Tag: Wind River Range

Days 10 & 11 of Lupe’s 2nd Summer of 2020 Dingo Vacation to Wyoming & Utah!

7-19-20, 8:52 AM – Lupe and SPHP had both sleep hard.  Feeling better, and no heavy pack today!  The Carolina Dog stood poised atop the flat rock outcropping 15 feet E of her tiny house.  2.5 miles to the SE, the sharp prow of East Temple Peak (12,600 ft.) and its catastrophic cliffs soared into the cloudless blue above and beyond Clear Lake and the massive shadowed stone wall of Haystack Mountain (11,978 ft.).

2,600 feet of elevation gain to go.

C’mon, Looper, we’re late!  Let’s hit it!  Puppy, ho!

Angling ESE down a forested slope, Lupe soon picked up Little Sandy trail No. 98.  The trail went through a meadow before entering another stretch of forest still shadowed by Haystack Mountain.  Loop caught only tree-broken glimpses of the E end of Clear Lake as the trail swung S and began to climb.

The American Dingo hadn’t gotten too far S of Clear Lake, when she came to an interesting and beautiful region.  A crystal clear stream swept over large areas of exposed bedrock, and sometimes ran in secret courses beneath huge slabs of granite.  A series of small waterfalls poured into rippling pools where every rock on the bottom stood out, magnified in watery relief.

The amazing region went on and on!  No sign of any official trail here, but so what?  That didn’t matter in the least.  Traveling S up the bedrock, sometimes on this side of the splendid stream, and sometimes on the other, was fun and incredibly scenic.  Wherever enough soil existed to support them, Looper did have to manuever around or through clumps of bushes and stands of trees, but these obstacles only slowed progress temporarily.

The summit of Temple Peak (12,972 ft.) appeared ahead.  15 minutes later, Lupe was thrilled when she looked back and saw the familiar enormous stretched-gumdrop cone of iconic Pingora Peak (11,884 ft.), and jagged knife-edge ridge of Wolf’s Head (12,160 ft.), both part of the Wind River range’s famous Cirque of the Towers.

More and more of both East Temple Peak and Temple Peak kept coming into view.  Eventually Loopster was high enough to see Peak 11390, a sort of Mini-Pingora Peak which appeared sandwiched between them.  In reality, Mini-Pingora was actually a high point along a ridge of solid rock extending NNW from East Temple Peak.

One waterfall after another plunged into sparkling pools.  The stream flowed over such huge areas of worn bedrock that it spread out until it wasn’t even 0.50 inch deep.  Lupe finally came to a spot where a ledge of rock 6 to 8 foot high sat above a 100 foot wide stream less than 0.25 inch deep.

After finding a way up the ledge, Lupe didn’t have much further to go to get to Deep Lake.  Clear Lake had certainly been beautiful, but Deep Lake made a much deeper impression.

On the far shore, flanked by East Temple’s smooth towering cliff wall on the L, and Temple Peak’s jagged precipices on the R, Mini-Pingora ruled over Deep Lake like an enthroned mountain God.  Below Mini-P’s granite stare, the sacred waters of Deep Lake filled the closely guarded valley to the point where the outlet stream overflowed a plain of bedrock strewn with large boulders at the N end, where the American Dingo now stood.

Shangri-la, SPHP!

Holy moley, Looper!  The old boy was right yesterday!  I should have drug everything up here last night, exhausted or not.  Huge mistake!  We could have been here all this time.

Why haven’t we ever come here before?

I had no idea.  Never heard anyone talk about this secret spot.

Nearly 11:00 AM.  Sadly, with so much farther to go, Lupe couldn’t linger long at Deep Lake.  A short stay enjoying the magnificent scene from the area near the outlet stream, and she was on her way again.  Exploring SW beyond the exposed bedrock, the Carolina Dog rediscovered the trail, which headed S traversing the bush-covered slope W of the lake.  Profusions of wildflowers filled openings among the bushes.

Approaching the S end of Deep Lake, the trail began to climb, eventually turning SW as it went over a broad minor pass.  This pass was a region of open ground and boulders with scattered clumps of stunted conifers and bushes.  Temple Lake soon came into view, its S end nestled at the base of Temple Peak (12,972 ft.).

On the SW side of the pass, Loop came to a trail junction.  Two different branches of Little Sandy trail No. 98 converged here.  SE of Temple Lake, and 900 feet higher, Lupe could now see the major pass she needed to get to along the ridge connecting East Temple and Temple Peaks.  The combined trail turned toward it.

