Day 4 of Lupe’s 1st summer of 2020 Dingo Vacation to Wyoming!
8:25 AM, 49ºF, Hwy 14A near Wheddon Spring –
So, do you sniff a trail anywhere around here, Looper? ‘Cause I’m sure not seeing it.
Where’s it supposed to be, SPHP?
Right here. It’s supposed to take off from Wheddon Spring, and angle up this slope to the Fishook Creek valley. Trail No. 018 according to the map.
Sorry, not picking up anything unusual, SPHP. How ancient is that map, anyway?
Fairly old, I think. There are a couple of big blank areas with inscriptions. One says “Terra Incognito”, the other “Here be Dragons”.
In that case, it’s possible your trail is overgrown by now, SPHP.
Well, never mind then, Loop. Come on! Let’s just follow the highway to Fishook Creek. Maybe we’ll stumble across the trail. If not, I guess we can bushwhack up the valley. Shouldn’t be all that difficult.
Walking in the ditch, SPHP spotted a green gate in the fence N of the highway. Maybe that was where the trail started? Nope. Not really. SPHP climbed over the gate while Lupe ducked under the fence, but no trail could be found on the other side, except one that stayed right next to the fence line.
Probably just a cow path. Lupe took it anyway, sniffing ahead, while SPHP tromped along continuing NW behind her. Fishook Creek was only a little farther. When Loopster got there, it turned out to be quite small, an easy rock hop for SPHP, if that was going to be the plan.
Looking upstream, the deepest part of the Fishook Creek valley was a sharp, narrow “V” choked with vegetation. Apparently a nice stroll along the banks of Fishook Creek wasn’t going to be possible.
Trail No. 018, which Lupe hadn’t seen hide nor hair of, was supposed to cross over to the W side of Fishook Creek 0.33 mile upstream. Maybe the American Dingo would run into it somewhere up there? In any case, the stream was easy enough to cross right here, so perhaps that was a good idea. SPHP went ahead and rock-hopped it, while Lupe splashed across, pausing for a cold drink along the way.
On the other side, Loop ventured up a steepish open slope dotted with sagebrush. After gaining 35 feet of elevation, the terrain leveled out to some degree. She turned N, heading up the valley, now well above Fishook Creek, which was out of sight down in the “V”.
Loop soon came to an animal trail, which made exploring even easier. The trail led past a big boulder and several trees, but most of the terrain was open ground. Lupe was making good progress up the valley when she came to a fence that ran E/W across it. At this point, there was an opening in the vegetation down by the creek, which appeared to be dry.
The bottom of the valley had broadened out a bit. It looked like Lupe might be able to follow the dry creekbed. However, the Carolina Dog was already 70 feet higher than the creek, and SPHP was reluctant to lose the elevation. Things were going fine up here, so Looper simply ducked under the fence, staying high.
250 feet N of the fence, the valley really opened up. The broad bench E of Fishook Creek had dwindled away, but there was now plenty of room over here on the W slopes. Sagebrush was the only real obstacle, and it wasn’t too bad. Ahead, Lupe could already glimpse the region where the N and E forks of Fishook Creek converged. She aimed directly for it.
Surprisingly, there actually was some water in both the N and E forks of Fishook Creek when Lupe got to their confluence. The N fork had more water than the E fork did, but both streams were tiny. SPHP could easily step over each of them.
Which way, SPHP? Where are we going?
Peak 9634 for starters, Loop. I thought we were going to have to climb that hill in front of us first, but now that we’re actually here, looks like we can take a shortcut up the E fork of Fishook Creek. So, let’s go that way.
Side-hilling the slope next to the E fork soon proved to be a bit of a pain. The creek was so tiny there was no scenic advantage to staying near it. Lupe turned SE, beginning to climb the steepish slope. Before long she reached a more gently sloping region. Bordered by thick forest to the S, and only a few stands of pines along the N edge overlooking the creek, a broad grassy plain extended E a long way, rising at a steady, easy pace.
Perfect!
A 0.5+ mile march ESE ensued. Lupe roamed at will. Toward the end, she saw a couple of giant deer still far ahead way up on the huge saddle beyond the upper E end of the Fishook Creek drainage. She was now 0.75 mile due S of Peak 9626, the big bare hill to the N.
Alrighty! Turn S here, Looper! We’re only 0.25 mile N of Peak 9634.
