Part 2 of Day 17 of Lupe’s 2nd Summer of 2023 Dingo Vacation to Canada & Alaska!
1:37 PM – The Most High Exalted Dingo of the Arctic Sisterhood was back! Her paws still partially streaked black with soot from the charred tundra on Corbett Hill (2,497 ft.) near Eagle Plains, Lupe laid resting on the wooden platform supporting the Dempster Highway‘s Arctic Circle display. Once again, she’d made it to the true Arctic, although it sure didn’t seem like it today.
As usual, she saw no sign of the Richardson Mountains. Unlike the other times the American Dingo had been here, though, this time the reason wasn’t fog, freezing rain, or near blizzard conditions. It was 71ºF, and the air was full of smoke.
Despite the ongoing Arctic apocalypse, the Arctic Circle was busy. People kept coming and going. SPHP swapped stories with quite a few of them while seeking information on conditions ahead. Like Lupe, everyone was either on their way to, or coming back from, Tuktoyaktuk.
Conditions farther N? As before, the unanimous response was “smoky the entire way”! 35 KM N of Inuvik a huge fire was making the situation so bad that quite a few people had given up on Tuk and turned back there. Only one couple had a different story. They’d just driven N from Tombstone Territorial Park, where heavy rains had fallen last night. When they left the park this morning, the sky had been beautiful.
Figures. If we’d stayed put yesterday, everything would be lovely, Looper.
We can go back, SPHP.
Yeah, but we’re not going to, Loop. Not until we’ve been to Tuktoyaktuk.
Why so stubborn, SPHP? Finally some clear blue skies! It’s the news we’ve been waiting for!
I know it, but it’s a long way back, Looper, and who knows if those clear skies will last? Could just be a local phenomenon that will be erased the moment the wind shifts. Still, it’s a good sign that there’s finally been rain somewhere. Maybe the Arctic apocalypse is starting to weaken?
After hanging around the Arctic Circle for nearly 2 hours, the long drive N continued. As forewarned, there certainly wasn’t any sign of rain up this way. Stopping in at the Rock River campground, White Fox Creek was a mere trickle compared to the near flood stage torrent it had been the last time Lupe had seen it in 2018.
Yeah, maybe going back S would have been the better choice.
6:17 PM – Smoke, smoke, and more smoke! Because of it, Lupe missed out on all the incredible scenery on the way to Wright Pass (3,150 ft.). The Carolina Dog stood next to the “Welcome to Northwest Territories” sign, smoke, instead of snow or fog, streaming by on a 20 mph SE wind.
S of the pass, a mountain that had been on Lupe’s list of possibilities for 5 years was visible through the haze.
That’s Peak 3850 right on the Yukon/Northwest Territories border, Loop! A mere 700 feet of elevation gain, and we can be on top. Want to try it?
In the midst of the Arctic apocalypse, SPHP? We won’t see anything except smoke.
I know, it sucks, Loopster, but I’m revising my thinking. We’ve never been here before when the weather wasn’t absolutely abysmal – frigid, windy, foggy, snowing! Impossible conditions. It’s 65ºF today! Maybe in the midst of an Arctic apocalypse is the only way we’re ever going to have a shot at any of these peaks in the Richardson Range?
That’s a depressing thought. Not sure that’s such fabulous news, SPHP.
Fabulous? No, it isn’t. Suboptimal at best, Loop. However, we’ve got a chance to tag Peak 3850 yet this evening. Never had one before. We may never get another one, even on our way back S from Tuktoyaktuk. We’re thousands of miles from home. It’s not like we can drop by any old time we when it’s supposed to be a perfect day.
Adventure was in the American Dingo’s blood, and she’d been cooped up in the RAV4 a lot lately. Lupe agreed. Peak 3850 was on!
Due to the incredible amount of talus visible on the mountain’s N slopes, heading for the lower end of the NW ridge seemed a good idea. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite so rocky up on top? At the very least, there was no reason to think it would be any worse. Roaming SSW across a somewhat boggy, tussocky region, despite the prevailing drought conditions, Lupe encountered a few wet spots. Most were easily avoided.
Upon reaching the base of the NW ridge, an awful lot of rock was ahead. As the Carolina Dog started scrambling up, SPHP began to realize that Peak 3850 might not be such an easy undertaking.
After an initial steep talus climb, Lupe waited for slowpoke SPHP on a convenient patch of tundra. Despite the smoke, she had a fairly decent view of Wright Pass from here, although the mountain N of the pass was barely visible through the haze.
Unfortunately, gaining the NW ridge hadn’t changed the talus situation. The rocks weren’t huge, and the rate of climb wasn’t all that ambitious as Lupe began following the ridge higher, but there was no escaping, what was for SPHP, a tedious rock hop.
