Elk Peak, Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming (6-23-21 & 6-24-21)

Days 1-3 of Lupe’s 2nd Summer of 2021 Dingo Vacation to Wyoming!

6-22-21, 7:40 PM – Free at last!  A whole month had shot by after getting back from New Mexico, but Lupe’s 2nd fabulous Dingo Vacation of 2021 was finally underway.  Despite a late start this morning, the Carolina Dog had made it to the Bighorns with enough daylight remaining for an evening romp.

Joyful among sweet-scented lupines, Lupe alternately sniffed or dashed her way through the Elysian Fields of Puppy Happiness, excited by the whistles of marmots coming from over by rock formations on the N side of the valley.

The American Dingo paused for a cold drink out of the North Tongue River.  Following the river upstream, Loop surprised a moose hidden among the willows.  Splashing noisily over to the far bank, the moose vanished into the woods.  Climbing up onto the rock formations, Lupe surveyed the Elysian Fields hoping to see those whistling marmots.

Oh, it’s a glorious evening, SPHP!

That it is, Looper!  Nothing so rare as a day in June!

Especially in the Bighorns, SPHP!

No argument there, sweet puppy!

6-23-21, 6:41 AM, 51°F, Coney Creek trailhead along USFS Road No. 26 – Lupe had been bright-eyed and alert an hour ago, but it had taken SPHP this long just to have a bite to eat and get organized.  Everything seemed to be ready now, though, and the weather was perfect.  A few minutes to register before heading into the Cloud Peak Wilderness, and it was Onward!  Puppy, ho!  time.

Lupe was in fine spirits as she set off heading S into the forest on Coney Creek Trail No. 21.  Racing ahead of SPHP, she lost no time setting about searching for squirrels, scoring some early successes.  The forest rang with the American Dingo’s shrill barking – off a marvelous start!

The trail began by climbing at a moderate pace, but soon leveled out on a minor ridge where there were some big boulders.  Nothing to see here except forest, but Lupe got up on one of the biggest rocks, anyway.

What a great day, SPHP!  Where are we going anyway?

Elk Peak (11,050 ft.), or Giant Deer Peak, if you prefer, Loop.

Giant Deer Peak!  That sounds awesome!

Hope so.  It’s a fur piece, though.  Going to be a long day.

A long day in the Bighorns sounded like fun!  The Carolina Dog was used to them, but it wouldn’t be until much later that it would become clear just how long a day it was going to turn out to be.

This first minor ridge was the high point of Trail No. 21 the rest of the way to Stull Lakes.  From what SPHP had been able to gather online, the Coney Creek trailhead and this route were relatively new.  The trail used to start from Twin Lakes which were something like a mile off to the SE.

Since the entire region was forested, Lupe never even caught a glimpse of Twin Lakes.  Trail No. 21 wound through the forest making a gradual descent.  Lupe passed a river of large white boulders before crossing 3 streams.  The first one must have been Snail Creek.  It was the smallest, and the only one with a bridge.

The second stream either came from, or went to, Lost Lake.  Although larger than Snail Creek, it was an easy rock-hop.  Coney Creek, the third stream, was larger yet and more problematic.  SPHP had to search for a place where it could be rock-hopped.

7 minutes past Coney Creek, Loopster reached a boulder overlooking the largest of the Stull Lakes.  Here she had a view of the mountains off to the W.  Two that the Carolina Dog had climbed in 2020 were in sight.  Dome Peak (10,828 ft.) was 3 miles almost due W.  The Sheridan County High Point (11,020 ft.) was slightly farther away off to the SW.

A considerable amount of open ground existed along the S shore of the largest Stull Lake, but an attempt to venture down to the shoreline failed.  Turned out this entire area was just a big bog.

Oh, well.  No big deal!  However, another issue of far greater importance soon became apparent.  Although the topo map showed a number of trails intersecting S or E of the largest Stull Lake, SPHP saw no sign of any of these other trails.  Even Lupe couldn’t sniff them out.  Since the plan had been to take Trail No. 114 from here all the way to Pass 10220 SW of Elk Peak, this was a big deal.

