Lupe – Page 340 – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

The Berg Lake Trail, Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada (7-30-13)

Mt. Robson at 12,972 feet is the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies (though not in all of Canada). Gorgeous Berg Lake lies at the base of the N face of Mt. Robson at the end of a 21 km trail which passes through the Valley of a Thousand Falls. Although there is a campground at Berg Lake, dogs are not allowed to stay overnight. So Lupe made the entire 42 km round trip as a long day hike. Many other trails are located in the Berg Lake area which would be fun to explore. At 53.11 °N, Berg Lake is as far N as Lupe has ever been.

The Berg Lake trailhead is located on the Robson River at the end of a 3 km gravel road N of the Mt. Robson Provincial Park Visitor Center in British Columbia, Canada. The visitor center is about 55 miles W of the town of Jasper, Alberta along the Yellowhead Highway No. 16.

This was a patchy cloudy and foggy morning in Jasper. SPHP checked the weather forecast at the visitor center shortly after it opened, and was pleasantly surprised to learn the forecast was for sunny skies and 22 °C (72 °F). With this encouragement, Lupe and SPHP headed W on the Yellowhead Highway to Mt. Robson Provincial Park. Sure enough, shortly after leaving Jasper the skies cleared and the fog was left behind. It was a perfect day – cool, comfortable and clear.

Mt. Robson and the Mt. Robson Provincial Park Visitor Center

SPHP stopped in at the Mount Robson Provincial Park visitor center to register and get a free map of the Berg Lake trail. From there it was a short drive to the Berg Lake trailhead. There were lots of people and vehicles around, but SPHP found a place to park the G6. Sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 AM, Lupe crossed the bridge over the beautiful rushing Robson River and set off along the Berg Lake trail through a shady cedar forest.

The Robson River near the Berg Lake Trailhead. — The Robson River near the Berg Lake trailhead.

It was an easy stroll following the river, since the elevation gain was gradual. Before too long Lupe and SPHP fell in with another hiker, a young man from Calgary named Jason. Jason had saved up money and then gone on a 5 month trip by himself to South America from the prior December to May. He had visited Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and the Amazon rain forest (although not Brazil). Sometime during this trip he had taken time to fly to Fiji to see his parents, who were also traveling.

The cedar forest along the Berg Lake trail.

Jason intended to hike just the first 5 or 6 km of the Berg Lake trail as far as Kinney Lake (the first major trail objective), since he was actually on his way to Vancouver. SPHP found Jason’s tales about his travels very interesting. Lupe trotted along keeping a sharp watch for squirrels while Jason and SPHP chatted. It seemed like Kinney Lake was reached in no time at all. Jason turned back and Lupe and SPHP continued on following the trail, which now went up and down in the forest above the E shore of Kinney Lake.

Lupe in the cedar forest near Kinney Lake.

Past Kinney Lake the trail continued into the Valley of A Thousand Falls. It was all very beautiful. SPHP enjoyed seeing Lupe crossing a fun swinging bridge over the Robson River. The trail started rising steeply once Lupe got to the area of the three main waterfalls a few km above Kinney Lake. Lupe came first to White Falls, then Falls of the Pool, and finally Emperor Falls.

Lupe after a successful crossing of the swinging bridge beyond Kinney Lake.

Valley of a Thousand Falls from the Robson River.

The falls were all spectacular and powerful, but the hike up started seeming long and hard. The trail was steep, it was rather warm out, and swarms of biting flies descended upon Lupe and SPHP at every stop for a breather. SPHP swatted hundreds of flies dead, but it was no use – their numbers were endless. The only real defense was to press steadily along.

The trail continued to climb after Lupe passed Emperor Falls, but not quite as steeply. Eventually it leveled out a great deal, and the climb was much more gradual making the trek far more enjoyable again. Lupe came to a wide valley with various streams of the braided Robson River meandering through it sparkling in the sun. A bit farther along, Lupe came to a barren rocky landscape which was mostly dry. By then there was a good view of Mt. Robson. The Berg and Mist glaciers could be seen coming down the mountain.

