Day 19 of Lupe’s 2018 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon, Northwest Territories & Alaska!
8-21-18, 10:44 PM, 32°F – Wind and cold rain continued, as Lupe and SPHP left Eagle Plains ahead of the expected blizzard. Within the first 10 minutes, two vehicles came the opposite direction, still heading N on the Dempster Highway, on the verge of reaching the safety of Eagle Plains. After that, there was no traffic at all. For more than half an hour, the G6 splashed on through countless puddles as the rain came down. Outside, the temperature never varied. Always 32°F.
11:30 PM, 32°F – The dreaded blizzard had arrived! Snowing hard, but not sticking to the road yet. The blowing snow was difficult to stare into, a confusing, ever-changing, pattern of bright white streaks in the headlights against a black as deep as any stormy night anywhere.
Soon snow was clinging to bushes along the highway. Accumulations of slush started heaping up along the shoulders. Great sprays of water sent up from potholes sometimes inundated the windshield, momentarily blocking all view of the road before the wipers swept the water away.
Slush spread across the entire road, then turned white. On all the uphill sections, of which there were many, the traction control warning light started coming on, although the G6 didn’t seem to be slipping too badly yet. Only a matter of time, though, if the storm continued to rage.
Meanwhile, the G6 plowed along at a fairly steady 25 to 30 mph. The highway wound up, down, and all around one unseen hill after another. Fuel economy plunged as the G6 battled increasing accumulations of snow and slush. Maintaining speed on the uphill runs started to become difficult.
Afraid of how soft the shoulders must be, SPHP drove down the middle of the road. Virtually nothing could be seen alongside the highway now. As the snow deepened, SPHP started having a hard time telling where the road even was. Reflective km markers showed up well, but far too infrequently to be of assistance.
Sooner or later, the G6 wasn’t going to make it up one of these hills. The prospect of getting stuck in the the blinding snowstorm in the middle of the Dempster Highway in the dead of the night was terrifying. However, SPHP saw no pullouts where it would be possible to safely get off the road. Leaving the highway wouldn’t be all that wonderful, either. No doubt, it would mean being hopelessly snowed-in within no time.
The situation was becoming dire. Should have stayed at Eagle Plains! Days ago on the way N, Lupe had stopped at a huge pullout at Ogilvie Ridge. If the G6 could make it that far, Ogilvie Ridge would at least be a safe place to get off the highway. In this blizzard, though, SPHP wasn’t sure it would even be possible to recognize the pullout.
Suddenly, there was movement! A dimly perceived patchwork of light and dark was moving in the same direction as the G6 on the L side of the road. SPHP caught only a glimpse of it, as the G6 went by. A huge ghost of a moose! The American Dingo hadn’t seen a thing. For miles she had been trying to snooze as the G6 bumped, slipped, and lurched along.
8-22-18, 1:30 AM – Doomed! Heavy snow. Blizzard conditions. A wild wind was whipping the fast accumulating snow into drifts forming on the road. Huge snowflakes were a blinding white. Everything else was pitch black. Navigation was by long poles with reflectors on them that had fortuitously appeared on the L side of the nearly invisible highway a short time ago.
Would have been stuck already, if it hadn’t been for one thing. There didn’t seem to be any more uphill sections. For what couldn’t be much longer, the G6 was still moving. Inside, the Carolina Dog was snoozing peacefully, blissfully unaware of the storm.
1:50 AM – 70 to 75 miles S of Eagle Plains, SPHP caught a glimpse of a pullout on the L. Passed right on by it before even realizing what it was. That might have been Ogilvie Ridge! The road began dropping steadily, even steeply. Yeah, that confirmed it! This was Seven Mile hill!
No going back now, but maybe it didn’t matter? As the G6 lost elevation, conditions were rapidly improving.