As the American Dingo journeyed SSE toward the major pass, SPHP kept expecting the trail to go down to the E shore of Temple Lake, but it didn’t.  Instead, the path went on and on staying well above the lake.

This valley was another spectacular region.  Temple Lake was long, with N and S halves connected by a narrow channel.  The entire W shoreline hugged an enormous rocky ridge leading to Temple Peak.  Temple Peak itself was a formidable mountain.

As Loop got closer to the S end of Temple Lake, a trail could be seen on the steep slope going up to the major pass.  Expecting the trail Lupe was on to connect to it, SPHP was perplexed when the path suddenly turned clearly and very steeply up the slope to the L (E) instead.  Could this be right?  Didn’t seem like it, but maybe this was only a temporary blip higher?

Lupe started to climb.  Already fabulous views improved, but the trail did not level out.  Instead, it continued higher and higher, finally fading completely away in very steep rocky terrain.  Pausing to gasp for air, SPHP checked the maps.  Sure enough, this was all wrong!  Really not too surprising.  Must have missed a turn.  The trail should have gone down to Temple Lake.

Reluctant to lose hundreds of feet of hard won elevation, SPHP simply encouraged Loopster to keep going.  Maybe she could still work her way over to the pass?  If this slope got much steeper, though, retreating would soon be the only viable choice.

Heading for the pass didn’t work.  Lupe never got there, but she didn’t stop climbing.  Really steep for a long way.  It kept looking like she would top out pretty soon, but she didn’t.  A small half-frozen lake appeared in a cirque way above, and W of, the S end of Temple Lake.

By the time the terrain leveled out somewhat, Lupe was already higher than the pass she had been heading for.  She could now glimpse portions of a couple of the Frozen Lakes in a rocky plain beyond the pass.  To the NE, a somewhat grassy slope led toward a talus-laden ridge way above the pass.

While this next slope was plenty steep, it wasn’t nearly as steep as what Loop had just come up.  Getting to the ridgeline wouldn’t be the end of things, though.  The topo map made it clear that what could be seen from here was only a false summit.  Looper was still 0.67 mile from the top of East Temple Peak.

Up, up, and away!  Wherever possible, Lupe followed lanes of vegetation higher, but she was often forced to scramble among the talus, too. Above the first rise was another one quite similar to it, except that the upper lip of this second long slope boasted several distinct rock formations.

SPHP’s progress up these two slopes was almost as slow and exhausting as on the very steep slope coming up from Temple Lake.  Loopster had plenty of time to sniff around while waiting for SPHP to catch up, but at last she scrambled up past one of the rock formations at the top of the second rise.

Ahead was a much flatter region with a fair amount of greenery dotted with many boulders.  This area was quite broad, and rose more gently along the NW side.  Toward the E was a long talus ridge which sloped up toward the apparent summit, a large mound of talus to the N.

The trek across the plain over to the base of the mound was easy.  Lupe discovered a snow bank melting in the shade of a huge boulder.  The talus the mound consisted of was very large, and exploring the resulting maze was slow and difficult.  At one point, SPHP had to squeeze through a talus tunnel to get any farther.  At another, Loop needed to be hoisted up an otherwise impossible leap.

Despite the progress the Carolina Dog was making, SPHP’s belief that she was nearing the top was repeatedly disappointed.  One after another, false summits appeared, always another 40 or 50 feet higher.

Looper finally got high enough to see that she wasn’t actually close to the true summit yet at all.  Rocky, but flatter and easier terrain led over to a second talus hill farther N along the narrowing top of East Temple Peak.  By now it was clear that Lupe could have saved a lot of time and effort.  If she had only stayed farther W, she would have completely avoided the huge talus mound she’d just climbed.

Before heading for the true summit, Loop wandered over toward the NW edge.  Not too close, due to the sheer cliffs, but close enough to see Big Sandy Lake which she’d been to yesterday, and Clear Lake where she’d started out from this morning.  She also had a tremendous view of a sea of jagged peaks extending as far as she could see along the length of the Wind River range.  Only a few looked any higher than where Lupe was right now.

The mound of talus leading to the true summit wasn’t nearly as large as the first mound Lupe had climbed, so it didn’t take too long to get to the top.  At the high point, two large light-colored boulders were just about equally high.  Lupe leapt up onto the one closest to the E edge, the top of the other boulder being perhaps too small for comfort.