Above Emperor Falls approaching Mt. Robson.

Mt. Robson from the Berg Lake trail. — Mt. Robson and the Mist Glacier from the Berg Lake trail.

Lupe approaches the S end of Berg Lake. Berg Glacier is now in view.

Just past the dry rocky area Lupe crested a small ridge and finally saw Berg Lake ahead. The trail went into a stunted forest and continued N above the W shore of the lake. At the far N end of Berg Lake, Lupe and SPHP reached the campground 21 km from the trailhead where Lupe had started. Lupe and SPHP left the trail and went down to join others on the rocky N beach of Berg Lake.

Lupe on the N beach of Berg Lake. Mt. Robson and Berg Glacier across the lake. The Mist Glacier is also at the right side of the photo.

The Berg Glacier on Mt. Robson goes right down into Berg Lake.

The view of Mt. Robson (12,972 ft.) towering over Berg Lake was stupendous. Lupe and SPHP had a clear view of the Berg and Mist glaciers. Little icebergs that had calved off into Berg Lake from the Berg Glacier were floating in a line heading NW across the lake towards Lupe, driven by a breeze coming from the mountain. Lupe posed for some photos with Berg Lake, the glaciers and Mt. Robson in the background. She was hungry too, and eagerly devoured the Taste of the Wild SPHP had brought along for her.

Something catches Lupe's attention at Berg Lake. — Something catches Lupe’s attention at Berg Lake. Or perhaps she is thinking of going on to the Robson Glacier in the direction she is looking. Unfortunately, there wasn’t time for that.

SPHP would have liked to have gone on further. A few more kilometers would have brought Lupe to the third and most impressive glacier on Mt. Robson – the Robson glacier, which fills a valley and looks like the typical image of a long flowing river of ice the word glacier conjures up. What really would have been great was to spend the evening admiring Mt. Robson, camp out at the campground overnight, and spend the next day exploring the area. The map showed lots of interesting trails around.

However, the reality was that dogs aren’t allowed to camp there overnight. Pre-registration is required even for the humans. Lupe and SPHP could not stay. It was already late afternoon and another 21 km trek had to be made back out to the G6 to end the day. Lupe and SPHP lingered on the N beach of Berg Lake admiring Mt. Robson for quite a while. This was the farthest N (53.11°) Lupe had ever been and it was gorgeous! Inevitably though, the time came to leave.

Mt. Robson, Berg Lake & the Mist Glacier.

Reluctantly, Lupe and SPHP set off on the 21 km journey back to the G6. The return hike was long, but very enjoyable. Since it was getting late in the day, there were fewer and fewer people on the trails. The scenery was even more beautiful in the evening light as the shadows of the mountains grew. It certainly didn’t hurt that the way back was downhill either, for SPHP was feeling the effects of the long day.

Heading back. Whitehorn Mountain and the braided stream of the Robson River above Emperor Falls. — Heading back. **Whitehorn Mountain** **(11,152 ft.)** and the braided stream of the Robson River above Emperor Falls.

It was 11:18 PM and 59 °F when Lupe finally got back to the G6. Even at that late hour, that far N there was still a faint twilight in the sky, but it had been pretty dark out in the cedar forest. Lupe and SPHP had hardly eaten anything all day, so SPHP fixed up Lupe’s bed in the G6, let her leap in for a well deserved rest and gave her some Alpo. She was pretty famished and devoured 3/4 of a can before she was full and ready to snooze. SPHP had a Zone bar to get the blood sugar up. Then Lupe and SPHP went to sleep right there in the G6 at the Mt. Robson trailhead.

The glorious 42 km round trip trek to see Berg Lake and Mt. Robson was the final really long day hike of Lupe’s 2013 Dingo Vacation to the Beartooths and the Canadian Rockies. At daybreak the next morning, SPHP started the G6 up and began the long drive S back home to the States. It’s always a bit sad when it’s time to turn around, although there were still a few other stops and shorter hikes to come before Lupe left Canada.