On the other paw, the American Dingo seemed to enjoy it.
Happily, Peak 3850 didn’t turn out to be entirely a giant mound of talus. After gaining some additional elevation, more tundra eventually came into view among all the rocks, which were tending to get smaller. Soon enough tundra was present to turn climbing Peak 3850 into a game of seeking out the longest continuous lanes of vegetation possible.
With SPHP’s speed improving, what had started out looking like a very long, tedious trek suddenly didn’t seem like such a big deal. A series of cairns came into view, perched along the edge of a steep drop on the NE side of the ridge.
One of the cairns had a metal pole sticking out of it. Upon reaching it, Lupe checked out the limited views available on such a smoky evening.
Although the terrain was beginning to level out, these first cairns were not at the summit, which wasn’t even in sight yet. As Lupe kept going, the edge of the mountain turned S along a line of small E-facing cliffs. Beneath the cliffs, steep talus slopes led down to a broad, dimly-seen, tundra-covered bench hundreds of feet below. In the smoke, nothing more could be seen beyond it.
By now, it was clear that Peak 3850’s summit region was just ahead.
7:38 PM, 58ºF, Peak 3850 – Overhead, the cloudless sky was tinged blue when Lupe reached an unimpressive cairn right along the E edge of the mountain. To SPHP, this seemed to be the true summit, but several other high points away from the edge were at least in contention for that title.
The summit region was spacious. Consisting mostly of relatively small rocks, there were scattered patches of tundra, too. Toward the W, there was no sharp edge, just a rounded slope. After visiting the little cairn and hitting the other most obvious high points, Lupe retreated SSW down and away from the windy E edge. A big patch of tundra provided a comfortable spot to lay down.
From here, Peak 3850’s S ridge sloped gradually away until it became lost in the smoke.
Marvelous job of scrambling, Loopster! Congratulations on reaching Peak 3850. We finally did it after all these years!
SPHP shook Lupe’s paw, then shared a chocolate coconut bar, beef jerky, and water with her.
The wind, which seemed to be out of the NNE up here, wasn’t nearly as strong as along the E edge. Still chilly, though. SPHP threw a jacket over Lupe, then sat facing that S ridge sinking into oblivion. The American Dingo had displayed great energy and enthusiasm on the way up, but comfortable now with nothing but rocks and smoke to contemplate, her eyes grew heavy.
Gazing S, SPHP let Lupe snooze. The panoramas from Peak 3850 should have been fabulous, but the smoke was pretty bad. Frustrating, yet just being here was incredible. The same drought and heat that brought on this Arctic apocalypse had also made this ascent possible. Why not keep taking advantage of it?
Roughly 8 miles N of Wright Pass was another mountain, a higher, named peak that had been on Lupe’s list of possibilities for years. Before now it had always seemed more of an impossibility, but this was Lupe’s chance to get there, wasn’t it? Two days might do it. Backpacking in the Richardson Mountains, wouldn’t that be something!
Given how awful the weather had always been whenever Lupe was at Wright Pass before, the mere thought of backpacking in the Richardsons had always seemed not only daring, but an almost suicidal notion. Not now, though. Not under these conditions. While Lupe dozed, staring down the S ridge into all that wretched smoke, SPHP was getting excited.
8:28 PM– Welcome back, Looper! How were your adventures in Dingo Dreamland?
Awesome, as usual, SPHP! And I always wake up feeling better. Doesn’t look like the situation has improved any while I’ve been napping, though.
No, unfortunately it hasn’t, Sweet Puppy, but I’ve been thinking.
Uh-oh! About what, SPHP?
If things aren’t any worse tomorrow morning, maybe we can have an epic adventure not only despite, but even because of, the Arctic apocalypse.
Really, SPHP? Sounds like you’ve finally lost your last marble. Almost afraid to hear the details, but do tell!
Your traditional summit hour is just about up here, Loopster. Let’s have a final look around, tag Peak 3850’s true summit again, and be on our way. I’ll explain during our return to the RAV4.
Since it was easier to see where the patches of tundra were from above, descending the NW ridge went faster than the ascent had. However, the lower end remained an unavoidable rock hop. Once off the ridge, the rest was easy.
Returning to Wright Pass, several people were in the flat, boggy region gathering buckets full of pale pink or orange berries shaped sort of like raspberries or blackberries. After telling SPHP that these edible berries were called cloudberries, they expressed amazement that Lupe had climbed Peak 3850.
Think how they’d react if they knew what we had planned for tomorrow, SPHP!
Hah! Yeah, maybe. Don’t count your cloudberries before you’ve picked them, Looper. We’ll just have to see what morning brings. (End 9:49 PM)
Links:
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The Dempster Highway Travelogue
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