mountains again.  Promise!  Nothing too hard, though.  Figure we better ease back into the peakbagging business after lounging about for so long.

Anything will be an improvement to the way things have been going, SPHP.  Once acclimated, we can work our way up to bigger and better things.

Right-O, dear Dingo!  In the meantime, it’s all good.

Even with an early afternoon start, there was time enough to take the scenic route.  At Gillette, SPHP left I-90 to head NW on Hwy 14/16.  This provided the Carolina Dog a chance to drop by Spotted Horse for the first time in years.

SPHP bought an ice cream treat, and would have shared it with Lupe, but she was only mildly interested.  Most of it disappeared while SPHP read a plaque about Hunt’s 1811 Astorian Overland Expedition.

By evening, Lupe really was in the Bighorns!  It was still light out when SPHP parked the G6 near the turnaround loop at the end of USFS Road No. 168 (8:03 PM, 58ºF).  The Carolina Dog got to explore some of the nearby dolomite formations, before calling it a day.

6-24-20, 6:45 AM, 55ºF, near the end of USFS Road No. 168 – The sun was up!  Sort of a late start, since no one had slept all that well last night.  Lupe had wanted out twice.  The first time had been very dark, with the Milky Way blazing overhead.  Naturally, the wily Dingo quickly sniffed out some chicken bones SPHP had forgotten on a log.  A menacing growl warned she had not the slightest intention of giving up this glittering prize.  Chomp, chomp, chomp!  The bones vanished in a flash.

Apparently no harm done.  Looper was in good spirits on this beautiful, bright Bighorns morning.  The long awaited time for action had arrived.  First up, Freeze Out Point (8,305 ft.)!  The Carolina Dog sniffed her way over to the loop at the end of USFS Road No. 168, then started SE up a long open slope following somewhat rougher USFS Road No. 199.

This ought to be a snap, Loop!  Not even 1.5 miles to Freeze Out Point.  Moderate to gentle slope the whole way.  An easy peakbagging success!  We’ll gawk at the views, take a few photos, and be on our way back.

Sounds great, SPHP!

And with that, Lupe dashed away.  3 deer had caught her attention, and she needed to investigate.  The deer melted into the forest long before the American Dingo got anywhere close to them, but Loopster just kept running through the fields of wildflowers for the pure joy of running.  Fun to watch her.  Yes, this Dingo Vacation was off to a great start!

By the time Lupe returned, SPHP had reached the upper end of the first slope where No. 199 leveled out for a stretch alongside an old wooden fence.  Freeze Out Point was now in sight.  Surprisingly, it didn’t appear to be the complete cakewalk SPHP had anticipated.  Looked like there might be some rock formations hidden back in the forest.  Hopefully they wouldn’t be too vertical.

Didn’t take long to get up to the summit region, the E side of which was open ground.  A stone fire ring sat out in the middle of this area, with a stack of small diameter firewood nearby.  It had become increasingly clear on the way up that there definitely were higher rock formations concealed in the nearby forest.  Lupe would have to check them out, but first it was time to enjoy the sweeping views from here.

After an initial look around, Lupe and SPHP headed SW up into the trees.  The Carolina Dog easily gained 20 to 25 feet of elevation before reaching the base of the closest rock formation.  Ay-yi-yi!  No way was she getting up that thing.  A narrow wall of rock towered another 20 or 30 feet higher, its sides not only practically straight up and down, but with an overhang at the end.

Oh, for pity sake!  Freeze Out Point was supposed to be a gimme, Looper.  Don’t tell me we’re gonna get skunked!

Don’t give up so easy, SPHP!  Maybe there’s another way, or an even higher point we can actually get to.  Let’s look around.

Peering along the NW side of the wall of rock revealed a steep, narrow chute that looked passable, but not all that promising.  Venturing around to the SE, far more encouraging terrain was seen.

Lupe managed to scramble up to a high point where the rock wall jutted out to the E.  A couple of other spots 100 to 200 feet off to the N looked equally high, maybe even a foot or two higher.  The rock wall was lumpy, narrow and full of fissures.  The other high points weren’t accessible.  No matter!  This was good enough for Dingo work.  Loopster was claiming a peakbagging success!

Altogether, Lupe spend nearly an hour at Freeze Out Point, although not all of it way up on the rock wall.  Before leaving, she did go back to check out that NW chute to see if it might provide a reasonable route up to the other high points.  SPHP scrambled up first, before the American Dingo made her attempt.

Two tremendous leaps were nearly successful, but each time Lupe fell back, scampering down to the safety of more level terrain well below the chute.  On her third try she made it.  Sadly, further exploration proved her efforts had been in vain.  A narrow ledge above the chute did lead higher, but didn’t look worth chancing.  Even if Loop managed to safely negotiate the ledge, it still didn’t look possible to get up to the top rocks.