Suddenly, the Carolina Dog was facing the prospect of miles of off-trail travel, the first part of which would be in a forested region unlikely to have any views to help orient by.  Furthermore, Lupe would have to ford Wilderness Creek, which from the looks of the area it drained on the map might be nearly a river where fabled Trail No. 114 crossed it, if that point could even be found.

Only Trail No. 21 seemed to continue from here.  The topo map showed it ending 1.5 miles WSW at Coney Lake.

So, what’s it going to be, SPHP?  Plunge S into the forest, or Coney Lake?

Sure going to be the long way around, Loopster, but Coney Lake, I guess.  Kind of afraid of what we might run into down at Wilderness Creek if we try to head S from here.

Leaving the largest Stull Lake, Trail No. 21 briefly turned SW.  Lupe came to an unmarked trail that split off to the S just before Trail No. 21 crossed a ravine with a tiny trickle of a stream in it.  Exploring this side trail up a relatively short slope, the Carolina Dog came to a big pond, which might well have been the smaller of the Stull Lakes.

Since the side trail vanished here, returning to Trail No. 21 seemed to be the only sensible thing to do.  Upon reaching it, Lupe crossed the ravine containing the tiny stream and continued WSW.

Trail No. 21 wound through the forest, most of the time gaining elevation at a moderate pace.  The path was generally easy to follow, but there was little to see other than trees.  Lupe eventually came to a level rocky spot where a cairn sat on a boulder, but this point didn’t seem to be of any real significance.  Shortly before reaching Coney Lake there was a view to the R of a big meadow down in a valley, with a glimpse Dome Peak in the distance.

Trail No. 21 ended at a fine camping spot on a small knoll immediately SE of Coney Lake.  It would have been an even better camping spot if not for a wand saying that camping within 100 feet of the lake was illegal.  Unfortunately, although largely hidden by trees, the lake wasn’t that far away.  Lupe headed down to the shoreline for a better look.

Although Trail No. 21 officially ended here, a use path continued SW along Coney Lake’s SE shore.  Going past a boggy region S of the lake, it led to a big ravine full of light grey boulders.  The use trail did not cross this ravine, instead turning S and heading up the steep slope just E of it.  After a climb of nearly 200 feet, the terrain leveled out.

A pond here, shown on the topo map, confirmed Lupe’s position.  She was now less than 0.5 mile due N of where Wilderness Creek coming down from the S made an abrupt 90° turn E.

Beyond the pond, a gentler slope went up to a little pass on the big ridge S of Coney Lake.  By now the use trail was fading away.  It was probably heading up to HP10020 and beyond, since this ridge was a popular route to the Sheridan County High Point (11,020 ft.), now only 1.33 mile SW.  Following the S side of the ridge, Lupe kept climbing until she started getting glimpses of Elk Peak (11,050 ft.), still 3 miles SSE beyond the huge Wilderness Creek drainage.

The plan was now to continue high enough to keep Elk Peak reliably in sight, then head S all the way to Pass 10220.  If successful, this meant the Carolina Dog would be traveling through the territory W of Wilderness Creek without ever having to ford it.

Continuing SW somewhat farther up the ridge, Lupe never did get above treeline.  The forest had thinned out, though, by the time she turned S.

At first, progress was decent.  Loopster wandered through relatively easy stretches of forest and open ground.  She came to a small, lively stream, a tributary of Wilderness Creek, which was easily leapt over.

Still hoping to get above treeline, SPHP encouraged Lupe to keep slowly gaining elevation.  However, this policy eventually backfired.  The views kept improving, but the going got tougher as the mountainside Loopster was traversing became much rockier.  The Carolina Dog was still E of the Sheridan County High Point when she came upon a large field of talus overlooking another small pond.

The territory ahead looked discouragingly rugged.

Loop kept going, but SPHP’s progress was very slow.  Fortunately, this first boulder field proved to be the worst of the rocks.  Once through it, the terrain became considerably easier again.

