The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

Lake Louise & The Plain of Six Glaciers Trail (7-24-14)

The hike from Chateau Lake Louise up to the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail beneath Mt. Victoria (11,375 ft.) is one of the most popular and beautiful classic day hikes in the Canadian Rockies. Expect plenty of company on any nice day, and a hard time getting a parking place during the middle of the day. Access is from Lake Louise Village along the Trans-Canada Hwy 1 in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The hike starts at the Lake Louise Lakeshore Trail in front of Chateau Lake Louise at the E end of the lake.

Lupe arrived early for this marvelous hike, which she had done once before back in 2013, but rainy overcast conditions delayed a start until mid-morning, by which time the rain had stopped and the skies were clearing at Chateau Lake Louise. Mt. Victoria was still lost in the clouds. Before Lupe even got started, a friendly Chinese lady saw her near the boathouse where they rent out canoes. She was instantly entranced with Lupe, and Lupe politely posed for several pictures near the lake.

Lupe at Lake Louise. Mt. Victoria is in the clouds at the far end of the lake.

Lupe took the most direct route to the Plain of Six Glaciers, which starts with the Lake Louise Lakeshore Trail. From Chateau Lake Louise at the E end of the lake, the trail goes right along the N shore of Lake Louise. It is an easy 2.0 km stroll gaining no elevation all the way to the W end of the lake. Beyond the lake is the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail, which continues W upstream along the N side of the valley floor. It goes through a small section where shallow glacial meltwaters were running over the trail, and then starts rising up the N side of the valley. As the trail continues W, it begins to climb faster and eventually incorporates some switchbacks.

Lupe and her new friend Bill from China not far from the Plain of Six Glaciers tea house. (Not pictured)

At 5.5 km from Chateau Lake Louise, Lupe reached a little plaza with benches near the Plain of the Six Glaciers Tea House. On the last stretch of trail prior to reaching the plaza, the son of the friendly Chinese lady had caught up with Lupe and showed an interest in her, too. At the little plaza, he started feeding chipmunks and squirrels crumbs. This activity was of great interest to Lupe, and she could barely contain her excitement. Soon the friendly Chinese lady and her husband showed up and there were several more photos taken of Lupe with her new Chinese friends.

Lupe with new Chinese friends Peiling and Bill. Next time Lupe is in China, she will be staying with them! — Lupe with new Chinese friends Peiling and her son Bill. Next time Lupe is in China, she will be staying with them!

Since Lupe is not interested in tea, she continued on the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail beyond the tea house. This portion of the trail soon leaves the forest as it approaches Mt. Victoria at the W end of the valley. The trail becomes rocky and eventually gets up on the (former) lateral moraine of the glacier coming down the Deathtrap between Mt. Lefroy (11, 293 ft.) and Mt. Victoria. The end of the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail is about 1.5 km from the tea house (7.0 km from Chateau Lake Louise) on steep rocky slopes above the end of the lateral moraine and just below Mt. Victoria.

Lupe near the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail. The Deathtrap is visible between Mt. Lefroy on the left and Mt. Victoria on the right. 7-24-14

When Lupe reached the end of the Plain of the Six Glaciers Trail, no one else was there, although a few people were either coming up or had just started on their way back down. Intermittent show showers and gusts of wind made it seem like late fall or early winter instead of late July. The sky was completely overcast. A thin fog hung in the cool air. Although Lupe could see the top of Mt. Lefroy and the upper reaches of Mt. Victoria, Abbot Hut at the top of the Deathtrap was not visible. Lake Louise and Chateau Lake Louise looked very small and far away back down the huge valley to the E.

Lupe at the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail. Lake Louise is visible far down the valley to the E.

After some photos and a bit to eat at the end of the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail, the weather was deteriorating. It was time to head back to Lake Louise. Soon after getting down off the lateral moraine, SPHP heard someone calling out. It was the friendly Chinese lady wanting a few more pictures with Lupe! Lupe and SPHP wound up hiking all the way back down to Chateau Lake Louise with the friendly Chinese family.

Although language was a significant barrier, the Chinese understood and could speak enough English so a good time was had by all. Leo was the husband’s name, Peiling the wife’s name, and Bill the son’s name. Peiling even taught SPHP to say “Ni Hao Ma”. (Pleased to meet you!)