The views from East Temple Peak (12,600 ft.) were awesome!  Less than 1.5 miles due E was another, even higher peak Lupe had been to 3 years ago, titan of the SE Wind River Range, mighty Wind River Peak (13,192 ft.).  Mount Nystrom (12,356 ft.) to the SSE was also impressive.

To the S were glimpses of Independent Mountain (11,653 ft.) beyond the Frozen Lakes, and Little Sandy Lake beyond Little Sandy Lake Buttress (11,427 ft.).  Much of Temple Lake was in sight to the WNW, and beyond Schiestler Peak (11,624 ft.), the entire Laturio Mountain (11,342 ft.) ridge was on display.  Bunion Mountain (11,905 ft.) stood out a little farther N.

And, of course, only a mile to the SW was a grand view of the fearsome cliffs of Temple Peak (11,972 ft.).

The true summit was a small, bouldery area.  Not difficult to get to, but rather cramped.  Lupe didn’t remained perched on the highest rock for long.  Another high point only modestly lower could be seen off to the N, closer to the most amazing views of all from East Temple Peak, which were of all the many rugged peaks stretching away to the NW along the spine of the Wind River range.

Heading over to this next high point, Lupe found a metal tube hidden among small rocks beneath an overhanging boulder.  The outside of the tube was stamped “Chicago Mountaineering Club 25th Anniversary 1940 – 1965”.  SPHP managed to open the tube, but sadly all the papers inside were soaking wet.  Nothing but garbage at this point.  Putting the cap back on, SPHP returned the tube to its lofty hiding place.

There was more!  Beyond the metal tube high point, the narrow prow of East Temple Peak extended a little farther N.  A big flat rock led to other rocks beyond it where a small cairn sat near the very end.  The prow even went a bit farther than this, but big cracks among the rocks near calamitous cliffs meant the Carolina Dog was done.  The little cairn was as far as she was going.

From here, the vertical E face of Haystack Mountain (11,978 ft.) could be seen to the NNW, hundreds of feet lower, looking as though that half of the mountain had suffered a catastrophic collapse.  Beyond Haystack, Big Sandy Mountain (12,416 ft.), Dog Tooth Peak (12,488 ft.), and Mitchell Peak (12,482 ft.) stretched away along a giant ridge.  Lizard Head Peak (12,842 ft.) soared higher yet beyond Dog Tooth.

Focusing a little more toward the NW, the Cirque of the Towers was in view.  Cylindrical Pingora Peak (11,884 ft.) looked much lower.  SPHP didn’t dare let Loopster get close enough to the edge to peer down on Mini-Pingora (11,390 ft.) and Deep Lake, but part of Big Sandy Lake was in sight.

East Temple Peak was an incredible vantage point!  More than an hour went by, as SPHP surveyed the views and Lupe relaxed.  The American Dingo devoured an entire can of Alpo.  Finally, lengthening shadows could be ignored no longer.  It was time.

Lupe returned to the N high point where the Chicago Mountaineering Club tube was hidden.  Although she got close again, she never did go back to the true summit.  Instead, Loop passed W of both it, and the huge mound of talus she had climbed on the way up, making much faster progress on easier terrain.

After crossing the relatively flat plain, Loop reached the edge of the huge slope leading down to the pass.  Starting from rock formations along the W end, she worked her way lower, trying to avoid fields of talus as much as possible.

By the time Lupe was approaching the pass, the sun was just about down.  The pass was a jumble of rock.  The Carolina Dog didn’t go all the way down to it until she was close to the N edge, ready to begin the next steep 900 foot descent down to Temple Lake.

A stream trickled down from the pass.  Lupe found the trail she had seen earlier in the day, and started N along it.  Progress was fast at first, but slowed considerably as the trail steepened.  Light was fading as Looper passed a long snowbank near the bottom of the slope.  It was almost gone by the time she reached Temple Lake.

SPHP had assumed that by getting back to the trail and reaching Temple Lake before the night grew completely black, that Lupe would have an easy time the rest of the way back at least as far as Deep Lake.  Nothing more than sticking with the trail would be involved.  Wrong!  Down by the lake, the trail soon vanished, and could not be found again even with the help of SPHP’s small flashlight.