Perhaps Lupe and SPHP will return some day and get an early enough start to not only reach Berg Lake again, but press on to the Robson Glacier! Driving S, SPHP thought about that, and about the even bigger dream of going on even further to see Alaska and the Yukon. Lupe just sat up on her perch enjoying the ride, sniffing the air through the partially open window, and watching for the next adventure – which as far as she knew might be right around the next bend.

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Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 125 – Atlantic Hill, Signal Hill & Elk Benchmark (4-4-15)

To start off this week’s peakbagging expedition, SPHP parked the G6 at 9:58 AM near the intersection of County Road No. 284 and USFS Road No. 284.1E, a point about 1.25 miles SSW of Lupe’s first goal of the day, Atlantic Hill (6,393 ft.). Except for a few high thin clouds, the skies were clear. It was a lovely 44°F out with a cool light N breeze. Lupe was excited and ready to go!

Lupe about to start for Atlantic Hill seen in the background. She was ready for action, although looking into the sun made her squint.

Instead of heading towards Atlantic Hill, USFS Road No. 284.1E first took Lupe W for half a mile up a ravine before turning back to the NE. As 284.1E wound around to the NE it slowly lost the elevation Lupe had just gained. The area Lupe was traveling through was nearly all forested, with a mix of ponderosa pines and aspens. There were interesting rock outcroppings on the hillsides that tended to be anywhere from a few feet to 10 – 15 feet tall.

As Lupe approached Atlantic Hill, she left USFS Road No. 284.1E and headed directly through the forest. She soon came to open ground down in a valley where there was a small creek, just a foot or so wide, but with marshy ground along it. This was Ruby Creek, and it had surprisingly good flow for its size. Set against a rock wall was a small pond with a few ducks on it that flew off as Lupe approached.

The better to lick you with, my dear! Lupe near the rock wall pond in Ruby Creek valley. — The better to lick you with, my dear! A big-tongued Lupe near the rock wall pond in Ruby Creek valley.

Once across the little Ruby Creek valley, Lupe headed into the forest and started the climb up Atlantic Hill. After gaining a bit of elevation, SPHP looked back and saw two more ponds back down in Ruby Creek valley, one upstream and one downstream from the pond next to the rock wall.

Part way up Atlantic Hill was this view to the W of Peak 6740, the high ridge on the horizon at center left. — Part way up Atlantic Hill was this view to the W of **Peak 6740**, the high ridge on the horizon at center left.

A typical rock outcropping seen while climbing Atlantic Hill.

Atlantic Hill was pretty easy to climb. There were quite a few rock outcroppings to work around on the way up and they were bigger than the ones along USFS Road No. 284.1E had been. The easiest path up was to avoid getting up on the rocks, and just keep heading up through the forest between the rocky spines of the mountain.

Lupe near the S high point on Atlantic Hill. The best views were toward Crazy Horse to the NE. — Lupe near the S high point on Atlantic Hill. The best views were toward **Crazy Horse** to the NE (the whitish rock up at center left).

Lupe reached a small saddle area between high points near the top of the hill. First she went to the S high point to check things out from there. Then she went to the N high point, and a short climb brought her up to the true summit of Atlantic Hill. The views at the high points were mainly toward the E. The most interesting thing to be seen was Thunderhead Mountain (6,567 ft.) where the carving of Crazy Horse is located, about 4 miles to the ENE. Although there had been views to the N and W at various places on the climb up, the forest blocked those views near the top.

Lupe reaches the summit of Atlantic Hill.

Looking back at the summit of Atlantic Hill.

Lupe had some water and a little Taste of the Wild at the summit. After a short rest break, SPHP led her to the N going down the mountain. A fairly steep slope brought Lupe down to a saddle connecting Atlantic Hill to a rocky sub-peak which was perhaps 100 feet higher than the saddle area. There Lupe turned W and headed down a less steep and mostly grassy draw with scattered trees. A couple of cabins with blue roofs came into view to the NW, but Lupe reached a dirt road before she got too close to the cabins.

At the Atlantic Hill N saddle looking towards Crazy Horse through the aspens.