The march S continued.  Lupe came to another pond, a long skinny one difficult to get past.  Beyond it was a descent into a boggy valley toward the W.  After crossing another tributary of Wilderness Creek running through the bog, Lupe faced a climb back up into another rocky area.

Losing and regaining elevation in order to cross bogs and streams in side valleys toward the W developed into a pattern that kept repeating itself.  At one point Lupe came to a spot where it looked a lot easier to just head down into the Wilderness Creek valley, but SPHP was reluctant to lose the elevation.

Staying high back-fired.  Another climb, followed by yet another drop into a boggy side valley, was ahead.  S of this bog, a massive wall of rock extending out from the enormous ridge to the W finally put an end to this wearying and time-consuming process.  Lupe was forced to begin a steep descent into the Wilderness Creek valley.

Upon reaching the floor of the valley, the American Dingo discovered plenty of open ground occupied by another bog.  Only a mile due N of Pass 10220 now, if Lupe could cross the valley here, she could head SE straight up Elk Peak!  Fortunately, it wasn’t too hard to find a relatively dry route with minimal splish-splashing required to get through it all.  Better yet, Loopster was far enough upstream so that Wilderness Creek itself was no longer a significant obstacle.  Even SPHP managed to leap over in a single bound.

After crossing the valley, Lupe started up Elk Peak.  Grassy, easy terrain soon got so steep that SPHP had to pause frequently gasping for air.

After gaining several hundred feet of elevation, the rate of climb began to diminish.  Still a long way to go, though!  Above treeline, the grassy slope started getting rockier.  The Carolina Dog came to a long snow bank, and enjoyed wandering up it.

By the time Looper reached the upper end of the snowbank, she wasn’t all that far from an obvious high point directly E.  Following the easiest terrain higher rather than heading straight for it, she approached from the SW.  This last slope wasn’t all that steep, but quite rocky.

Scrambling NE through a field of talus, Loopster finally reached a wide, flat saddle toward the NW end of Elk Peak’s summit region.  Sandwiched between several large rock formations, this saddle sported a fair amount of grass among scattered boulders.

Whew!  I’m pooped, Loop.  How about taking a longer break right here?

The Carolina Dog was all for that notion.  Looper curled up on the soft green grass.  Water and a bite to eat.  A little dozing.  20 minutes ticked away before SPHP managed to stagger up again.

Which of these rock formations is the true summit, SPHP?

This one right next to us, I think.  C’mon, let’s see if we can get up it!

In truth, the huge pile of talus looked rather dicey.  Scrambling SE, Lupe got most of the way up easily enough, but the final stretch was a doozy.  Still tens of feet below what appeared to be the top, Loop was confronted by an almost vertical wall of massive boulders with treacherous holes between them.  Unable to see a safe route higher, SPHP balked.  Uh-uh.  Not going to work!

Well, shoot, Loopster!  All this way, and we can’t get to the top?

Oh, there has to be a way!  Let’s try another spot, SPHP!

A partial retreat, and Lupe tried again, this time working around to the SW side of the rock formation.  At first it didn’t appear that this attempt was going to pan out, either, but the situation improved once the American Dingo managed to get past a few particularly enormous chunks of talus.

Hah!  Promising!  Keep going, sweet puppy!  We’re almost there!

Scrambling higher, Lupe made it to the top of the rock formation that had been insurmountable from the NW.  She had a terrific view of the Sheridan County High Point (11,020 ft.) and Dome Peak (10,828 ft.) back in that direction.

This vantage point still wasn’t quite the top of Elk Peak (11,050 ft.).  The true summit, another collection of big boulders, was a little farther SSE.  Fortunately, most of the boulders were fairly conveniently arranged.  Getting over to the highest rock wasn’t all that difficult.  With a boost from SPHP, Lupe claimed her latest peakbagging success!

The cluster of tall boulders in the immediate vicinity of the true summit was a cramped spot.  Hardly any room to move around!  Lupe couldn’t see a thing down in the narrow spaces between the huge rocks, but the views from up on top were stupendous!