2:00 AM – Luck of the Dingo! Amazing! Drove out of it! Heavy snow was now only a moderate rain. 34°F! Down in the Ogilvie River valley, the Dempster Highway was sloppy wet, but snow-free. The G6 bounced along through potholes sending up sprays of water as before. Passed a rest area at Davies Creek, but didn’t stop. Windy Pass and North Fork Pass are still ahead.
The rain tapered off before reaching the bridge over the Ogilvie River, but soon after crossing it, the snow started in again on the long approach to Windy Pass. The adrenaline rush of the white-knuckle drive prior to Ogilvie Ridge was fading. The weather this far S was no where near as bad as it had been earlier. Not snowing that hard. Starting to seem like things are actually under control.
2:56 AM – A huge, level, snow-free pullout had appeared on the R. Likely a road maintenance area. Whatever. Hadn’t made it to Windy Pass yet, but SPHP was weary. The crisis seemed to be over. Time to join Lupe in Dingo Dreamland!
9:36 AM, 32°F – A certain well-rested Dingo wanted out. Fine, fine! SPHP let her go. Blizzard? What blizzard? No snow here! Sure enough, Lupe was at a highway maintenance area somewhere close to km 171 on the W side of the Dempster Highway. Any snow that had fallen here last night had all melted as it hit.
Still no telling what Lupe might find up at Windy Pass, though. Might be tons of snow up there? Couldn’t see a thing down here, except the usual fog and mist of the far N.
10:01 AM, Windy Pass, km 152.8 – The crisis actually was over. Lupe had been less than 20 km from Windy Pass. She arrived to find more fog and mist, but no snow, even up here. The big ridges S of the pass leading to Windy Pass Peak (5,249 ft.) and Peak 5906 were a little white, but that was it.
Maybe a blizzard was still raging up at Eagle Plains and the Arctic Circle, but the Most High Exalted Dingo of the Arctic Sisterhood had managed a successful escape!
Lupe resumed her snooze at Windy Pass, while SPHP straightened up the G6, cleaned windows, and dealt with a few technical issues. Then the journey S continued. What to do next wasn’t entirely clear. The mist ended, and fog was decreasing as the cloud cover began to lift, but the mountain peaks were still hidden.
1:36 PM, 40°F – Lupe and SPHP stopped at the two-tier pullout on the E side of the Dempster Highway SE of Surfbird Mountain (5,300 ft.). This was a favorite spot, discovered in 2017, where there was a stream and a bubbling pond.
Lunch time! Chili and chocolate coconut bars were on the menu. The American Dingo kindly helped out with both, displaying considerable enthusiasm for the project. Afterwards, she explored among the bushes, and chased tennis balls SPHP threw for her.
SPHP pondered the situation. Should Loop go on to Dawson City? She still had more mountains to climb here in Tombstone Territorial Park, but as is so often the case, once again most of the Ogilvie Range was in the clouds. Surfbird Mountain wasn’t, but Lupe had climbed Surfbird last year.
Maybe it made sense to give Peak 5262 another shot? Stymied by bogs when Lupe had tried it on the way N nearly a week ago, she hadn’t even made it to the base of the mountain. However, it had looked like she might have been successful, if only SPHP had led her to the next ridge N instead of the way she’d actually gone.
Peak 5262 was back N, but only a dozen km. The mountain sat isolated out beyond the rest of the Ogilvie Range. The sky was looking better in that direction. If Peak 5262 worked out today, conditions might improve enough so Lupe could climb higher peaks around here tomorrow?
3:09 PM, 39°F, Blackstone River rest stop at km 107.6 – Yeah, coming back for another attempt on Peak 5262 made sense. It was too late in the day, and the weather wasn’t cooperative enough, to doing anything else. The only other option would have been to keep driving, and the Carolina Dog was sick of being cooped up in the G6. SPHP parked at the now familiar rest stop along the East Blackstone River.
The weather was improving as Lupe set out for a second attempt on Peak 5262. This time, SPHP had her go N along the Dempster Highway far enough to get past all the streams preventing access to the second ridge W of the road.