This far E, only a remnant of the forest to the S remained. Most of the 0.25 mile was spent crossing open terrain leading up it. Lupe arrived to find only a thin line of pines distributed along the base of a steepish 40 foot high embankment. She was quickly through the trees, and up the somewhat rocky slope to where the terrain began to level out again.
Gradually gaining another 30 feet, the American Dingo reached a loosely assembled cairn of white stones at the high point, a bit SW of where she’d come up. Lupe had made it to the summit of Peak 9634.
High overhead, the June sun beat down from a nearly cloudless sky. SPHP peeled off boots and socks, which were soaking wet with dew, and laid them out to dry.
Let’s take a break here, Loop. Wonder if Tim Worth built this cairn?
Tim Worth has been here?
Yeah, 4 years ago. He also went to Peak 9953 and Little Bald Mountain. Hoping we can, too, but I dunno about Little Bald Mountain (9,907 ft.). It’s quite a stretch, and there are a couple of other minor peaks we might as well visit on the way over there that will chew up some time.
We saw Little Bald Mountain yesterday from Rooster Hill (9,400 ft.) and Burnt Mountain (9,492 ft.), didn’t we?
Yup, sure did. It’s actually quite close to the highway, and much easier to get to from the NW. So, if Little Bald Mountain doesn’t work out today, while we’re coming at it from the long way around, maybe we can tackle it some other time and save some effort.
Well, there’s an idea for you, SPHP! No sense making things any harder than they have to be, is there?
Oh, you know me, Looper. We do that all the time. S.O.P!
Although extremely sunny, conditions were otherwise quite pleasant – calm and merely comfortably warm. SPHP had nuts, applesauce, and a chocolate coconut bar to snack on, or did, until a starving Dingo snarfed up more than its fair share of the chocolate coconut bar in addition to some Taste of the Wild. The big view was of Cloud Peak (13,167 ft.) far to the SE.
Peak 9634’s summit region was vast. Exactly how big depended on how much territory one wanted to include. Multiple 10’s of acres formed a big triangle that was almost all meadow, except toward the more distant E end where forest entered into the mix. The S point of the triangle was only slightly lower than the summit cairn near the NW end.
After baking in the sun for a good 50 minutes, SPHP’s boots and socks still weren’t completely dry. However, even a day in June doesn’t last forever, and the Carolina Dog was getting restless.
Exploring the rest of the summit region seemed like a good idea. Lupe first headed SE to the S end of the triangle.
Peering over the S edge, the American Dingo beheld an unexpected and wondrous sight. Giant deers! Lots of them!
150 feet below, a herd of 20 to 25 giant deers was grazing or resting in a remote, hidden meadow. A long arm of the meadow extended E, then SE as it curved down into a valley. A second herd of giant deers just as big as the first one was down that way, too.
Loopster was both astonished and frustrated. So many, but so far away! Excited beyond belief, she whined softly as she stood staring, completely entranced.
Nothing happened for several minutes, until Lupe began to pace along the S rim. The giant deers must have spotted the movement. Suddenly both herds were running! Hypnotized, the Carolina Dog could only watch as they melted away into the forest.
Well, that was that! Nothing at the E end of the summit region was going to top all those giant deers, but Lupe headed over there anyway for a quick look. Exploring way beyond what she’d been able to see from the summit cairn, she came upon a nice view of Black Mountain (9,489 ft.) at the far E end.
Time to move on. Lupe turned N, entering a forested region. SPHP was soon busy trying to avoid the densest parts as much as possible due to all the deadfall as Loop worked her way down a slope. She finally emerged from the trees SE of the enormous saddle leading to Peak 9626.
A couple of snowbanks were still melting along the N edge of the forest. Lupe chomped snow and frolicked on them before striking out across the open ground. Disappointingly, the two giant deers she had spotted up in this area on the way to Peak 9634 were no longer here.
Crossing vast saddle didn’t take long. Loopster had already made good progress up the gentle S slope of Peak 9626 when she encountered a crumbling escarpment of flat tan stones. Following the upper rim, she turned NW toward the summit, and was soon closing in on it.
The top of Peak 9626 was another huge flat region, but wasn’t as grassy as Peak 9634 had been. Blue and yellow wildflowers flourished among a liberal sprinkling of small, scattered rocks. Not a single tree. Peak 9626 was utterly unremarkable except for one thing. At the true summit, which was toward the W end, the Shelter Cairn stood alone on the plain.
The Shelter Cairn was made of some of the larger rocks. About 4 feet tall, it was hollow and had a roof. An opening facing E provided access to the sheltered enclosed space within, which appeared to be just about the right size to accommodate an American Dingo.