Since Lupe had gone down Atlantic Hill to the N of where she had climbed it, SPHP led her S along the dirt road until it ended. Then Lupe headed the rest of the way down into Ruby Creek valley, which she entered just S of the northernmost pond. There were fences on both the E and W sides of the valley here, so this may have been private land. Lupe hurried across it and headed W back up into the trees. Soon she found USFS Road No. 284.1E again, which she followed back to the G6, arriving at 1:42 PM. It was now 56°F out.

Lupe and SPHP headed W on County Road No. 284 towards the next peakbagging objective – Signal Hill. The hike to Signal Hill began at the intersection of No. 284 with USFS Road No. 747. At the start of No. 747, Summit Hill was already in view a very short distance to the S. It was an easy stroll with little elevation gain.

Signal Hill (6,483 ft.) apparently used to have a lookout tower on it. However, the whole area had burned in the 83,000 acre Jasper fire back in August, 2000. SPHP doesn’t know if the lookout tower burned in that fire or was torn down before then. Lupe posed for a photo sitting on what little was left of the foundation for whatever had been there long ago.

The view of Signal Hill from the N close to where the G6 was parked.

Not much left of the old lookout tower foundation on Signal Hill.

The view from Signal Hill towards Elk Mountain (long ridge on the horizon) on the Wyoming/South Dakota border from Signal Hill. — The desolate view from Signal Hill towards Elk Mountain (long ridge on the horizon) on the Wyoming/South Dakota border.

Signal Hill felt quite forlorn and desolate. A cool breeze was blowing out of the W. Being totally exposed, there were views in all directions, but the best view was off to the SW toward the high ridge near the Wyoming border which was Elk Mountain 12-13 miles away. Lupe and SPHP spent a few minutes looking around for a USGS benchmark, but found none. Lupe was back to the G6 by 3:08 PM, just 29 minutes after leaving it. The temperature was 51°F.

Lupe had now completed her two main peakbagging goals of the day – Atlantic Hill and Signal Hill, but there was still plenty of daylight left. Lupe and SPHP headed S on USFS Road No. 282 reaching US Hwy 16 just W of Jewel Cave National Monument. SPHP turned E on Hwy 16 and drove to the E side of the park. SPHP was thinking Lupe might be able to go to the Lithograph Canyon Hillside (5,820 ft.) where the highest point in Jewel Cave National Monument is located just 0.33 mile N of Hwy 16 at the NE corner of the park.

There were signs along Hwy 16 at the E boundary of Jewel Cave National Monument, but there was no place to park the G6 anywhere close. Furthermore, the terrain to the N of the Hwy was very steep. SPHP began to reconsider. After a couple more passes back and forth along Hwy 16, SPHP decided it might be hard to find the right spot on the Lithograph Canyon Hillside that is the true NE corner and high point of Jewel Cave National Monument without doing some more research before making the attempt.

A new idea came to SPHP, which was to drive W towards Elk Mountain on the border with Wyoming. So Lithograph Canyon Hillside was left behind and Lupe headed W on Hwy 16. Just a mile and a half NE of Elk Mountain (5,669 ft.), SPHP turned the G6 S on Dewey Road, County Road No. 769. Lupe barked at cows from the G6 for a good deal of the 3 miles S to a right turn to the W on Elk Mountain Road (No. 123). There were longhorn cattle loose on the road at this point, which sent Lupe into a joyful barking frenzy.

No. 123 climbed slowly at first and then steeply up the Elk Mountain ridge. The road was narrow, but not too rough, so the G6 had no problem reaching the top of the ridge. At a junction there, SPHP turned N on USFS Road No. 118 looking for a place to park. At first there wasn’t anywhere to park, but after a mile or so there was a side road that went W or NW off No. 118. Next to the side road was a nice open grassy level spot. Lupe and SPHP continued on paw and foot from here. (It was by choice SPHP stopped here, there was no reason SPHP couldn’t have driven along No. 118 all the way to the lookout tower since the road was in decent shape all the way.)