Even though the second ridge was a bit higher than the first one, it still wasn’t very high. Lupe was soon up on top. From her prior experience with the first ridge, she knew what to expect next. A long, beautiful, but far more wearying march toward Peak 5262 than a nearly imperceptible slope merited.
The top of the ridge was a vast plain of spongy, tussocky tundra. On the way W, Lupe sought out minor highs points which might provide firmer footing. She came to one drainage that forced her to make a detour to the N. Although the top of the ridge looked flat as a pancake, it was anything but. Endless, unstable tussocks surrounded by holes made every step an adventure.
The American Dingo persevered, though, making steady progress. Blue sky was beginning to appear! This was turning into a fantastic day! Having seen the lay of the land once before, SPHP was buoyed by hope that Lupe would enjoy success this time around.
The critical point of the journey came as Lupe drew near the W end of the ridge. Once she had made it far enough to see the broad saddle area between this low ridge and the base of Peak 5262, it became clear that she needed to go NW staying up on the high ground along the edge as long as possible before dropping down to the saddle.
Upon dropping down to the saddle, Lupe discovered small streams and bogs no matter which way she went. SPHP tussock-hopped past the first bog and small stream, while Lupe simply waded through.
However, getting through all the bogs wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Even after crossing the broad saddle, Lupe kept coming to more drainages and bogs as the terrain started sloping up again toward the base of Peak 5262. Luckily, none proved to be insurmountable obstacles.
Peak 5262 was just a big hill! Surely the American Dingo was going to make it now! As Looper worked her way up an increasingly steep slope toward Peak 5262’s NE ridge, confidence soared.
The NE ridge was still quite a march away. Lupe kept having to dodge bogs, drainages, and unexpected holes full of water. The tundra dried out to a degree as the climb steepened, but remained spongy, requiring significant effort.
Lupe climbed and climbed. Though the terrain wasn’t all that steep, it was exhausting work. SPHP kept hoping the tundra would give way to rockier ground, but for a very long way it didn’t. The Carolina Dog came to a number of high points, but each time hopes that she had reached the NE ridgeline were dashed.
Finally, lanes of firmer ground did appear. These lanes had a base of very small rocks, the first rocks Lupe had come to on the entire journey thus far. Low red and gray-green vegetation grew on the rockier terrain, looking just like what Loop had seen a year ago in Alaska when she’d gone on her Stroll to the North Slope Knoll.
The narrow lanes of firmer ground helped tremendously. SPHP was able to quicken the pace significantly. Soon Lupe really was up on the NE ridgeline.
SPHP had expected plenty of rockier terrain up on the NE ridgeline, but that wasn’t what Lupe found. In fact, the ridgeline wasn’t much of a line at all. Ahead was a very broad and steeper slope, comprised almost entirely of more deep, spongy tundra.
Peak 5262 had a lovely dusting of snow on top. The colors of the tundra below were absolutely gorgeous. However, it was now clear that Lupe wasn’t going to reach any significantly firmer ground until she got way up on Peak 5262’s steepest slopes near the summit.
Having anticipated an easier time on a rocky ridgeline, the trudge higher actually began as a tougher march than before.
No turning back now, though! Onward!
Up ahead, a long line of bushes grew along a drainage. Lupe stayed to the R (NW) of it. However, this drainage split into two separate courses higher up. Lupe had to cross the smaller channel to the W. Happily, the smaller channel turned out to be dry, and not a problem. From then on, there were no real obstacles. Lupe angled SW toward a high, short ridge to the W, and upon reaching it, completed her ascent by switchbacking up the N face of the mountain.
Even the upper slopes of Peak 5262 turned out not to be rocky, but at least the tundra wasn’t as thick. Peak 5262 had another surprise in store for Lupe, too. The dusting of snow near the top of the mountain wasn’t snow at all. Apparently last night’s blizzard had been an ice storm here. Freezing rain had coated the tundra with an amazing display of ice.
