Day 6 of Lupe’s 3rd Summer of 2021 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast!
9:42 AM, Hwy 508, far NW Montana –
Hey, Loop! Yaak Falls is coming up! Any interest in sniffing the air, and having a peek at it?
Sure, SPHP! Let’s do it!
And why not? This was probably going to be just a rest and positioning day, anyway. Bit of a drive to Abercrombie Mountain (7,308 ft.) in NE Washington from here. With the sky looking as smoky as it was this morning, didn’t look like Lupe needed to be in any big rush to get there.
Yaak Falls was practically right along the highway. SPHP parked the RAV4 at a pullout, and Lupe sniffed her way over to the river for a look at the falls. Drought conditions appeared to have the Yaak River running very low, even for August.
Very nice, SPHP! Bet Yaak Falls is a lot more impressive in the spring, though.
Heh. Doesn’t seem to be much doubt about that, does there? Probably many times the flow we see here today.
Yaak Falls was the last stop in Montana. The American Dingo was soon cruising in air-conditioned comfort through the Idaho panhandle. An otherwise scenic drive was marred by the discouraging amount of smoke in the air. Loopster might have to skip Abercrombie Mountain entirely.
The drive W was mighty inefficient, since the highways kept making big swings N and S. By the time Lupe was in NE Washington, she was ready for another waterfall. SPHP stopped at Crystal Falls on the Little Pend Oreille River, but only a rather restricted view of it was available.
Entering Colville from the E on Hwy 20, SPHP spotted Aladdin Road on the R. That was the way to the W approach to Abercrombie Mountain, which was still many miles NNE. A quick stop for supplies in Colville, and Lupe was on her way! Road construction close to town caused a few delays, but eventually the RAV4 was bouncing along USFS Road No. 300, which was soft, and a bit rough, after having been recently churned up while graded.
Glad we’ve got the RAV4, Loop! Not sure the trusty old G6 would have made it!
Oh, ye of little faith! Don’t be dissing the G6 now, SPHP! Got us to the Arctic Ocean twice, and Alaska 4 times! The G6 could have done this.
Come on, Looper! You know I would never disparage the G6! Even so, a little better clearance sure improves confidence.
Still quite narrow, but No. 300 had improved a great deal by the time a very encouraging sign appeared. Abercrombie trailhead! Right around the next bend, No. 300 dead-ended at a small, vacant parking area.
Hah! Made it! You’re golden now, Loopster!
3:48 PM, 79ºF, Abercrombie trailhead – Plenty warm out, but definitely cooler up here at the trailhead than it had been during the drive through Idaho into Washington. Overhead, despite some smoky haziness, the cloudless sky looked surprisingly blue.
What do you think, Looper? I’d been expecting on the way over that it was going to be too smoky to climb Abercrombie Mountain (7,308 ft.) today, and that we’d just have to hope for the best in the morning. Really doesn’t look all that bad right now, though. Want to try it?
Do we have time, SPHP? How far is it?
Less than 4 miles one way, I believe. Under 2,400 feet of elevation gain, with what’s supposed to be a decent trail all the way.
Shoot, we can do that, SPHP! Why wait and take a chance on what the smoke will be like tomorrow? Should cool off some more as the sun sinks, too. Might be a pretty pleasant evening on Abercrombie Mountain!
For better or worse, Abercrombie Mountain was a go! A wooden box next to the start of Trail No. 117 contained registration forms, but they were all old and already used.
Guess we can skip this step, Loop. Doesn’t look like anyone cares.
American Dingoes don’t care for paperwork, that was for sure. Not their strong suit, nor SPHP’s for that matter, either.
Onward! Puppy, ho!
Trail No. 117 was good – smooth and easy to follow, with few rocks or roots. Lupe trotted gradually higher on a series of long switchbacks that snaked through a jungley forest full of ferns and big-leafed plants. 10 minutes from the trailhead, she got a drink from a small stream.
This same stream crossed the trail a couple more times higher up. Last time Loop came to it, the stream was reduced to a mere mossy trickle. The switchbacks went on and on, steepening and getting tighter as they worked up the side of a big ridge. Nothing to see, really. Dense forest hid whatever views there might have been.
