Day 8 of Lupe’s 2018 Dingo Vacation to the Bighorn Mountains & Wind River Range of Wyoming!
Before SPHP even got the pack ready to go, Lupe went down to the shore of Lower Green River Lake. Having spent yesterday resting in the G6 while traveling to get here, the Carolina Dog was in fine form and great spirits. Thankfully, her sore L front paw was no longer bothering her.
Scarcely a ripple marred the still, smooth surface of the big lake. Beyond it, flanked by other massive peaks stood the majestic sentinel of the NW entrance to Wyoming’s rugged Wind River Range – mighty Squaretop Mountain (11,695 ft.)!
Lupe had been here before. In 2015, she had taken the Highline Trail on a reconnaissance mission to see if she might be able to climb Squaretop someday. SPHP had an old book, Wind River Trails by Finis Mitchell, in which Mitchell described a route to the summit from Beaver Park.
Loop’s 2015 reconnaissance had only been a day hike. She did make it to Beaver Park, but what she had seen wasn’t promising at all – glimpses of giant vertical rock walls soaring more than 2,000 feet above and beyond a densely-forested ridge, the top of which was itself 1,200 feet higher than Beaver Park.
That hadn’t been the end of it, though. Lupe returned to Green River Lakes in 2017 and took an alternate route up to Porcupine Pass. SPHP thought maybe she could get to the top of Squaretop Mountain from there, but Loop only made it as far as New Benchmark (11,850 ft.) where a huge, steep snowbank blocked further advance.
In Wind River Trails, Finis Mitchell insisted the route up Squaretop from Beaver Park was “not difficult”. Finis claimed to have taken 4 year olds up the mountain. So now, 3 years after her initial reconnaissance, Lupe was back to see if she could find Mitchell’s route!
7-20-18, 8:28 AM, 59°F – After reading Finis Mitchell’s route description one last time, SPHP left the book in the G6. All systems go! It was on! Lupe headed for the footbridge over the Green River close to where it left Lower Green River Lake.
A year ago, there had been signs warning that a bridge over Clear Creek near the far end of the lake had been wiped out by flooding. Luckily, no such signs were seen today.
After crossing the bridge, Lupe picked up the Highline Trail (No. 94), which would take her all the way to Beaver Park. For the first couple of miles, the trail ran along the lower slopes of a mountainside paralleling Lower Green River Lake. Views of the lake, Squaretop Mountain, and all the neighboring peaks were absolutely grand.
(Note: The Highline Trail runs the length of the Wind River Range.)
Lupe had a blast exploring the mountain slopes near the trail. Almost before she knew it, she was getting close to the S end of Lower Green River Lake. She passed a junction with the Clear Creek Trail (No. 184). Shortly thereafter, after going through a stand of tall bushes, Loopster arrived at the new bridge over Clear Creek.
Despite no Dingo level pawrails, Lupe had no problem crossing the Clear Creek bridge. The Highline Trail was now on low, flat terrain. Soon the Green River was in view again, tranquilly meandering down from Upper Green River Lake. Another bridge over the Green River was ahead.
This next bridge provided access to the Porcupine Trail (No. 137), which Loop had taken to Porcupine Pass last year, or to the Lakeside Trail (No. 144), an alternate route along the W shore of Lower Green River Lake going back to the trailhead. Lupe did not need to cross it.
Beyond the bridge, the Highline Trail left the Green River, veering E off into the forest. Lupe followed it over a minor ridge. A mere 0.33 mile from the bridge, Upper Green River Lake came into view.
3 miles from the trailhead now, taking a break somewhere along the shore of the incredibly beautiful upper lake sounded like a great idea. The Highline Trail was about to cross a marshy area here, so Lupe left it to follow a short spur trail S along the lake’s NW shore.
The views were stunning, but something else soon became the focus of Lupe’s attention. A flotilla of 15 ducklings came paddling along close to the shore led by their mama. A charming sight, they seemed to be thoroughly enjoying a mid-summer float trip on Upper Green River Lake.
After entertaining Lupe for a while, the duck display paddled onward. The American Dingo moved on, too. She returned to the Highline Trail, which now proceeded S above the E shore of Upper Green River Lake.
Once past Upper Green River Lake, the trail continued S up the Green River valley. Sometimes the river was in view, and occasionally the Highline Trail even went right by it. Other times, the river was farther away. Most of the time Lupe was in the forest, but clearings provided lovely views of Squaretop Mountain, and allowed the American Dingo to gauge her progress.
The trail sometimes went up or down, but net elevation gain was almost negligible. The day was gorgeous, and the trail began to get busy. SPHP occasionally stopped to chat briefly with passers-by. Lupe stayed busy checking trees for squirrels. The view of Squaretop began to change as the Carolina Dog got closer.
Approaching Squaretop, the Highline Trail started bending toward the SE. It stayed in the forest and began to gain elevation. The Green River was now well below the level of the trail. Finally the river began to get closer again, and came into view down a steep embankment. Lupe left the trail and went down to the river.
This was a favorite spot! Lupe had stopped here in 2015, too. The Green River was much higher today. The river poured down a series of rapids past a large rock midstream and disappeared into the forest below.