The top of Peak 5262 is rounded. Lupe arrived upon a summit area acres in size. The true summit was W of where the Carolina Dog came up, and was quite easy to spot. Not far from the N edge sat a short ridge resembling a marvelously bejeweled mini-pingo. This little summit ridge was only a few feet higher than the rest of the mountain.
When Lupe had first reached the NE ridge, large regions of blue sky had been expanding to the N. For a short while the Carolina Dog had been in sunshine. Now, though, the weather was clearly deteriorating. Couldn’t have been any more than 32°F. The incredible crystalline icy display was not melting up here. The slight N breeze felt cold.
Views from isolated, remote Peak 5262 were tremendous! Higher peaks were in the distance in many directions, but their summits were lost in clouds that already covered the whole sky. Fog was spreading to the S, although Surfbird Mountain (5,300 ft.) was still in sight.
To celebrate Loopster’s peakbagging success, SPHP shared 3 chocolate coconut bars with her. They were frozen so stiffly that it was hard to break off chunks.
High atop Peak 5262, the darkening sky, cold breeze, and surrounding vast, desolate solitude produced a sudden sense of gloom and danger. It was absolutely incredible up here, yet SPHP grew uneasy. Lupe was a long way from the G6. Mountains were disappearing from the horizon. The cloud cover seemed to be closing in. If the morning’s fog returned, it would be easy to get lost.
Would have been fun to have the luxury of letting a sublime hour or two go by up on Peak 5262, but it didn’t seem like Lupe could afford to linger up here too long. Might as well have a quick look around, though. Loop ventured out to the far W end of the summit area. The Blackstone River was in view, even if the mountains weren’t.
The scenes were all impressively forlorn and desolate, but the clouds weren’t an awful lot higher than Peak 5262 now. Lupe returned to the true summit for another brief stay and final look around.
On the return, Lupe varied the first part of her route. Instead of going back down the steep N face, she followed the E ridge, which provided a more gradual descent.
As soon as the American Dingo realized that she was actually on her way down, she became quite energized. Lupe ran and ran! She sniffed and explored, displaying great stamina and enthusiasm. The descent was a lot easier. SPHP made much faster progress. The spongy tundra merely served as a cushion, instead of an impediment. From above, SPHP was better at picking out drier, more efficient routes.
The E ridge soon curved NE creating a bowl to the W. This bowl was the origin of the last two drainages Lupe had come to on the way up. To get back to the lower portion of the NE ridge, SPHP led Loop down into the bowl so she could stay far enough W to bypass the deeper drainage. By the time Lupe made it to the lower end of the bowl, she had picked up her former route.
The long march still ahead was merely a retracement of what had been done before. Lupe eventually turned ESE, leaving the NE ridgeline. As the slope decreased, the labor of traveling the tussocky tundra returned. Back to dodging bogs, streams, and wet holes.
Despite the effort required, the return was a beautiful time. Lupe was happy, roaming free in an unspoiled world. SPHP was thrilled she had finally made it to Peak 5262! The sky remained overcast, but it wasn’t nearly so cold out as it had been back up on the mountain. The brooding clouds never came down far enough to threaten the lowlands with fog.
Though always challenging to move through, the tundra was amazing. Pristine beauty in all directions, including at one’s paws or feet. Lupe discovered a pink blossom so rare no others like it had been seen on the whole long journey. She found an ancient caribou antler, and learned that even excellent dental health isn’t everything.
The morning’s mist and fog hadn’t held much promise, but Lupe’s ascent of lonely Peak 5262 had been a marvelous journey and sweet success! (9:38 PM, 33°F)
Links:
Next Adventure Prior Adventure
Tombstone Territorial Park Map
The Dempster Highway Travelogue
Surfbird Mountain, Ogilvie Range, Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon Territory, Canada (9-4-17)
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