Day 7 of Lupe’s 1st 2019 Dingo Vacation to the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming!
Off to a great start! The sun peeping above the horizon found the American Dingo already busy barking excitedly at deer in the meadows as the G6 rolled by raising dust. The Burgess picnic ground was only a mile away. Lupe arrived to find yet another delight – squirrels chattering in the trees! With enormous enthusiasm, she gave ’em what for!
The ruckus didn’t matter. The picnic ground was completely deserted this early in the day. Frost on the picnic table began melting as the first rays of sunlight hit. While the camp stove heated up a can of beef and barley soup for breakfast, SPHP downed a strawberry Ensure while strolling along the beautiful North Tongue river, which was running high, full from bank to bank.
Lookout Mountain (10,147 ft.) was the Carolina Dog’s objective today. After breakfast, SPHP drove S from Burgess Junction on Hwy 14, turning NE (R) on USFS Road No. 26 after passing the Owen Creek campground. No. 26 eventually turned S. A few miles past Dead Swede campground, Lupe stopped to have a look at the remains a historic splash dam more than 100 years old.
Beyond the splash dam, No. 26 wound SE for a mile or two before finally turning E. SPHP slowed down as a long meadow appeared on the R (S). USFS Road No. 520 was supposed to be somewhere along in here on the L (N). Turned out it was well marked and easy to find. SPHP parked near the sign.
Perfect! Lookout Mountain (10,147 ft.) was now only a bit over 2 miles due N. Lupe could start for it from right here. (8:32 AM)
No. 520 headed NNE up the E side of a shallow valley gaining elevation at an easy to moderate pace. The valley was mostly meadow flanked by forests. Early on, parts of the road were so rough that it was probably a good thing the G6 had been left behind, although a high clearance vehicle wouldn’t have had any trouble.
After going 0.5 mile, the road started to level out. Shortly before coming to a minor pass, No. 520 entered the forest.
At the pass, the road curved NE maintaining elevation. For the first time, Lupe had a tree-broken view of Lookout Mountain.
Beyond the pass No. 520 curved N again. During a slow descent, Lupe went by a series of big puddles connected by tiny streams coming from hidden snowbanks still melting away in the surrounding forest.
The last puddle was the biggest. Beyond it, the terrain leveled out at a clearing which provided an unobstructed view of the E summit of Lookout Mountain.
Upon reaching the clearing, the road curved NW revealing a 5 foot high snowbank just ahead. In the American Dingo’s opinion, this was cause for celebration. Christmas in July! The W end of Lookout Mountain, where the true summit was supposed to be, was now in sight.
Past the huge snowbank, No. 520 reentered a short stretch of forest. Once through it, Lupe could see a long grassy valley to the WSW. This valley was part of the Mohawk Creek drainage.
More forest was ahead. Upon entering it, Lupe came to yet another big puddle. Beyond this puddle were snowbanks several feet deep. Vehicles tracks going right over the snow showed the road went NW from here.
Lupe went by another open area where she could see the Mohawk Creek drainage again. No. 520 turned N for a bit, then back to the NW. Such a lovely day! White clouds sailed through the azure sky. The temperature was perfect. The rhythmical march up a gradual incline was easy. Lupe roamed the forest looking for squirrels.
SPHP suddenly snapped to. Must have been daydreaming! How long had Lupe been wandering along this stretch of road? The topo map showed a saddle not too far ahead where numerous abandoned side roads split off No. 520. Had the Carolina Dog already passed this saddle, or not? SPHP didn’t remember seeing it.
Slightly higher ground was just N of the road. A quick side trip up there revealed nothing but a rather steep slope going down into a valley. Since this whole region was forested, SPHP couldn’t see the bottom, or even tell if the valley drained E or W.
Half convinced the Carolina Dog was already too far W, SPHP led Lupe 100 yards E along the high ground. It all looked about the same. This valley shouldn’t be too deep, especially if Loop actually was too far W. May as well find out! SPHP started down.
A distinct trail appeared heading straight down the slope. Quite a bit of deadfall had fallen across this trail, nearly all small stuff less than 6″ in diameter. Loop had no sooner reached the trail than a loud crashing commenced. Something big was fleeing through the forest! Lupe froze at attention, intensely excited. Deer? Elk? SPHP caught only a glimpse. Had to be more than just one. A few seconds, and silence returned.
Down! Down! The valley was deeper than expected. At the bottom, the trail ended at a small clearing. Practically the whole thing was sopping wet with meltwaters trickling from several little snowbanks. At least this clearing provided a good landmark where Lupe would be able to find the trail again, if she came back this way.
