Day 24 of Lupe’s 2019 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon & Alaska!
8-27-19, evening at the Glacier Gap to Sevenmile Lake trailhead, Denali Highway MP 31 –
So what does it say, SPHP?
Hah! Good news, lucky Dingo! Says here that the trail goes all the way to Sevenmile Mile Lake. 8.5 miles one way. The only caveat is that we have to be able to get across Rock Creek, a big stream 0.25 mile from here. Hopefully not a problem this time of year.
Awesome! We’ll get to see Sevenmile Lake then!
Oh, I think so! Should be an easy, absolutely beautiful trek.
Wasn’t going to happen until tomorrow, of course. A fabulous evening to relax right here at the trailhead, though! Lupe had her Alpo, then eyed SPHP’s beef stew. Oh, alright! In nothing flat, the Carolina Dog polished off the beef stew, too. So much for dinner, aye? SPHP wandered over to read a plaque about the Tangle Lakes Archeological District while Loop sniffed around among the bushes.
Hey, SPHP! Check out that mountain!
Which one?
The one just E of Glacier Gap. What do you think?
It’s lovely, Loop. Tomorrow morning you’ll get to see it up close. The trail will take us right by it on the way to Glacier Gap.
It’s pretty big, but doesn’t look that hard, does it? Do you think we could see Sevenmile Lake from up there?
The more SPHP stared at East Glacier Gap Mountain (6,060 ft.), the more it seemed Lupe was right! Didn’t look like a technical climb at all. A big S slope right in the middle of the mountain looked perfectly doable. Just stroll on up!
You might be right, Loop! Let me take another look at that map again.
The trailhead map showed the trail getting fairly close to the base of the mountain. If SPHP could get through the bushy region by the trail up to the rocks, there didn’t appear to be any other obstacles to success. The mountain had two summits both contained in 6,000 ft. contours. Only the E summit had an elevation shown – 6,050 ft. Maybe that indicated it was the true summit?
Looks feasible, Looper! That mountain is still a few miles from Sevenmile Lake, though. We could probably see the middle part of the lake from up there, but not the whole thing. Want to climb the mountain instead of just taking the trail all the way to Sevenmile Lake?
Yes, let’s do it!
The sky cleared as darkness fell. A good omen!
8-28-19, 7:21 AM, 35ºF at the Glacier Gap to Sevenmile Lake trailhead – Sigh. A mere 3 hours ago, a slender crescent moon had hung low in the E sky, stars of the northern universe brilliant overhead. Cloudy out now, although not threatening. Still some blue stuff off to the NW.
Good enough! East Glacier Gap Mountain was a go. Loopster was ready! She hit the nice wide ATV or jeep route that left the trailhead heading NE. A gradual 0.25 mile descent soon brought the American Dingo to Rock Creek.
The Rock Creek stream bed was 100 feet wide. Luckily only a fraction of it held flowing water. Even better, most of what water there was sank underground 200 feet downstream. Barely even a rock hop today. Lupe and SPHP were both across in nothing flat.
Beyond Rock Creek, the ATV trail was quite level as it continued NE. After a bit, the trail turned N. The terrain was slightly higher off to the E, so Lupe couldn’t see much that way. However, several big ponds were visible scattered across low-lying grasslands to the W.
Now headed toward East Glacier Gap Mountain, the trail slowly gained elevation. The morning sun broke through the clouds illuminating the fabulously colorful terrain. Lupe got up on a small ridge paralleling the trail. The top of the little ridge was a bit rocky and sparsely vegetated. The brilliant blood reds of the tundra were simply incredible!
By the time the little ridge played out, the ATV trail was curving W. Loop could see another very similar ridge in that direction that was a larger version of the one she had just followed. The Glacier Gap to Sevenmile Lake trail swept right around the S end of it. The bigger ridge appeared to provide a great off-trail route to get closer to the base of East Glacier Gap Mountain while avoiding the dense bushes.
This plan worked beautifully! Briefly returning to the Glacier Gap to Sevenmile Lake trail, Lupe followed it over to the bigger ridge. She then left the trail to climb up onto the ridge and follow it N. The American Dingo was soon gaining elevation at an ever faster clip as she closed in on East Glacier Gap Mountain (6,060 ft.).