Far to the SSE, Cloud Peak (13,167 ft.), highest of the Bighorn Range, was the big attraction.  To the S, and considerably closer, was a line of unnamed peaks about as high as Elk Peak.  Pass 10220 at the upper S end of the Wilderness Creek valley, was off to the SW.  Another line of peaks ran N from there over to the Sheridan County High Point and Dome Peak, which together dominated the scene to the NW.

0.67 mile to the N, Lupe gazed down on a green pasture featuring several notable rock formations.  That was Saddle Mountain (10,569 ft.).  Both Lookout Mountain (10,147 ft.) and Black Mountain (9,489 ft.) could be picked out far beyond it, but they weren’t too impressive from here.

Nothing to the NE or E was anywhere close to being as high as Elk Peak, but the largest of the Twin Lakes and both Dome Lakes were in sight.

Looking around for some sign of a registry, SPHP noticed a red plastic Folgers coffee jar with a black lid tucked down in a cubby hole between the two highest rocks.  Upon inspection, this jar contained only 2 items.  Both were sopping wet.  One was a Cloud Peak Wilderness permit stating Annie Kill had been here on 8-6-20, having come up from Dome Lakes.

The other item was what SPHP had hoped to find, a small notebook with a  yellow cover serving as a registry.  Sadly, the water-logged notebook was in such bad shape that it was basically garbage at this point.  Having abandoned the pack back down at the grassy saddle, SPHP had no pen or paper to leave any separate entry for Lupe.

Elk Peak was glorious, but time waits for no Dingo.  20+ minutes shot by.  Sadly, already time to head back down to the grassy saddle to retrieve the backpack.  SPHP’s slow-as-molasses scrambling gave Lupe plenty of opportunity to continue enjoying the views along the way.

6-23-21, 6:45 PM, the grassy saddle toward the NW end of Elk Peak – SPHP grabbed the backpack and strapped into it.  Egads!  12 hours gone since the American Dingo had struck out for Elk Peak from the Coney Creek trailhead this morning, and she was still here!  A few hours until dusk, and that would be it as far as natural light.

At as lively a pace as possible despite a certain degree of weariness, SPHP set off heading N, but only went far enough to get another look at Saddle Mountain.  A long, broad, rounded ridge led down from Saddle Mountain into a thickly forested region surrounding the Dome Lakes.

Cripes, Loop!  I should have brought the Cloud Peak Wilderness map!  These little topo maps I printed out don’t even cover the Dome Lakes region.

You thinking of going back that way, SPHP?

Yes!  Only about 3 miles down to the lakes, and it doesn’t look bad at all.  Annie Kill made it, and I know there are roads somewhere down there.  Might be a longer return overall following the roads, but so what?  If we can get to the Dome Lakes and find a road before sunset, we’d have it made in the shade the rest of the way back.

Does tend to get pretty shady at night, SPHP.

Yeah, no doubt.  On the other paw, having seen how open the Wilderness Creek valley is, I think we could make much faster progress going down it than on the rough high route farther W that we took getting here.

If we can get back to the trail at Coney Lake before dark, wouldn’t that be just as good then, SPHP?  Trail No. 21 was in good shape.

Yeah, but I seriously doubt we’d get that far, Loopster.  Too late already.  We’d probably wind up wandering through the pitch black forest looking for the trail after dark.

Well then, if you think it’s better, SPHP, let’s head for the Dome Lakes!  Decide quick, though!  Your precious daylight’s wasting!

Map or no map, the Dome Lakes route was almost certainly a better choice under the circumstances.  Loopster might even be able to tag the summit of Saddle Mountain (10,569 ft.) along the way, provided the rock formations weren’t too gnarly!

SPHP hesitated, then turned around, heading SW back through the grassy saddle.

Wilderness Creek, SPHP?  Really?

Yup!  Onward!  Puppy ho!

Fine with me, SPHP, but why didn’t you choose Dome Lakes?

Oh, I don’t know, Loop.  Mental illness, I suppose, or at least a personality disorder.  Exploring the remote Wilderness Creek valley seems a lot more exciting than just following that ridge down to the lakes and a long dreary road hike.