Oh, well!  Never mind, Loop!  Not going to risk breaking our necks to gain an extra foot.  Let the purists and rock climbers do this.  We’re outta here!

The march back down USFS Road No. 199 was super easy.  Despite being more complicated than originally anticipated, Freeze Out Point hadn’t taken all that long.  The day was off to a good start!

Riley Point (8,536 ft.) was Lupe’s next peakbagging objective.  Once back at the G6 (9:12 AM, 66ºF), the American Dingo hopped in, and SPHP drove roughly 4 miles back out along USFS Road No. 168, parking close to the low point of a big open saddle near junctions with USFS Roads No. 149 & 150.

Lupe had been here before.  Two years ago, she had taken USFS Road No. 149 down the long valley to the NW before climbing up to the high point on the NW half of massive Dry Fork Ridge (8,480 ft.), which was Sheridan County, Wyoming’s most prominent peak.  That had been an all day adventure, but not a difficult one.

Riley Point on the much closer SE half of Dry Fork Ridge was actually a bit higher, but evidently wasn’t as prominent.  The topo map showed USFS Road No. 150 going right to it.  Once again, SPHP figured Lupe was just in for an easy road hike.  Nevertheless, visiting Riley Point was going to take considerably longer than Freeze Out Point had, since it was close to 5 miles away.

The day was warming up.  The first thing Lupe did once she was out of the G6 was to run down an embankment to get a drink out of Camp Creek.  She then laid in the shade of the G6 enjoying some Taste of the Wild, while SPHP devoured a piece of fried chicken.

6-24-20, 10:06 AM, 68ºF, leaving for Riley Point – Alrighty, Loopster!  Let’s do this.  Onward!  Puppy, ho!  Lupe left the shade of the G6, and headed for USFS Road No. 150.  Nearly all of the 1,000+ feet of net elevation gain required to get up to Riley Point would come in the first 2 miles, with the steepest part right at the start.  Passing a Riley Point sign, the Carolina Dog started the long trudge higher.

After a steady climb, the road actually dipped briefly before continuing higher.  The day was mostly sunny.  Although it really wasn’t all that hot out, it felt plenty warm if you were wearing a fur coat, which Lupe was.  Not used to the thin air, SPHP paused frequently to rest.  Loop eagerly lapped up additional water offered during these breaks.

Fortunately, a few well-positioned clouds often provided welcome shade during the exposed trek up to the start of the trees.  Once Lupe reached the forest, she enjoyed more reliable relief from the blazing sun.

No. 150 gained elevation more sporadically up here.  At times, the road leveled out completely.  Small glades and occasional larger meadows were scattered among the trees.  Eventually, a short steepish rise ended at a “T” intersection.

Hmm.  The map showed this as a 4-way junction.  A road should have continued straight ahead, but there didn’t seem to be one.  This was somewhat important, because Lupe had another mission up here other than getting to Riley Point.  Only 0.2 mile further N was HP8548, the high point at the SE end of Dry Fork Ridge.  Since HP8548 was higher than Riley Point (8,536 ft.), seemed like Loop ought to visit it, too, while she was so close.  The missing road was supposed to go almost right to it.

Studying the 60 foot wide swath of open ground immediately beyond the intersection, SPHP noticed what appeared to be a very faint remnant of a road slightly off to the W (L).  Following it to a gap at the edge of the forest, Lupe discovered an abandoned road that did continue N.

Another 150 feet brought the American Dingo to a gate.  SPHP opened it, letting her through.  Just past the gate, a number of large trees had fallen across the road.  Beyond them, the road continued higher.

Lupe kept going.  200 yards up a gentle slope, the forest ended.  Entering a meadow, the faint road curved W.  As the topo map indicated, slightly higher ground was nearby to the N.  Leaving the road, Lupe explored a region of scraggly pines.  She quickly came to a couple of large chunks of dolomite at the top of small rise.

The Carolina Dog hopped up on the highest rock.  Inches away was a 30 or 40 foot precipice.  No doubt about it, Lupe had made it to HP8548.

The intention was to take a bit of a break here, but within minutes Lupe was being plagued by flies.  So she left HP8548, now losing elevation as she headed W to rejoin the faint road.  Lupe came across the road again just as it entered an old burn.  This was quite a scenic spot.  Ahead, large boulders were scattered across the broad ridge.  Beyond them, vertical rock formations a good 20 or 30 feet high jutted up from the next rise.

Wandering W among the interesting rocks, Lupe soon reached USFS Road No. 150 again.  Almost immediately, she came to a side road not shown on the map that went NE up toward the vertical rock formations.  However, Loop didn’t explore it.  Instead, the American Dingo continued NW on No. 150.

Riley Point was still out of sight, a good 2.5 miles farther NW, but Lupe could follow USFS Road No. 150 all the way to it.  The road went over a series of high spots separated by drops of up to 100 feet or even more.  While most of Dry Fork Ridge was forested up here, the road usually passed through sunny meadows.