Heading N over a stony region so close to the E shore of Temple Lake that standing water was often seen between the rocks, Lupe sniffed in vain.  No trail!  Before long, it became apparent that the Carolina Dog was approaching a boulder field beyond which a dark ridge extended W far enough to create a choke point along the shoreline.  To get past this ridge, Loopster would either have to wade through the lake, or find a way over the ridge.

Overhead, stars were now brilliant in the night sky, but the valley was pitch black.  Wading into the obsidian depths of Temple Lake was not an option.  Way too scary!  Forced to climb a steep slope, Lupe managed to get beyond the ridge, but found no trail continuing N up here.  Instead, Loopster reached a point where she couldn’t climb any higher.  After crossing a marsh, the terrain forced her all the way back down to the shoreline again.

In the dark, confusion reigned.  Where was the trail?  Why was this so blankety-blank difficult?  Consulting the map provided no clues.  Looked perfectly simple!  Follow the non-existent trail, which couldn’t be too far from the lake, and no more than 100 feet above it.

Continuing N next to the lake, the whole scenario repeated itself.  Once again, the American Dingo was forced to climb a steep slope, found no trail, and made it past another ridge.  Once again, the terrain returned her to the shoreline, but this time the ground was firmer and drier.  It began to slope gently up toward the NE, the direction where the minor pass to Deep Lake had to be.

Late.  Weariness setting in.  The slope was easy, but SPHP was now just dragging.  Often glancing up at SPHP, as if uncertain what this was all leading to, Lupe looked worried.  Some indeterminable distance ahead, slightly off to the R, a strange phenomena appeared.  A glow!  Faint, ever so faint.  A lone firefly?  Didn’t make any sense.  No fireflies in Wyoming, are there?  Maybe it was something bigger, but much farther away than it looked?

As Lupe headed toward the tiny beacon, it soon became increasingly clear that whatever it was was close.  Reaching the source, SPHP picked up a tiny glowing plastic candle flame mounted on a round white base.  A little black switch on the bottom turned it on or off.

SPHP slumped to the ground.

Let’s rest here for a bit, Loopster.  I’m about out of gas, and my paws are getting awfully sore.  These new boots are doing a number on them.  No rush now that the light’s gone, anyway.  What do you make of this little flame?

Probably dropped by one of Mini-P’s acolytes during some dark mountain ceremony!  This whole region is a sacred temple, isn’t it?

It is!  Seems a little strange that Mini-P’s acolytes use battery-operated flames, though.  And even stranger yet that we’ve happened upon it while the battery still has some juice.  Think I’ll keep it, just as a souvenir of our journey to East Temple Peak.

I don’t know, SPHP!  Maybe you should leave it alone?  Why risk the wrath of Mini-P?  Stealing it might bring a curse upon us!

Turning the tiny candle flame off, SPHP tossed it in the pack.

Curse, schmurse!  I’m not afraid of any dark mountain curse, not when I’ve got an American Dingo on my side!

Go ahead and tempt fate!  You’ll see, SPHP!

The return soon continued.  Only 100 feet from where the tiny flame was found, Lupe came across the trail.

Hah!  Some curse!  We are in possession of Mini-P’s good luck charm, Looper!  Smooth sailing from here on.

The Carolina Dog made no reply.  Sniffing on into the night, she quickly came to the intersection where Little Sandy trail No. 98 divided.  Staying toward the R (NE), Lupe and SPHP headed over the gentle pass leading to Deep Lake.

The descent to Deep Lake was surprisingly longer, steeper, and rockier than SPHP remembered, but the trail was easy to follow even in the dark.  Loop eventually reached the boulder-strewn bedrock plain where the outlet stream exited the N end of Deep Lake.

On the way down to Clear Lake, the exposed bedrock was much harder to follow than expected.  Somehow, SPHP kept winding up thrashing around in bushes and bogs, usually E of where the stream turned out to be.  Lupe kept coming across trails, though, and repeatedly ran across the bedrock again.  Still, it had already been dark for hours by the time she reached the N side of Clear Lake.

After getting past the clearing Loopster had gone through shortly after reaching the trail as she set out this morning, SPHP led the Carolina Dog up the slope to the N toward the hidden location of her tiny house.

Oh, joy!  The tiny house was so well hidden, SPHP couldn’t find it!  Multiple forays up the slope followed by retreats clear down to the trail, and back and forth as far as the W end of Clear Lake, before returning E revealed nothing.  Again and again, SPHP searched the slope for stands of dead trees and rock outcroppings, both known to be present near the tiny house, but never came across the right ones.