And if we can’t find the trail in the dark?

We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

So Lupe left Elk Peak enjoying a long romp down the spacious, gentle SW slope leading to Pass 10220.  SPHP strode after her making hay while the sun still shone.

With time of the essence and such favorable terrain, it wasn’t necessary to go all the way to Pass 10220.  Before Lupe got that far, she turned NW following one of many snow melt tributaries down to Wilderness Creek.

Upon reaching Wilderness Creek, a series of small waterfalls drained N as the creek rushed down to the flatter, boggy region where Loop had first crossed this valley on the way to Elk Peak.  In that same area, the Carolina Dog leapt back over to the W side of the stream.  Heading NW just far enough to reach drier ground, she turned N again.

Progress was rapid.  The terrain, partly forested, but with lots of open space, too, was much easier down here than the high route taken earlier way up on the steep slopes to the W.  The only genuine obstacles were occasional big bogs fed by tributaries of Wilderness Creek.  These bogs forced long detours way around their W edges.

As the valley broadened out, the best route drifted farther and farther from Wilderness Creek.  Lupe eventually lost sight of it off to the E, and after a while the creek could scarcely even be heard.  Wilderness Creek appeared to have disappeared into a lower heavily forested region.  As Loop passed the last of the big bogs, the terrain ahead began to slope up into the trees.

By now the sun was long gone.  As the Carolina Dog entered the forest, already fading light deepened into a dim gloam.  Before long SPHP’s tiny flashlight had to come out.  Dreaded night had arrived.

Lupe was tired.  All the way down the Wilderness Creek valley, she’d been hanging back, taking little rest breaks and following only when SPHP was out of sight.  It was like being stalked, always looking back to see if Looper was still coming, or listening for the tinkle of her tag.  Now that it was dark there was no reason not to stop for a while to rest up.

As a full moon rose over the ridge to the E, SPHP stroked Lupe’s big soft Dingo ears.

We seem to be at that bridge you talked about crossing when we came to it, SPHP.  What now?  How much farther to the trail according to your map?

Dunno, Loop.  Not sure if we’re past where Wilderness Creek turns E or not.  Even if we’re not that far yet, we ought to be before too long.  Just guessing, I’d say we’re only a mile or so S of Coney Lake.

A mile through the forest didn’t sound so bad, but maybe it wasn’t a good estimate? After a decent rest, Lupe continued N, SPHP navigating by moonlight.  The forest went on and on, though.  Deadfall, rocks, small streams and bogs, uphill and down, one obstacle and steep rocky hillside after another.  In the black forest, the terrain seemed much more rugged than the topo maps had led SPHP to believe.

More rest breaks were followed by more frustration.  The helpful moon vanished.  Hard to say at any given moment exactly what direction Lupe was going, other than that SPHP felt reasonably confident it was likely still some version of N.  Who knew for sure, though?  She might be going in a circle.  Or S!

No sign of Coney Lake.  No sign of anything other than faint animal trails that gave out almost right away.  SPHP began to worry that it might be awful easy to cross Trail No. 21 in the darkness without realizing it.  Maybe it had already been missed?

At long last, Lupe climbed to the top of a high ridge.  Despite hopes, no trail up here, either.  Trying to continue N, the ground soon began to drop steeply away in all directions.  Ultimately descending toward what SPHP thought was the NE, Lupe lost what seemed like a ton of elevation, yet the terrain just kept dropping.  The American Dingo wanted to rest again.  Obliging, SPHP laid down in the dirt.

Hope you don’t mind if I curl up, too!

Please do, SPHP!  How much farther to the trail now?  Seems like we’ve been going forever!

I know it.  I have no idea what hour of the night it is, other than that it’s very late, or any clue where we are now.  No sense in going any farther.

We’re lost, SPHP?

Well … yes!  You could say that, at least to some degree.  Of course, we still have a general notion of where we are, within a few miles or so.  If we keep going, though, the most likely result is that we’ll just get even more lost.  So sweet dreams, Loopster!  This is it for tonight.