Back to the S were beautiful views of Whistle Ridge where Lupe had been yesterday. She could see the whole thing, all the way from Peak 4716 at the W end to Peak 4850 and HP4757 at the E end.
By the time this second ridge ended, Lupe was more or less already at the base of East Glacier Gap Mountain. She dropped down a little into a wide, shallow valley full of bushes and tufty grasses. Enough open area was present to easily avoid the bushes. While SPHP trudged higher, Loopster had a blast exploring as she roamed ahead.
After following the shallow valley higher for some distance, Lupe left it to start climbing more steeply up a rumpled region of moderately steep slopes. Separated by benches and ramps, each rise got the Carolina Dog 50 to 100 feet higher. Before long, Lupe was above bush line in a world of tundra and rock.
Toward the end, Lupe came to two particularly large benches. From the second bench, a steep golden ramp went N directly up the mountain. This was the steepest part of the entire ascent. The golden ramp was longer than it looked from below.
Above the golden ramp, the tundra started to fail. The terrain remained quite steep and became increasingly rocky.
The slope finally decreased somewhat. Lupe was at least halfway up East Glacier Gap Mountain by now. A long rocky climb was still ahead. The ground was rough, but it was clear nothing was going to prevent the American Dingo from getting to the top! Loopster headed for the saddle between the E and W summits.
Nearing the ridgeline, Lupe veered a little E of the saddle. Nothing but rock the rest of the way!
The Carolina Dog reached the ridgeline a short distance E of the saddle, but well above it. Her ascent from the S had been a straightforward non-technical feat. The N face of the mountain was shockingly different. Tremendous jagged cliffs plunged into a deep valley.
Looking E, a rugged ridgeline rose along the brink of fearsome drops. Cliffs extended all the way along the N face clear over to the W summit, too. However, it was plain that Lupe wouldn’t have a problem getting to the W summit if she stayed just a little S of the ridgeline. Several miles to the NNW was a sight Lupe had come to see.
Look, SPHP! That’s got to be Sevenmile Lake, doesn’t it?
Yup, yup. The middle of it anyway. We’re only seeing about 1/3 of it from here, but what a vantage point!
Time for a break! Rock everywhere. Lupe curled up on SPHP’s lap. The views were tremendous. Incredible here, but SPHP soon became leery of clouds gathering both to the SW and NW. Getting to both summits was going to take a while. Better not relax too long.
20 minutes after reaching the ridgeline, Loop was ready to press on. Which summit first? Sometimes right on top of the ridge, but generally staying a little S of it, the Carolina Dog headed E.
200 feet higher, if that. Skirting along the S side of the ridge worked fine. Rocky the entire way, but most of the time travel was relatively easy. Really wasn’t that far. Soon Lupe was approaching the E summit.
The E summit of East Glacier Gap Mountain (6,060 ft.) was smallish. A rough, flat area jutted out to the N. On a boulder near the N edge sat a cairn of 4 greenish stones splashed with white. Huge cliffs surrounded the cairn in all directions except S. The highest natural point was a large rock standing on end 15 feet S of the cairn.
To the E was a line of rugged peaks. The same to the W. It was hard to tell which of East Glacier Gap Mountain’s summits was highest. The E summit where Lupe was now seemed a tad higher, but the W summit was more than 0.5 mile away, and that might have been an illusion.
The air was hazy to the S, so the views weren’t as impressive. Whistle Ridge and Swede Mountain (4,660 ft.) both looked small from here.
The scene to the N was the real attention grabber. A precipitous plunge ended down in a huge valley that drained NW toward Sevenmile Lake. Beyond the lake was another line of peaks somewhat lower than East Glacier Gap Mountain, but Lupe could see over them to a mightier snow-clad range harboring many snowfields and glaciers. Cumberland Peak (8,900 ft.) and Peak 8927 stood out from the rest.
The weather seemed to be holding. For a while Lupe dozed, her head resting on SPHP’s lap. Grandeur all around!
More than an hour passed. The American Dingo still had a W summit to get to! Lupe returned to both the cairn and the rock that was the natural high point. She even explored a little way down the SE slope, going far enough to see East Glacier Gap Mountain’s entire SE ridge.