Lupe’s new friends are from the city of Foshan in Guangdong province of China, which SPHP later learned is not too far NW of Hong Kong. They invited Lupe to come and visit them! We shall see. You never know. Lupe is an adventurous dingo!

Click here to see Lupe’s post on her July 21, 2013 adventures on The Plain of Six Glaciers trail at Lake Louise!

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Book Review: The River of Doubt – Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey

The River of Doubt – Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard, historian and former writer and editor for National Geographic, was originally published in hardcover by Doubleday in 2005. The paperback edition shown in the photo above was published by Broadway Books, an imprint of The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

101 years ago today, on February 27, 1914, former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt stepped into one of 7 heavy dugout canoes in the jungles of Brazil and set out to explore a river known only to native tribes, the Rio da Duvida (River of Doubt). It was a little over a year since his stinging election defeat seeking a 3rd term as U.S. President in the fall of 1912, this time as the candidate of the newly formed Bull Moose (Progressive) Party.

The great Age of Exploration was virtually over. In 1909, American Robert Perry had reached the North Pole. In late December, 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen had beaten the ill-fated British explorer and hero Robert Scott to the South Pole. Yet Roosevelt, famous for his daring, energy, and vitality, still dreamed of completing a journey of scientific and geographic importance.

Accompanying Roosevelt were 3 Brazilians, 2 Americans, and a workforce of 16 Brazilian camaradas. The Brazilian explorers included co-commander Colonel Candido Mareno da Silva Rondon, heroic commander of Brazil’s Strategic Telegraph Commission; military engineer and surveyor Lieutenant Joao Salustiano Lyra; and Dr. Jose Cajazeira. The Americans included naturalist George Cherrie and Roosevelt’s own son, Kermit Roosevelt.

Colonel Rondon had discovered and named the Rio da Duvida 5 years earlier, when he had stumbled onto its source while on a telegraph line expedition in the Brazilian highlands. Even he had no clear idea where the river went. He suspected it might flow into the Madeira, the principal tributary of the Amazon. The Madeira itself is 2,000 miles long and has a flow equal to that of the Congo, the 2nd largest river in the world by volume. If Rondon was right, Roosevelt’s expedition would place on the Brazilian map a river nearly 1,000 miles long through a huge mysterious and hitherto uncharted region.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to envision any modern high-ranking American official, much less a President, having the desire or will to undertake such an arduous and perilous journey. Teddy Roosevelt’s expedition faced rapids, waterfalls, wild animals, tropical diseases, potentially hostile natives, deadly in-fighting, exhaustion and starvation. All these dangers were personally braved by each and every member of the expedition for 2 entire months while completely cut off from any contact with, or hope of assistance from, the outside world.

Candice Millard’s book is an exciting, fast-paced read. The River of Doubt is also well-documented, beautifully written, and full of surprising information. I had never heard anything about this expedition before. The most disappointing thing about The River of Doubt was how quickly it was over. In the end, it was a bold, adventurous, but also sad tale that left me wanting more. Five stars and two thumbs up! – SPHP

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Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 118 – Redfern Mountain & Signal Knob (2-7-15)

February 7, 2015 was the second day in a row of record high temperatures in the Black Hills region. Lupe couldn’t miss an opportunity like that in what is normally winter, so she and SPHP headed out into the central Black Hills for a little peakbagging. Redfern Mountain (6,075 ft.) and Signal Knob (6,200 ft.) were the goals for Expedition No. 118.

It was already 55 degrees at 9:55 AM when SPHP parked the G6 just off Mystic Road only 0.33 mile E of Redfern Mountain. Lupe headed W straight up the mountain. There was almost no snow around, so Lupe and SPHP had an easy climb up through the forest.

Conditions were very pleasant at the top of Redfern Mountain – sunny, calm and, of course, unseasonably warm. Surprisingly, the summit area was level, mostly open ground. Consequently there were nice views of the central Black Hills region in almost every direction. For some reason there were 3 US Geological survey benchmarks in close proximity to one another all marked “Redfern” and “1950”, plus a sign on a post.