In the event of a hailstorm, the Shelter Cairn would clearly be not only the best, but only place to hide anywhere on Peak 9626.
After sniffing all the way around the exterior, Lupe peered inside.
Hey, Loop! Go in, and check it out.
No way! It’s full of flies, SPHP. Disgusting!
True enough. For some unknown reason, hundreds of flies infested the Shelter Cairn, both inside and out. No amount of encouragement could persuade the Carolina Dog to venture inside for even a moment. Unless a hail storm actually did come along, Lupe wanted nothing to do with it.
Well, fine then. Onward! Puppy, ho! Not much else up here.
That wasn’t exactly true. Marmots were whistling alarms from several different directions. Much keener on conducting a census of the local marmot population than investigating the Shelter Cairn, Lupe took off running. Meanwhile, SPHP strode off to the W, starting down another gentle slope. Loop reluctantly abandoned her marmots to catch up.
The grassy slope steepened somewhat on the way down to Pass 9181. Lupe came to a series of benches separated by lines of broken rock so small they hardly merited the term “escarpment”. Suddenly, several ATV’s appeared out of the NE following USFS Road No. 178, a route also destined for Pass 9181 before heading up the next big ridge to the W.
The ATV’s had already vanished by the time Lupe made it to Pass 9181, which was the divide between the Fishook Creek drainage to the S, and Ice Creek drainage to the N.
At Pass 9181, Lupe had lost nearly 450 feet of elevation since leaving the Shelter Cairn. Following No. 178, the same route the ATV’s had taken, she now went NW up the next big ridge. After more than a mile, the road flattened out as Loop reached the top.
Peak 9760, the highest point along this entire ridge, was 0.5 mile N of where No. 178 crossed it. Getting there ought to be easy. All Lupe had to do was climb the relatively short, easy slope N of the road, then continue across an open plateau to the high point. Simple!
This side trip to Peak 9760 seemed totally worth it, so almost as soon as No. 178 flattened out, Loop left the road and started N. Approaching the top of the plateau, she passed a number of sizable rock outcroppings. Up on top, all was as expected. The Carolina Dog enjoyed an obstacle-free romp all the way to the high point, which was a little, barely-sloping hill near the N end.
The true summit of Peak 9760 was only sparsely vegetated. Most of the ground was covered with pebbles of dolomite. Although none of the rest of the plateau was forested, the territory 150 feet W and 250 feet N of the summit was. Looking SE back where Lupe had just been, Peak 9626 and Peak 9634 both looked surprisingly lower and insignificant.
No fancy Shelter Cairns up here! Lupe sniffed around, but found only a 6 foot long post laying on the ground near a group of rocks once used to prop it up. That was it. No marmots, giant deers, or anything else that was of interest other than the views. After a short, pleasant break, the American Dingo moved on.
There was no need to go all the way back to the S end of the plateau to get to No. 178 again. Taking a shortcut, Lupe angled SW toward Pass 9564. On the way she passed a rocky escarpment along the SW edge of the plateau, and quite a few large boulders scattered on the slope below it. However, the most interesting thing she found before getting back to No. 178 was the Dingo Trap!
The Dingo Trap was a large steep-sided pit of crumbly dirt. It was 8 feet deep, with a hole at the bottom that went who knows where, or how much deeper? The Dingo Trap appeared to be some sort of a natural sinkhole. While sinkholes aren’t that unusual among the extensive dolomite formations found in the Bighorns, this one in the dirt seemed quite different. With that dangerous-looking hole at the bottom, SPHP warned Lupe to stay out of the trap.
There were actually 2 Dingo Traps in the same vicinity, the upper one more impressive than the lower one.
Approaching Pass 9564, Loopster reached USFS Road No. 178 again. She was soon following the road higher as it wound for about a mile over to the upper NW slopes of Peak 9953. Leaving the road, Lupe wandered E or SE in search of the true summit.
The NW slopes of Peak 9953 were scarred with long, narrow ravines etched into the dolomite. These ravines weren’t all that deep, but added interest to another otherwise rather featureless hill. They faded away as Lupe reached the highest ground.
This was another big summit, a couple of acres at least. A large cairn of white rock sat way over toward the E. The cairn proved to be just SE of a depression, another sinkhole in the making.
The most impressive view from the cairn, which did seem to be at or close to the true summit, was of Hunt Mountain (10,162 ft.) to the S. Once again, Cloud Peak was in sight far to the SE.