The clearing drained E, which meant this had to be the Sawmill Creek valley. Evidently, Lupe hadn’t really gotten all that far W before SPHP snapped out of the daydream. She was still E of the saddle leading to Lookout Mountain.
SPHP followed the American Dingo W up the Sawmill Creek drainage. Oh, it was an exciting time! Lupe found plenty of squirrels to bark at. 15 fun-filled minutes and 100 feet of elevation gain brought her to the edge of a flat meadow. She had arrived at the saddle to Lookout Mountain. There was USFS Road No. 520 again, heading NW on the far side.
Good deal! The Carolina Dog was back on track.
Loopster was ready for a break. For nearly an hour, she relaxed in the shade of a large tree along the N edge of the meadow. A squirrel finally appeared and broke the lazy day spell. Lupe sprang back into action, but try as she might, the squirrel kept winning at hide and seek.
Enough! Time to press on, if the American Dingo ever expected to get to Lookout Mountain. No. 520 left the saddle heading down into the Graves Creek drainage, but a fainter road, no doubt one of the many abandoned side roads, went NE staying on high ground. Leaving the tricksy squirrel behind in disgust, Lupe set off on the side road.
The side road immediately curved ENE before straightening out as it slowly gained elevation. Unfortunately, ENE wasn’t the right direction. Approaching the road’s high point, Loop left it. She went down a little embankment, then headed NNE across a plain of mostly open ground. Live trees and stacks of ancient large diameter deadfall bleached gray by the sun were scattered across this plain.
The W and E summits of Lookout Mountain are widely separated by a big saddle of moderately lower ground. This saddle looked much easier to get to than trying a direct assault on either of the summits. As Lupe headed toward it, the mostly open plain gave way to increasingly forested territory.
The plain had been fairly level, but Lupe was now gaining elevation at a steadily increasing pace. Many large boulders were scattered among the trees. Before long a wall of rock appeared on the R (SE) running parallel to Lupe’s route. Staying W of this wall seemed best.
Soon Lupe heard water. SPHP caught a glimpse of a valley to the NW 20 or 30 feet lower than the slope Loop was on at the moment. Since this valley was more open territory, the Carolina Dog entered it, but found the ground quite boggy. She explored ENE (upstream) along the near edge for 200 yards before turning N toward Lookout Mountain again. Using large diameter deadfall as bridges, Lupe crossed several small streams, all part of the headwaters of Graves Creek.
Although it looked quite possible to go almost directly up to the E side of Lookout Mountain’s W summit from here, Lupe stuck with the original plan of aiming for the saddle between the E and W summits. Once across the open ground of the boggy valley, Lupe reentered the forest. She came to a few more streams, but none were difficult to cross.
Beyond the last of the streams, Lupe proceeded N on increasingly stony, steep terrain. Fortunately, several boulder fields hidden in the forest were easily avoided. Animal trails and occasional grassy lanes provided routes higher. Partway up, a squirrel tree held Lupe’s attention for 5 or 10 minutes while SPHP gasped for breath.
Pushing higher, a tall rock formation appeared. Lupe stayed to the W (L) of it, passing through a dense stand of pines hiding rugged terrain. She soon managed to get through, however, and emerged in a big field full of tiny white flowers. From this field, Black Tooth Mountain (13,005 ft.) and Cloud Peak (13,167 ft.) were in sight far to the SSE.
The top of the big, broad saddle between Lookout Mountain’s E and W summits wasn’t much farther. More isolated stands of forest and rock formations were ahead, but the terrain was no longer as steep. Wide grassy lanes provided easy routes higher. Before long, Lupe was sitting in a flat grassy field. She had made it to the saddle!
A mostly forested ridge, rocky and open toward the S, was close by off to the W. The true summit of Lookout Mountain (10,147 ft.) was hidden somewhere up there! Staying toward the S on the open ground, Lupe went to look for it.
The open ground got her partway up, but Lupe eventually turned WNW into the forest. A short climb got her to a more gentle slope. The forest turned out to be fairly open, permitting an easy trek higher.
Several minutes exploring W brought Loop to a long snowbank. A small rocky ridge sat slightly higher beyond the snow. The summit? Maybe! Detouring clear around the S end of the snowbank, Lupe discovered more territory beyond a little rise. A rock formation 25 foot high to the SW appeared to be even higher than the little ridge.
The scramble to the top was easy. No doubt about it. Lupe was standing at the true summit of Lookout Mountain (10,147 ft.)!
The true summit turned out to be a huge orangey, pinkish golf ball rather nicely decorated with black and light green lichens. If you want to get technical about it, not really a golf ball, but a big, dimpled, rounded boulder that resembled one. The golf ball was big enough for Loop to stand or sit comfortably while enjoying the 360º views.