Puppy ho! Onward! Abandoning the glorious E summit, Lupe headed back W.
The saddle leading to the W summit harbored a large snowbank. Lupe did not cross it, but went around well to the S, since the ground close to the snow was soft and mucky. The terrain turned rocky and firm as soon as she started to climb.
Getting up to the W summit was easier than getting to the E summit had been. Lanes of tundra helped smooth the way. The climb was steepest near the start, but not difficult. The tundra had disappeared by the time Lupe reached a rough level area leading to a little hill.
The W summit was a flat-topped knob encompassing an area about the same size as a large room in a house. Much larger than that, if the only slightly lower part of the ridge Loop crossed on her final approach was included. Some of the highest rocks were nice and flat. Several small cairns were present.
With the gargantuan cliffs only to the N and NE here, the W summit felt far less exposed than the E one had. Looking back, it was still hard to say which summit was highest.
The views here were perhaps even a little more fabulous than they had been back at the E summit. Lupe was a more than 0.5 mile closer to both Sevenmile Lake and Glacier Gap Lake. SPHP was somewhat surprised Loop couldn’t quite see all of Glacier Gap Lake or Glacier Gap itself.
It was sunny when Lupe arrived at the W summit, but that wasn’t going to last. The darkest clouds yet now seemed to be heading this way out of the NW. Rain seemed possible. While she still had the opportunity, Loop basked in sunshine with a tremendous view of Sevenmile Lake, which was already in shadow.
Half an hour shot by.
How you feeling, Looper?
Good, although these rocks aren’t as comfy as they might be.
Not terribly surprising. Most rocks aren’t. Feel up to exploring the NW ridge?
I suppose. Any particular reason?
Yeah. I’d kind of like to go far enough to see Glacier Gap and all of Glacier Gap Lake.
Oh, we ought to do that! Sounds like fun, if it’s not too far!
Shouldn’t be. Come on!
It was farther than it looked. Despite oncoming clouds, Lupe led the way exploring the NW ridge. Conditions deteriorated, but thankfully it didn’t rain. However, the ridge went on and on down a series of drops. At the end of each fairly level stretch, SPHP kept expecting to be able to peer down into Glacier Gap. Loop must have lost a good 300 feet of elevation before it finally happened.
Oh, it was all worth it! Lupe had reached a point where the mountain now dropped off so steeply that she could see all of Glacier Gap Lake. Glacier Gap itself was in sight, too, the whole thing from Glacier Gap Lake all the way to Sevenmile Lake. The Carolina Dog could even see the ATV trail she would have taken to Sevenmile Lake today, if she hadn’t climbed East Glacier Gap Mountain instead.
15 glorious minutes, then it was time to head back up to the W summit. Another brief pause there, and Loop was on her way back to the saddle between the two summits.
Approaching the saddle, Lupe turned SW heading down the mountain. Never did rain. The sun broke through. What a beautiful evening! Such a splendid peak and scenes of grandeur!
The descent was pure fun until SPHP’s big mistake. Instead of going down the golden ramp, SPHP led Lupe farther W down the big gash in the mountain that had been purposely avoided on the way up. Right the first time! The gash was an endless, steep jumble of large rocks.
Lupe was thrilled to finally reach the bottom. Soft tundra, grass, bushes! The Carolina Dog raced off to sniff and explore on her own. Now and then a marmot whistled revealing her approximate location.
One more thing to do! At the base of East Glacier Gap Mountain, Lupe turned W passing over a low ridge. And there was Glacier Gap Lake.
Heading down a bushy slope, Lupe made it to the ATV trail not far from the shore. 4 awesome miles back to the trailhead.
The American Dingo never did go quite all the way down to the shore of Glacier Gap Lake or travel through Glacier Gap to Sevenmile Lake. Yet she did see beautiful Glacier Gap Lake up close, and she got to peer through Glacier Gap to a land where adventure still beckons.
And of course, Loopster had also seen it all from on high up on fabulous East Glacier Gap Mountain (6,060 ft.)! (End 8:28 PM, 50ºF)
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