Definitely a tougher climb toward the end, but Trail No. 117 never did get all that steep before finally starting to level out up on the big ridge. Lupe had gained more than 800 feet of elevation by now, at least a third of what she needed to do. No ferns or big-leafed plants up here, but the forest was otherwise unchanged.
Heading S across the ridge at a saddle just E of HP5985, Loop came to a 3-way intersection. An old sign was only partially legible. Trail No. 119 came up from the North Fork of Silver Creek here, a starting point to the SW nearly 2,000 feet lower than the Abercrombie trailhead.
How about a short break, Looper? Want to split a chocolate coconut bar?
Panting while laying in the shade, the Carolina Dog showed no interest in the chocolate coconut bar. SPHP ate the whole thing. How often did that happen?
Are you OK, Loop? You aren’t getting sick, are you?
I’m fine. Just hot, that’s all, SPHP.
Well, here. Have some water, then.
Sticking with Trail No. 117, Lupe left the junction going ENE. A mere 50 feet brought her to a tree bearing a marker.
Hey! Guess what, Loop? This is a PNT marker!
We’re on the Pacific Northwest Trail again, SPHP? We could have taken the PNT all the way from Northwest Peak to Abercrombie Mountain?
Heh. Yeah, if we weren’t interested in doing much of anything else on this Dingo Vacation. Probably could have been here by September!
The trail was almost flat. Lupe gained only a little elevation as it curved around the N side of a minor hill along the ridgeline. Once beyond the hill, No. 117 swung S, dipping 20 feet down into a ravine before starting up again.
Climbing steadily now, No. 117 began switchbacking higher with long runs SE interrupted by shorter ones N. Soon the trail seemed sunnier.
The forest is thinning out, SPHP! Maybe we’re finally going to get to see something?
Sure enough! At the end of one of the first long runs SE, Lupe reached a meadow. There was a big view to the S.
Not good.
Gone were the blue skies that had prevailed when the American Dingo set out from the trailhead. A smokey haze, brought in by a breeze that had sprung up, filled the air. Still sort of blue to the E, but the air quality was much worse, an opaque white, off to the W where the breeze was coming from.
Criminitly, Loop! We better pick up the pace, or we aren’t going to be able to see a thing from Abercrombie Mountain!
Trail No. 117 turned N back into the forest. More switchbacks. Same pattern. Long runs SE interspersed with shorter ones N. The hillside steepened, but the trail wasn’t bad at all. The forest continued to thin. All views told the same story. Better keep at it, if Lupe hoped to have any possibility of a view from the top.
The switchbacks ended shortly before reaching Abercrombie Mountain’s S ridge. The broad, rounded ridge sported only scattered stands of live forest. Gnarled skeleton trees, bleached white by the sun, stood forlorn and alone whispering of days long past, dead companions collapsed here and there about them.
Too late! Air quality was getting worse. Blasted breeze! Why couldn’t it have held off for an hour or two? Would have made all the difference.
0.5 mile away and 600 feet higher, the summit was now visible almost due N. Hurrying on, Trail No. 117 dipped over to the E side of the ridge before heading straight for it.
Up the rest of the way, a relatively easy trudge higher as mountains go. Naturally, it got steeper toward the end. Lupe roamed the meadows at will, enjoying this landscape with it’s mixture of trees and open ground.
Lupe was already very high, getting close to the end, when Trail No. 117 went right past an incredibly gnarled Ent at the base of a hill where the mountain finally became rocky. Immediately beyond this first hill was a larger and even rockier one.
At the top of the second hill, Lupe reached the S end of a summit plateau that sloped higher to the N. Somewhat surprisingly, the plateau wasn’t all rock, but featured grassy areas and even a few stunted trees. As Loop headed for the summit at the N end, she passed assorted human-made rock walls, remnants of the foundation of a now absent lookout, and even a Dingo fort.
Sweet! Hang on, SPHP. Gotta check out this fort!
6:35 PM, 63ºF, Abercrombie Mountain (7,308 ft.) – Maybe should have waited until tomorrow, after all? Visibility was poor when Lupe reached the true summit at the N end of Abercrombie’s summit plateau. An hour earlier that might not have been the case. Disappointing.