After a couple of minutes near the cairn, Lupe headed over to the SW side of the summit region for a look at the hazy high plains beyond the Bighorn Range. Over here she discovered Sundial Rock, a big white rock jutting up from a second cairn clearly lower than the first one had been.
Although Lupe had been to Peak 9953’s summit, she still wasn’t quite ready to claim a clear peakbagging success. 0.25 mile NW was another high point that looked to SPHP like it might be somewhat higher. The topo map showed another 9,920 foot contour over that way, but didn’t give a peak elevation.
The American Dingo ought to go visit that high point, too! Due to some cool rock formations, it was a more interesting vantage point, anyway.
Returning to USFS Road No. 178, Lupe followed it NW over to the next HP. The Carolina Dog spent a little time exploring the rock formations before climbing to an almost level platform at the very top.
The view from the platform confirmed what SPHP had been thinking. Maybe it was all just an illusion, but this platform seemed convincingly higher than Peak 9953.
Interesting scenes were off to the NW, too. Bald Mountain (10,042 ft.), Medicine Mountain (9,962 ft.), Duncum Mountain (9,831 ft.), Sheep Mountain (9,813 ft.), and even Rooster Hill (9,400 ft.), which Lupe had been to only yesterday, were all in sight.
Off to the WSW, only 2 miles away, another mountain beckoned. Lupe was within striking distance of Little Bald Mountain (9,907 ft.).
Heh. Looper would have to lose 450 feet of elevation to get over there, then regain it all on the way back. Not 2, but 4 extra miles round trip. Late afternoon. Probably still enough time to pull it off, and get back to Wheddon Spring before dark. Little Bald Mountain was just another big hill. Nothing hard about it.
The Carolina Dog stared up at SPHP. She was ready.
Well? Onward?
Oh, I don’t know, Looper. I’d hoped to, and I’d like to, but its been a long march and a fairly long day already, and we still need to get back. Feel like I’ve gotten a lot of sun. Would you mind if we skip it for now? It’s been fun, but I’m a bit tired. Maybe enough is enough?
No worries, SPHP! We did get back from Burnt Mountain (9,492 ft.) rather late last night. Maybe we can do Little Bald Mountain tomorrow, taking that easy route you mentioned from the NW?
Probably not tomorrow, Loop. Thinking perhaps something a little more rugged and challenging. We’re trying to work our way higher as we get back in shape, you know.
Higher? That sounds good! Shall we head back now then, so we can rest up this evening?
Yup. Let’s do it! Puppy, ho! Retreat!
Leaving the HP NW of Peak 9953, Lupe returned to USFS Road No. 178. She could follow it all the way back to Pass 9181 N of Fishook Creek. Except for the short uphill section going over the Peak 9760 ridge from Pass 9564, it would be downhill all the way back to Wheddon Spring.
Ever since those first 3 or 4 ATV’s had beat Loop to Pass 9181 as she came down the W slopes of Peak 9626 much earlier in the day, No. 178 had gotten busier as the day wore on. Apparently it was a popular route. Groups of as many as 7 or 8 ATV’s at a time had roared by.
The early evening was beautiful, and the sweeping views of this rolling open country of big, mostly bald hills and ridges were grand. As Lupe followed No. 178, ATV’s continued to stream by every so often. By the time Lupe was on her way down the Peak 9760 ridge to Pass 9181, SPHP was tired of the noise.
So the American Dingo left the road, taking a shortcut SE down to the confluence of the N and E forks of Fishook Creek. This time around, Lupe followed the creek itself S down the valley.
The tiny stream soon went underground. Lupe followed animal trails most of the way down to where the fence crossed the dry creekbed. After going under the fence, she climbed up onto the broad bench E of Fishook Creek.
Not much farther to go! Animal trails had to suffice, since Lupe never did find Trail No. 018. Hordes of mosquitoes discouraged stopping for any reason. Loop went right on by a small pond where they might have gotten their start in life.
The pond was close to Hwy 14A, although not visible from it. A steepish slope led down to the highway. From there, it was only a short trek in the ditch back to Wheddon Spring. (6:30 PM, 68ºF)
Plenty of daylight remained for a lovely drive back to the Burgess picnic ground next to the N Tongue River. Beef stew again for dinner. Carolina Dogs love beef stew! SPHP was tired. Lupe was tired. Satisfied, both were in dreamland well before the silver stars glittered overhead.
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What neat country! Love the way you guys enjoy your treks, a combination of serendipity and wandering and yet hitting the high points right on target.