The most impressive view was of the rugged territory far to the SSE around mighty Cloud Peak (13,167 ft.). Cloud Peak was certainly living up to its name!
Other attention grabbing views included Lookout Mountain’s E summit, a mere 22 feet lower than the golf ball. Black Mountain (9,489 ft.) was the most prominent peak to the N. SPHP couldn’t positively identify Dome Peak (10,828 ft.) or the Sheridan County High Point (11,020 ft.) to the S, but they had to be out there not too far away somewhere along the spine of the mountains extending NW from Cloud Peak.
In addition to the golf ball, several other boulders were resting up here on a level platform of granite. Hardly any room existed to move around, but a small rock shelf provided a spot to sit down. After an initial survey of the splendid views, Lupe decided SPHP’s lap was more comfortable than any other option. She curled up there dozing or snapping at flies.
A storm off to the N sailed away to the E. Another storm came creeping closer from the NW. SPHP kept an eye on it. The sky to the S and E was full of white cumulus clouds, but Lookout Mountain remained mostly sunny. Conditions were near perfect – temperatures in the upper 60’s ºF, and a 10 mph SW breeze.
Nearly an hour and a half went by. The Carolina Dog seemed inclined to spend the whole day relaxing on Lookout Mountain, but she was getting heavy.
Loopster, sorry to bother you, but you’re cutting off my circulation. My legs are going numb! Could you please move?
Of course, why didn’t you say something earlier, SPHP? Are we going to start back now?
Oh, I don’t know. We don’t have to. We could go check out the ridge over by the snowbank, just for fun. Then maybe it would be worth heading over to the E summit, to see what’s over there?
More exploring? Looper was fine with that! Leaping back up onto the giant golf ball, she lingered atop the true summit of Lookout Mountain while SPHP started down.
The ridge near the long snowbank was only 150 to 200 feet away. Lupe circled back around to approach it from the E. She had to cross the snow going this way, but that was fun!
Getting up onto the ridge was easy. It was flatter and larger than the true summit with plenty of room to walk around, but definitely a bit lower than the giant golf ball. While the views were nearly identical, coming here had been worthwhile. Lupe discovered a couple of survey markers, both stamped “Look”.
The weather was changing. As Lupe had left the Giant Golf Ball, the wind had shifted. Now it was out of the N. Suddenly the sky over Lookout Mountain was filled with gray clouds. Looked like rain. Maybe not immediately, but soon. If Loop was going to visit the E summit, she had better get on with it!
So the Carolina Dog remained for only a few minutes up on the small ridge. Then it was back down across the snow bank to head E through the forest. She stayed a bit farther N than before on the way back to the huge saddle leading to the E summit.
Approaching the E summit, a gradual trek higher through the forest brought Lupe to an enormous rock formation. Staying toward the N, she searched for a route higher among great chunks of weathered talus. SPHP wondered if she could even get to the top, but Looper succeeded in getting to the ridgeline only a little N of the high point.
Gah! This rock formation wasn’t the E summit! Lupe could see it again from here, but still farther E. Getting back down off this enormous rock formation and over to the next one looked like a time consuming project.
Nah, not going to happen! On a nicer day, sure, but conditions were iffy. A careful retreat down the talus, then it really was time to head back.
As she began her descent from the huge saddle between the E and W summits, Lupe stayed farther E than she had been on the way up. This proved to be an even easier route with more open terrain and fewer obstacles. She went by a dramatic ghost tree before losing so much elevation that she lost sight of the unsettled scene way over by Cloud Peak.
By the time the rain hit, Lupe had already made it back to USFS Road No. 520. SPHP donned the blue plastic “Cookie Monster” rain gear. The drippy march was pleasant enough. The rain was steady, but light, and ended shortly before the Carolina Dog made it back to the G6. (3:34 PM)
SPHP drove to Burgess Junction. For a second evening in a row, a juicy hamburger was purchased to share with the soggy doggie to celebrate her latest peakbagging success. If anything, today’s hamburger was even more enthusiastically received.
The evening was restful, but dull. Rain off and on. Nightfall found the American Dingo back at the start of USFS Road No. 165, right where she’d started the day so many hours ago. Loopster never did make it to the E summit of Lookout Mountain, but she’d been to the Giant Golf Ball, and that was all that really mattered!
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One display entitled “Climb Into Bighorn Country” was exactly what Lupe intended to do next. Another showed the main roads of the N Bighorns, already mostly familiar territory to the American Dingo!
At the Shell Falls Interpretive Site no access was available down to Shell Creek, but there was access only a little farther up Shell Canyon. Lupe’s next stop was a large gravel parking area on the R (S) just past MP 27.