Looking SSE from Redfern Mountain. Harney Peak is the highest point towards the left.

Lupe’s second objective of the day, Signal Knob, was visible over 4 miles off to the WNW. It looked like a fairly low pine-covered hill rising above some immediately surrounding open prairie ground, although most of the intervening terrain from Redfern Mountain was pine forest. Quite a bit of snow was visible on the slopes of Signal Knob.

Lupe on Redfern Mountain. Signal Knob is low snowy hill surrounded by prairie visible in the distance.

After enjoying the views on Redfern Mountain, Lupe headed down the NW slope to start the trek to Signal Knob. On the way to Signal Knob, Lupe had to cross Slate Creek. Slate Creek is a small stream, only a few feet wide in most places, but had pretty good flow in it. Fortunately, the creek was still frozen over in places, and Lupe easily crossed the creek via the ice.

Looking back at Redfern Mountain after Lupe crossed Slate Creek.

Beyond Slate Creek, Lupe climbed through the forest all the way up to a high point shown on SPHP’s topo map as Peak 6099, less than 2 miles E of Signal Knob.

From Peak 6099, Lupe had to lose a fair amount elevation again as she continued on heading generally W or NW. She regained most of it by the time she reached the high prairie surrounding Signal Knob.

The summit area on Signal Knob was clogged with deadfall timber. A short distance to the N, there was some private property where a couple of 5th wheel trailers were parked. Fortunately, the true summit was on USFS land.

Lupe took a Taste of the Wild break on Signal Knob. She used her nose to bury a couple of pieces of a granola bar SPHP offered her, apparently planning a return expedition in the not too distant future. Despite all the deadfall timber, enough pine trees were still standing to prevent there from being any really decent views. At least the pines helped to block the wind which was by now starting to pick up out of the NW.

After a brief rest break at the summit, it was time to start heading back to the G6. However, being the intrepid dingo that she is, Lupe naturally wanted to explore more new ground along the way. So instead of heading E, she headed W into a rather stiff NW breeze on Slate Prairie Road to USFS Road No. 187.

The sky was now rather dark and even threatening looking off to the W. As Lupe headed N along No. 187 towards Deerfield Trail No. 40, a light rain started. Lupe turned E on Deerfield Trail No. 40 and followed it for at least a couple of miles. The rain continued intermittently for a while, but it never became heavy and eventually just quit.

Lupe had explored the entire Deerfield Trail No. 40 back in 2012. So at the 2nd of two rock quarries that she came to along the N side of the Deerfield Trail, she left it to take USFS Road No. 241.1B (unmarked) heading S up a low ridge. By the time the top of the ridge was gained, however, there was so much deadfall timber everywhere, that No. 241.1B was completely lost in the debris. Lupe stayed fairly high up on the ridge and worked her way S through the deadfall timber. For SPHP it was dreadfully slow going.

Fortunately, before too long Lupe came to another road, which was marked No. 241.1C. No. 241.1C very quickly met up with No. 241 (unmarked at this point), which was free of deadfall timber, but covered with snow and ice for quite a distance as it wound down a narrow little valley.

Lupe followed No. 241 a good mile and a half, all the way down through Dougherty Gulch back to Mystic Road. The valley was beautiful even in February. After passing a junction with No. 241.1A, there was even a small creek.

SPHP really enjoyed the hike along No. 241. Daugherty Gulch seemed quite remote. The valley was beautiful even in February. The valley became broader and more open as Lupe continued heading downstream.

Lupe at the E (lower) end of scenic Daugherty Gulch.

When Lupe reached Mystic Road at the E end of Daugherty Gulch, she was still about 3 miles N of where the G6 was parked. Lupe crossed Mystic Road to the E and got on the Mickelson Trail. Lupe followed the Mickelson Trail S for a bit over a mile to USFS Road No. 530. There she left the Mickelson Trail and completed a somewhat dull hike along the wide gravel Mystic Road the rest of the way back to the G6.

It was 5:48 PM, but still 52 degrees out, by the time Lupe reached the G6. It was getting dark, but not quite dark enough yet to see any stars. Lupe had a big drink of water before hopping in the G6 for the ride home. Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 118 was over.

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