Since the road was never steep, progress was rapid.  Breaks continued to be taken for water, to sit in the shade for a few minutes, or just to enjoy wildflowers and other sights.  Riley Point itself eventually came into view, still a bit of a march away.

A gain of nearly 200 feet was required from the last low point the road hit to get up to Riley Point.  As Lupe closed in on her objective, the first high spot she reached had some wild-looking dead trees, but this still wasn’t quite the top.

The top of Riley Point (8,536 ft.) was just a little farther N.  No tricky surprises here like at Freeze Out Point.  Behind a small stand of trees and bushes along the SW edge of Dry Fork Ridge, Lupe found a minor dolomite outcropping partially covered with orange lichens.  Clear ground to the NE provided easy access.

The big view was to the SW overlooking the huge Dry Fork Creek canyon, which Lupe had once ventured down 2 years ago now.

With her last peakbagging mission of the day a success, Loop retreated 15 feet to the nearby stunted trees intent upon settling down in the shade of a low bush.  Time for that longer break!

Lupe and SPHP relaxed.  There was water and plenty to eat.  The only thing the Carolina Dog didn’t care for about Riley Point were the insects.  She stayed busy snapping at flies and a bee that kept annoying her.

Everything seemed fine for a while, but suddenly Lupe went crazy!  She appeared to be frantically licking the short needles of the bush she was hiding in.  Upon closer inspection, SPHP saw that some kind of a bug had firmly attached itself to the end of her nose, and was busily stinging or biting her.  Whether it was a black wasp, or merely a huge ant wasn’t clear.  SPHP grabbed at it 3 times before succeeding in plucking it off.

Lupe was immediately and tremendously relieved.  Full of gratitude, she took to licking SPHP to show her sincere deep appreciation.

A sunny, lazy hour drifted by.  At one point, SPHP thought it might be fun to head farther NW to where Lupe could look over West Pass and see the NW half of Dry Fork Ridge where she’d been 2 years ago.  However, a quick reconnaissance revealed that Loop would have to go another mile and lose more than 200 feet of elevation in order to get to where she could see past the forest well enough for a good view.

The distance and elevation would all have to be retraced and regained on the way back.  Eh, not worth it.  Riley Point was good enough.  Back to taking it easy!  The inevitable moment arrived all too quickly.

Guess it’s about time to head back, Loop.  Been a nice day, a fine start to this Dingo Vacation, wouldn’t you say?

If you don’t mind me saying so, SPHP, getting my nose stung wasn’t all that wonderful.  Could have done without that!  Haven’t seen a single squirrel, either.  But otherwise, yes.  Fun to be back in the Bighorns again.

The return trip along USFS Road No. 150 seemed to go by quickly.  Lupe trudged along at SPHP’s heels instead of exploring like she usually did.  Maybe she was tired, or still felt hot?  Off to the W there were often views of the big ridges sporting long snowbanks along the spine of the Bighorn Range.

Before starting the 2 mile descent down off the SE end of Dry Fork Ridge, Lupe returned once again to High Point 8548.  After a few moments of quiet contemplation in this remote spot, the Carolina Dog headed for the faint road leading to the hidden gate.

Back at the G6 (5:30 PM, 70ºF), Lupe ran down to Camp Creek again for another cold drink.  By now the sky was mostly cloudy, especially dark to the W.  Driving out along USFS Road No. 168, intending to head for the Burgess picnic ground along the N Tongue River, SPHP stopped.

Off to the N, beyond a field of lavender lupines and the mostly unseen Dry Fork Creek valley, there stood Dry Fork Ridge.  Only the S end of the NW half was visible, but Lupe could see the entire length of the SE half where she’d spent most of the day.  Two adventures, two years apart on Dry Fork Ridge, but this was it.  Although the American Dingo would see the big ridge again from miles away, she wasn’t likely to ever return.  Other adventures were calling.

At the Burgess picnic ground, SPHP heated up beef stew and creamed corn.  Dingoes love beef stew, but are decidedly indifferent to creamed corn.  Loop got another drink from the N Tongue River.  The beef stew vanished, and the evening swept by.  After sunset, SPHP drove to USFS Road No. 165, 4+ miles NE of the Garden of the Gods (9,163).

Lupe never heard the thunder, or the few raindrops that fell.  After a long day in the fresh Bighorn mountain air, she was already in Dingo dreamland.  (6-24-20, 9:13 PM)

Links:

Next Adventure

Dry Fork Ridge, Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming (6-12-18)

Want more Lupe adventures?  Choose from Lupe’s Summer of 2020 Dingo Vacations to Wyoming, Utah & Montana Adventure Index, Dingo Vacations Adventure Index or Master Adventure Index.  Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.