Sleeping right on the dirt in a lonely dark forest high in the mountains after an exhausting all day march isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, never mind that the brochures aren’t all that tantalizing in the first place.  Lupe dozed more peacefully than SPHP did, her head resting on SPHP’s hand.

6-24-21, 4:00 AM?, lost in the forest – A bit of light in the sky.  Dawn!  Thank heavens!  SPHP rolled over, becoming instantly alarmed.  Where was Lupe?

Oh, there she was!  The Carolina Dog was only a few feet away, already awake and listening intently, apparently refreshed and excited by the strange night spent lost in the wilderness.  SPHP heard nothing but a light breeze in the pines.

Fortunately, the night had been a fairly warm one.  Chilly toward the end, but not that bad considering what it might have been.  SPHP got up stiffly.  Soon it would be light enough to resume the march N.  Suddenly, Lupe was off like a shot!  She was after something, something bigger than a squirrel.  SPHP never saw what it was, but called her back right away.

So what’s the emergency, SPHP?  Spoil sport!  This day was about to get off to an epic start!

Save that energy, Loop!  You can’t go running off after the wildlife.  What did you see, anyway?

Not telling!

Breakfast.  Lupe crunched up the last of her Taste of the Wild.  SPHP had applesauce.  As soon as it was light enough to see some brown in Lupe’s fur, the return from Elk Peak adventure got underway again.

Losing so much elevation at the end last night had been a big mistake.  Not going see any landmarks to navigate by way down here in the dense forest!  At least the sunlight gave some idea of the general direction Lupe was going.  For 2 hours she roamed N or NW through gently undulating territory, gradually gaining elevation most of the time.  Nothing looked at all familiar.

At last, Looper was high enough to catch a glimpse of Saddle Mountain and Elk Peak.  A bit farther, and a big mountain could be seen off to the W, but whether it was the Sheridan County High Point or Dome Peak wasn’t clear.  Soon Lupe reached a better view.  Dome Peak was off to the NW.  Coney Lake had to be just down the steep slope directly ahead!

Getting down to Coney Lake was a bit of an unexpected ordeal.  Lupe was somewhere E of the ravine full of white boulders, and trying to go N directly down to the lake kept cliffing her out.  Eventually, working W to the ravine solved the problem.

And that was it, as far as adventure was concerned.  Picking up Trail No. 21 again at the SE corner of Coney Lake meant a known route back.  Still weary from yesterday’s exertions, SPHP plodded along, pausing to rest after each tiny uphill stretch.

Somehow the American Dingo showed no ill effects.  She amused herself searching for squirrels in the sunlit forest.  Too bad SPHP couldn’t bottle up some of that energy and take a giant swig!

6-24-21, 9:01 AM, Coney Creek trailhead, USFS Road No. 26 – 26 hours and 20 minutes after leaving for Elk Peak, the Carolina Dog’s longest “day hike” ever was over.  Eager to curl up on her pink blanket, Lupe leapt into the RAV4.  Food, sleep, more food, more sleep, was pretty much it for the rest of the day.  After an afternoon visit to the Dead Swede picnic ground along the beautiful South Tongue River, the lucky Dingo grabbed the last dispersed camping spot next to the spruce forest 0.5 mile SW of Owen Creek campground.

During an evening stroll out to sniff the air under a sky that looked like rain, SPHP wondered how that last mile back to Coney Lake could have possibly taken so many hours?  No telling where Lupe had been, but it must have been a very convoluted route indeed!  Only two things were certain.  She’d never be there again, and as beautiful as the Wilderness Creek valley had been, next time the American Dingo was taking that big ridge down to Dome Lakes!

Links:

Next Adventure                            Prior Adventure

Dome Peak, Bighorn Mountains, WY (6-27-20)

The Sheridan County High Point, Bighorn Mountains, WY (6-27-20)

Want more Lupe adventures?  Choose from Lupe’s Summer of 2021 Dingo Vacations to New Mexico, Wyoming & the West Coast Adventure Index, Dingo Vacations Adventure Index or Master Adventure Index.  Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.