In the odd, diffused light of a sun soon sinking into the murk, Lupe stood on what appeared to be Abercrombie Mountain’s natural highpoint. Hard to say if these rocks really were undisturbed, or not. The highest rocks on the mountain were part of an artificially created rock wall. Perhaps this mound had been rearranged, too?
Nearby, a brass survey benchmark was fastened to the top of a chunk of concrete. Several rocks were stacked on top of a green metal box.
Visibility wasn’t totally obscured. Outlines of mountains and ridges could be seen through the haze. Hooknose Mountain (7,210 ft.) 3 miles NE was about it, though, as far as being able to see any detail. The W breeze was bringing even worse smoke this way, so even these views might vanish. After a few quick photos in case that happened, SPHP opened the green box.
Mostly trash inside. Only one decent registry, a small one with a green cover that had been started in 2020. It was already full of entries. No room to add Lupe’s name. A much larger registry was all chewed up by animals to the point where it was basically worthless. SPHP shoved it into a sack along with rotten candy, sopping wet playing and business cards, empty plastic bottles, etc. for disposal later on, leaving only the green registry, pens, and pencils in a zip lock bag.
Mind if we take a break, SPHP?
Retreating back down to some stunted conifers along the W edge of the summit plateau, Lupe found a place with some greenery to relax.
Facing W toward HP6014, Loop and SPHP hung out together for a while watching the sun sink as horrid, thick smoke drifted in out of the NW.
Not even going to be any sunset, is there, SPHP?
Naw. Too smoky! At some point the sun will just vanish in the murk.
Are we still close to Canada?
Yup! We should have been able to see Canada again from up here. It’s less than 6 miles N. Not going to happen tonight, though, Looper.
Being on Abercrombie Mountain, a super prominent peak with more than 5,000 feet of prominence, was still pretty cool, even if the views were basically shot. Not too many supers around! Intent upon staying up here for her traditional full summit hour, Lupe had time enough for another tour of the true summit region. Might as well!
Well, getting to be about that time. Rooting for a sunset, but knowing it wasn’t going to happen, Lupe and SPHP watched the golden orb turn red as it sank into the smoke. Didn’t even get close to the horizon before, suddenly, it was gone.
A few minutes later, the Carolina Dog was gone, too. With a great trail to follow, the descent was fun and went fast.
Dusk came on even faster. SPHP was forced to bring out the flashlight well before Loop made it back to the junction with Trail No. 119. Soon there was movement in the gloom of the forest floor next to the trail. Lupe got her first sniff ever of a big, fat mountain toad.
Mountain toad? Even SPHP had never heard of such a thing! But there it was, a real, live, ugly mountain toad hopping along in the underbrush. Turned out it wasn’t the only one on Abercrombie Mountain, either. Kind of creepy in the dark, but hardly dangerous. (End, 9:18 PM, 65ºF)
You’ve got to be kidding me, right SPHP? That’s it? “Mountain toads – hardly dangerous.” That’s how you’re going to end our tale of adventure about Abercrombie Mountain, a super prominent peak?
Well, what do you expect me to say, Loop? Mountain toads seem unusual enough to deserve mention, but beyond that, they give me writer’s block.
Oh, I don’t know, SPHP, but snazz it up a bit! How about something about the Attack of the Killer Mountain Toads!
Attack of the Killer Mountain Toads? No one’s going to believe that, Looper!
Use your imagination, then, SPHP! This is Washington state, right? I know! How about an amusing or scary tale about Big Wart!
Big Wart! You mean like Big Foot, only, umm …
Yes! Wartier!
Wartier! That’s not even a word, Loopster. I’m calling it. Scintillating end or not, it’s just plain old, never-even-heard-of them-before mountain toads, and this is a wrap.
Links:
Next Adventure Prior Adventure
GPS track by Scott Rice (7-7-18)
Want more Lupe adventures? Choose from Lupe’s Summer of 2021 Dingo Vacations to New Mexico, Wyoming & the West Coast Adventure Index, Dingo Vacations Adventure Index or Master Adventure Index. Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.
