SPHP came to at 6:15 AM on July 15, 2014. A very late beginning for Lupe’s 2014 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies! Despite the occasion, SPHP just felt lazy and spent another half an hour summoning the energy to roll out of bed. In truth, SPHP felt somewhat unprepared. Other than go to the Canadian Rockies, SPHP really didn’t have any specific idea what was going to happen over the next few weeks. Unlike SPHP, Lupe was bright-eyed, expectant and ready for action!
The house and yard were in as good shape as they were going to be, and the G6 was half packed the previous evening. At 8:00 AM, Lupe got her heartworm medicine. At 9:40 AM the G6 was finally rolling out of the driveway. It was hazy out and a rather cool day for mid-July. Lupe and SPHP headed W on I-90. All day it felt like weather was building up farther to the W where Lupe was going.
Lupe’s first stop was a little side trip up to Warren Peaks (6,650 ft.) in the Bear Lodge mountains in NE Wyoming. Warren Peaks became Lupe’s first peakbagging success of her 2014 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies & Beartooths. It didn’t seem like much of an achievement, since a road goes all the way up to the lookout tower and SPHP just drove the G6 up there. Still, the view was pretty, and just being up there further lifted SPHP’s rising enthusiasm for the glorious days ahead that were now just beginning.
It had only been 62°F at Warren Peaks at 11:35 AM, but it was 81°F by the time Lupe reached the Powder River two hours later. Things cooled off again just E of the Bighorn Mountains where Lupe encountered the first rain shower of the day. The rain was harder and steadier in Montana. At Billings, MT, SPHP was glad to leave I-90 and all its road construction. Lupe headed N on Hwy 3 to Lavina and turned W on Hwy 12 following the Musselshell River.
W of Harlowton, Hwy 12 goes up into the Little Belt Mountains. Neither Lupe nor SPHP had ever been to the Little Belts before. Lupe saw lots of pretty country on this day’s drive, but other than the glorious Bighorn Mountains which Lupe didn’t enter, the Little Belt Mountains were the best. The Little Belts were gently rolling and forested with meadows in the valleys. They were quite beautiful and sparsely populated. Lupe and SPHP turned N on Hwy 89 just N of White Sulphur Springs, and went as far as a big parking pullout up at King’s Hill Pass (7,393 ft. elevation).
By the time Lupe reached King’s Hill Pass, the sun was close to setting. SPHP parked the G6. For 45 minutes Lupe got to romp around in the wet woods while SPHP explored a bit too. It felt good to be out of the G6 and moving, but with all the clouds around, darkness started coming on fast. Soon after retiring to the G6 for the night, rain and fog rolled in.
By morning on July 16th, the skies were clear. The first order of business was for Lupe to climb Porphyry Peak (8,192 ft.), which was a couple of miles W of Hwy 89 at King’s Hill Pass according to the map. Lupe and SPHP started up a road that skirted the S side of the King’s Hill Campground. Lupe dashed around in and out of the wet forest, very pleased with the way this day was starting out. Soon she was a very soggy doggie, but it didn’t bother her in the least.
The road wound around all the way up to the summit of Porphyry Peak where there was a lookout tower plus a couple of ski lifts and a few other facilities connected with the Showdown Montana Ski area. A sign at the bottom of the lookout tower said to shout for permission to climb the tower. SPHP shouted, but there was no answer. The tower went unclimbed by Lupe and SPHP. The views were pretty nice even without climbing the lookout tower. After wandering around the top of the mountain by the ski lifts where the views were best, Lupe and SPHP headed back down to the G6.
From King’s Hill Pass, Hwy 89 lost elevation for many miles. It was a pretty drive, and SPHP was convinced the Little Belt Mountains are the most scenic route through this part of Montana. Near the bottom of the range was a picnic area close to a little creek. SPHP stopped there long enough for Lupe to sniff around a bit and get a drink. Then it was back in the G6 and onward to Great Falls, MT.
W of Great Falls, the air was no longer clear and clean. The mountains farther W were in a haze, which eventually proved to be smoke. SPHP stayed on Hwy 89 all the way through Choteau and Browning to St. Mary just E of Glacier National Park. It was all new territory to both Lupe and SPHP. Lupe happily barked at cows and horses along the way. In Choteau was a pretty neat statue of a dinosaur. Later on, SPHP regretted not stopping there to get a picture of Lupe next to the dinosaur.
From St. Mary, SPHP took Hwy 2 N to Hwy 12, which led Lupe to the Canadian border. At the drive up window, there was no one else in line to get into Canada. SPHP presented a U.S. passport and the Canadian border agent asked a bunch of standard questions.
SPHP must have been somehow suspicious, or perhaps it was just a dull, boring day on the border. SPHP was asked to park the G6 and go inside the main building while Lupe waited in the car. There SPHP presented the exact same passport, different Canadian border patrol personnel asked the exact same questions, and SPHP gave the exact same answers. Somehow this cleared up all difficulties or misunderstandings, whatever they may have been, and Lupe was free to proceed into beautiful Canada! Her 2nd Canadian Rockies adventure was now truly underway!
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