About 100 feet along No. 118, Lupe came to a new yellow sign with red lettering and a red pheasant logo on it marking the South Dakota border. Apparently the G6 was parked just into Wyoming. Lupe and SPHP continued N for about 0.25 mile, reaching the end of the forest and start of the big burn area that encompasses all of the N end of Elk Mountain. It was still another 2.5 to 3 miles to the lookout tower along the road.

A look back to the S along the long Elk Mountain ridge. — A look back to the S along the long E side of Elk Mountain ridge.

The view N towards the Elk Mountain lookout tower shortly after Lupe left the forested portion of the ridge. — The view N towards the Elk Mountain lookout tower, faintly seen above Lupe’s head, shortly after Lupe left the forested portion of the ridge.

Getting closer. Hopefully it will rain soon. Elk Mountain would look better green.

Although Elk Mountain itself is now rather ugly and barren, the forest fire had certainly opened up the views. All the way to the lookout tower there was either a great view to the W into Wyoming or to the E into South Dakota. At the very highest parts of this broad ridge there were wonderful views in both directions. Lupe had a great time sniffing around and exploring. She also seemed to enjoy peering over at the views from the edges of some of the cliffs.

At the base of the lookout tower, but not quite the highest point on Elk Mountain.

The view towards the NW from close to the lookout tower. The high point in the distance is the true summit and where there are 2 USGS survey benchmarks on the rocks.

The Elk Mountain lookout tower stands at the NE end of the ridge. No one was around when Lupe arrived. In fact, Lupe met no one at all during her entire time on Elk Mountain. There was a single picnic table at the base of the lookout tower. The lookout tower was high, but not quite on the highest ground on the mountain. In view nearby to the W was a somewhat higher spot. Farther away at the NW corner of the ridge is the true summit of Elk Mountain where two USGS benchmarks are located up on rocks just a few feet from each other.

Lupe on the magnificently colored boulder on top of the W high point not far from the lookout tower.

A look back at the lookout tower from near the magnificently colored boulder. — A look E back at the lookout tower from near the magnificently colored boulder.

After prowling around at the base of the lookout tower for a few minutes and getting a couple of pictures taken, Lupe headed over to the higher ground to the W. She was soon there. A magnificently colored boulder about 5 or 6 feet tall was at the very top. SPHP helped Lupe up onto it for a photo. From there SPHP and Lupe went over to the true summit at the NW corner of Elk Mountain and found the two USGS benchmarks. Lupe had now been to all three of the highest points on Elk Mountain. SPHP agreed with the maps that the highest spot was at the Elk Benchmarks, although the magnificently colored rock not far W of the lookout tower was a very close 2nd.

The most interesting views on Elk Mountain were off to the NW from the Elk Benchmarks towards Newcastle, WY where the mountains looked more rugged than the high flat ridges to the E and SE. Some fairly deep canyons could also be seen to the N. Far away to the SSW, however, so barely visible that SPHP frequently had to stop and just stare in order to see it, was the top of Laramie Peak (10,272 ft.) . A few of the mountain tops S of I-25 between Douglas and Casper, WY could be just faintly seen too.

The best view from Elk Mountain was this one to the NW towards Newcastle, WY. Lupe is near the Elk Mountain benchmarks in this photo.

On the way back to the G6, SPHP was hoping a nice sunset would develop. However, although there was some open sky to the SW, most of the sky had clouded up by now. The sun sank slowly down just 5 degrees N of the clear skies. There were a few small breaks in the clouds in that direction, but despite a few moments of promise, a colorful sunset never really developed. Too bad, as Elk Mountain would have provided a dramatic vantage point.

The sun was still up, but must have been very low on the horizon and obscured by clouds when Lupe reached the G6 at 7:36 PM. It was still 50°F. Lupe had reached the summits of three new mountains during the day. Lupe and SPHP both agreed that the most fun of all had been Elk Mountain. SPHP loved the solitude, easy nearly level ground, and splendid views. Lupe loved racing over the open ground sniffing and exploring through the tall grass and around the many interesting rocks.

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