Come on, Loop!  Help me!  Where is it?  Find the tiny house!

I can’t, SPHP!  It’s the curse of Mini-P!

Maybe it was.  Finding the tiny house had never been an issue before.  Leading Lupe over to a meadow on the S side of the trail, SPHP laid down, pulling the Dingo close.  Miss Hot Paws was like an oven, but a small one.

Stars glittered overhead.  All else was infinite blackness.  Using the pack as a pillow, SPHP tried to sleep.  Inside the boots purchased for this Dingo Vacation, SPHP’s swollen paws throbbed, painfully constricted.  Unable to shift much lest the Carolina Dog feel disturbed and insist upon wandering off, SPHP could feel the curse of Mini-P taking over.

Connected to the subterranean power of Mini-P’s anger, the cold earth became a basilisk.  No staring into its eyes, but its mere touch sent icy fingers creeping inwards.  Racing blood turned to sludge.  Joints stiffened and ached.  SPHP needed to move, but couldn’t.  Teeth chattered.

Oh, Loopster!  Too bad you aren’t inflatable!  You need to be bigger, like 5 times as big, so I can suck more heat out of you.  How do you stay so warm?

Well, I’m not inflatable.  Guess you’ll just have to use your precious stolen sacred candle flame, SPHP!

Sleep was impossible.  In the solidifying grasp of Mini-P, SPHP watched the movement of stars.  Or were they myriad tiny candle flames held forth by a timeless procession of dark acolytes?

How long this went on was hard to say.  Eyes glazed.  SPHP’s shuddering finally induced Lupe to leave.  The cold hard ground was intolerable without her.  SPHP staggered up.  Hobbling across the trail over to the N slope, the search for the tiny house resumed.

Same thing.  Nada.

The candle stars were dying.  One by one they faded away, then began to die en masse.  The dim outlines of Haystack Mountain and East Temple Peak were now discernable.  An idea!  Getting the camera out, SPHP compared the mountain outlines now visible with the first photo of the day, the one facing the same way where Lupe had been standing on the rock outcropping near the tiny house.

Nearly identical!  Maybe a bit more to the W?  Swinging the flashlight beam 30 feet over that way, there stood Lupe, the rock outcropping and faintly reflective fabric of the tiny house beyond her.  The curse of Mini-P was broken!  Dawn came on as Lupe and SPHP crawled into the tiny house and cozy warmth of the sleeping bags.

7-20-20, late morning N of Clear Lake – Hot!  Not a cloud in the sky.  Lupe still snoozed while bleary-eyed SPHP took off socks to examine painful paws.  Good!  Not as bad as they felt.  The R one was worst.  A generous application of anti-bacterial cream on the sore spots, and SPHP let them rest in the open air.

The plan had been for Lupe to climb another couple of peaks today.  Too funny!  Not going anywhere, except back to the Big Sandy trailhead, and even that not until later.  Simply not enough food along to spend a whole day resting, and still climb those peaks tomorrow.

A little after mid-afternoon, the paws were feeling good enough to give it a go.  SPHP slowly packed up the tiny house, Loopster lingering inside as long as possible before being evicted.  The heavy backpack didn’t feel good, but wasn’t as heavy as it had been on the way in.  Lupe and SPHP returned to the trail, starting the long journey back.

Uneventful.  Lupe didn’t take the side route to Diamond and V Lakes this time, although maybe she should have.  After reaching Big Sandy Lake, SPHP simply kept plodding steadily SW along Big Sandy trail No. 99, more interested in how far it was to the trailhead than the scenery.

The sun had just set when the American Dingo reached the trailhead at the Big Sandy Opening.  Too late to go anywhere else.  Tonight, after a good meal, Lupe would bask in the soft comfort of the G6.

And twitching paws would reveal the moment when the Carolina Dog set off again, wandering among waterfalls and glistening pools, past a deep lake overflowing with sacred waters where flowers bloomed and a mountain god reigned, on up steep talus-covered slopes, to the prow of a mighty mountain sailing an ocean of jagged peaks, while tiny candle flames began glowing and reeling in the black sky above.

Links:

Next Adventure                           Prior Adventure

East Temple Peak, Wind River Range, Wyoming (7-18-20) – Part 1: Big Sandy Opening to Clear Lake

Big Sandy to Jackass Pass & Cirque of the Towers, Wind River Range, WY (9-1-15)

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