The weather was perfect! Early afternoon and Beaver Park wasn’t that much farther. 2 or 3 miles maybe? No more than that. A break, a nice long one, at this gorgeous spot sounded wonderful!
Lupe rested in the shade of a spruce tree, listening to the mesmerizing roar of the water while snapping at flies and ants. SPHP dangled a foot in the frigid river until bones ached with cold. Then the other foot took a turn at suffering, while the first one basked in warm sunshine. Rinse and repeat, literally, over and over again.
SPHP counted how many times short sticks swirled around in an eddy before the current caught them and they sailed downstream. Lupe dozed. The Green River swept relentlessly, hypnotically, by.
The river wasn’t the only thing sweeping by. Time flowed relentlessly along as well. An hour and 40 minutes vanished, before SPHP finally shook off a lethargy induced by the idyllic setting. Puppy, ho! Onward! But the time spent along the bank of the Green River had sure been splendid.
At intervals, Lupe had come to various small streams which crossed the trail. None had been even close to large enough to cause any problems. All had merely been places where Loop could get a refreshing drink and cool her paws off. However, as she was getting close to due E of Granite Peak, she came to two much larger streams in rapid succession.
The first was Elbow Creek. SPHP didn’t remember crossing any major streams in this area back in 2015, but the Green River was running much higher now than back then, so perhaps these tributaries were also commensurately larger? Looper was reluctant to ford the scary stream, but after SPHP started across, she ultimately made a successful soaking dash for the opposite bank.
The glow of this success was immediately extinguished upon reaching Pixley Creek minutes later. Pixley Creek was 20 feet across! Even at its deepest the stream was only knee deep on SPHP, but the water was fast and powerful. After hesitating, SPHP waded in. The force of the water was strong enough to make it doubtful Lupe could be carried across without falling, as had happened while attempting to cross Porcupine Creek last year.
SPHP managed to ford Pixley Creek, but Lupe hadn’t dared to follow this time. Full of separation anxiety, she ran back and forth along the N bank searching for a way, but it was all too deep and frightening. She finally sat in the tall grass peering across the stream at SPHP pleading for help.
SPHP was convinced Lupe would be fine if she swam across herself, but no amount of coaxing could induce her to enter the stream. Pixley Creek was frigid, over her head, and simply too terrifying. In all fairness, if the situation had been reversed, no way would SPHP have done it either.
Downstream of the Highline Trail, a single log bleached white by the sun was stretched out across the entire width of Pixley Creek. The log wasn’t terribly wide, especially near the S bank. The danger was that if Lupe fell off it, the stream would instantly wash her into a logjam of sticks, branches and other logs immediately downstream.
When nothing else worked, SPHP reluctantly pointed the white log out. Lupe caught on instantly! While SPHP looked on with trepidation, the Carolina Dog raced across without the slightest problem. Worked great, but SPHP still didn’t like it. The what if was too terrible to think about.
At any rate, Lupe was safely across Pixley Creek. The trail continued S up the Green River valley. Sometimes it wound fairly high up into the forest. Sometimes it went right along the Green River. SPHP made one mistake leading Lupe down a short side spur that ended at the river.
The Highline Trail was in the forest up on a mountainside when Lupe went around a sharp bend and saw a bridge over the Green River. The bridge was a welcome sight. Beaver Park was close at paw!
Once across this last big bridge, Lupe was actually on an island. A short distance farther on the trail brought her to a little bridge across a small side channel of the Green River. Beyond this little bridge Lupe entered Beaver Park again for the first time since 2015.
It was 5:30 PM when Lupe reached Beaver Park. The Highline Trail had been busy all afternoon. Yet no one was at Beaver Park. A single tent was set up near a small grove of big pines near the S end, but nobody was there at the moment.
W of Beaver Park was the same 1200 foot high forested ridge Lupe had seen in 2015. Towering portions of Squaretop Mountain loomed above and beyond it. The original plan for the day had been to camp up on that 1200 foot high ridge by Granite Lake, which couldn’t be seen from here. Camping up at the lake would save hours and all that elevation gain tomorrow when Lupe hoped to climb Squaretop Mountain.
However, it had been a long march from Lower Green River Lake carrying the pack, something on the order of 11 or 12 miles. SPHP was tired. Lupe was ready to call it a day, too. Would have been better to get here earlier. Too much time had been allowed to slip away while relaxing by the Green River rapids. SPHP didn’t know of any trail up the ridge. A bushwhack might easily consume hours.
It turned out that much of Beaver Park was lumpy, boggy ground. The lone tent already set up at the cluster of pines occupied about the only really dry, level place. A reasonably acceptable spot was found about 80 feet N. SPHP set up Lupe’s new Marmot tiny house.
The sun was barely down behind the mountains when Lupe and SPHP crawled into the tiny house to hit the hay. Smart to get as much rest as possible, but making Beaver Park base camp instead of Granite Lake was a major mistake.
It wouldn’t be the last.
Links:
Squaretop Mountain, Wind River Range, Wyoming – Part 2: Beaver Park to the Summit (7-21-18)
Next Adventure Prior Adventure
Green River Lakes, Squaretop Mountain & The Highline Trail to Beaver Park (8-30-15)
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