Days 26 – 28 of Lupe’s 2019 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon & Alaska!
8-30-19, first light at the dirt parking area across the Denali Highway from the Swede Mountain trailhead – A low menacing growl! SPHP glanced up from the trip journal.
What is it, Looper?
Hackles up, the American Dingo’s growling was growing more agitated by the second. It was too much to bear! Lupe exploded into a savage frenzy. She wanted out!
Foggy and dim, but there was movement! Barely perceptible in the faint light of approaching dawn, a ghost wolf trotted long the edge of the lot. A moment later it vanished into the fog.
Oh, no you’re not, Miss Ithinkim Invincible! You’re not tangling with a wolf!
It is a wolf! A real wolf! You saw it, didn’t you, SPHP?
Yes, I did, but calm down. I’m not letting you go sniffing with a wild wolf. You’d be Dingo Nuggets for breakfast in nothing flat!
The two second wolf glimpse was the highlight of the whole day. When morning came, the air was smokey again, even worse than yesterday. Issues with the G6, too. Better head back to civilization.
Still thinking about that ghost wolf, Lupe remained on the alert for hours as the G6 bumped and jolted W on the Denali Highway. However, by the time pavement was reached coming into Cantwell, 4 straight days of peakbagging had taken their toll. The tuckered out Carolina Dog spent the afternoon snoozing as the miles rolled by.
8-31-19, 7:46 AM, 54ºF, Wasilla – Wasilla had been full of smoke when Lupe arrived yesterday evening, but a little rain had fallen overnight. Clearer now, the mountains were in view. Unfortunately, a very gray day. Not a ray of sunshine anywhere.
SPHP drove to Anchorage. Stops for supplies. Turned out the G6 was fine. Still not much of a day for climbing mountains. Lupe wound up at Kinkaid Park. The Carolina Dog enjoyed more than 2 hours exploring the Middle Earth, Old School and Candy Mountain trails. Easy, peaceful, relaxing. Moments of joy, too! Squirrels!
Later in the afternoon blue sky appeared. Sort of sunny and warm. Quite encouraging, but by that time ambition had waned. Tomorrow would be soon enough to take on a mountain again. Might be an even better day for it, and the American Dingo could get an early start. Lupe spent the evening relaxing and resting up in Eagle River.
9-1-19, 10:22 AM, 55ºF at the Prospect Heights trailhead in Anchorage – Hah! So much for a better day! Occasionally spitting light rain, sullen clouds blanketed the sky. September, now! Autumn was just around the corner here in Alaska. Driven by a lively breeze, leaves were already falling in large numbers.
Far from a perfect day, but if the rain held off, Loopster ought to be fine.
Wolverine Peak (4,491 ft.) was the American Dingo’s objective today. After paying the $5.00 parking fee, SPHP checked a map posted at the trailhead. Lots of trails in this region, but getting to Wolverine Peak didn’t look too complex. Just head over to the Powerline trail, take a L and it would become the Wolverine Bowl trail. Wolverine Bowl wound around some, but would get Lupe to the Wolverine Peak trail, which went clear to the summit.
So, we just find any trail that says “Wolverine” and follow it all the way to the top, right SPHP?
Yeah, that’s about it, Looper.
Lupe left the far end of the trailhead on a flat, straight stretch of trail that headed NE. 5 minutes got her to the junction with the Powerline trail, where she turned L (NNW).
The Powerline trail soon curved to the R (NE), abandoning the actual power line it had been following. No sign, but presumably that meant Lupe was now on the Wolverine Bowl trail. Before long, Near Point (3,051 ft.) came into view.
The trail curved E, then SE. So far, climbing Wolverine Peak had been really easy. In fact, Lupe was gradually losing elevation. The trail finally reached a low point at a bridge over the South Fork of Campbell Creek.
After crossing the bridge, the Wolverine Bowl trail regained elevation at a gradual pace. Featureless clouds sprinkled rain. A sharp bend got the trail trending NE again. 15 minutes from the bridge, Lupe came to a well-signed junction with the Middle Fork Loop trail.
With no mention of wolverines in “Middle Fork Loop”, Lupe ignored that option, sticking with the Wolverine Bowl trail instead. As the Carolina Dog continued on, sporadic rain increased in intensity. No great deluge, but with the breeze periodically shaking more raindrops out of the trees, too, Loop was getting wet.
15 minutes after passing Middle Fork Loop, Lupe came to a smaller bridge across a smaller creek. A few minutes beyond this second bridge she reached the start of the Wolverine Peak trail.
It was raining harder now. This junction was what, 1.5 miles from the trailhead? Maybe a little more than that, but not much. Still miles go, and Lupe had only netted a couple hundred feet of elevation gain thus far. Wolverine Peak was another 3,200 feet higher.
I don’t know, Looper. Seems like the weather is deteriorating. Not looking too good. Want to go back to the G6?
The joyous response was immediate. Lupe was ecstatic! Finally, a good idea out of SPHP! Barking enthusiastically, the soggy American Dingo was clearly ready to forget all about Wolverine Peak.
Alrighty then! Too bad, but it was over.
For 10 minutes. As Lupe and SPHP headed back down the Wolverine Bowl trail, more people were coming up, all apparently in high spirits. None seemed even slightly concerned. And why should they? The rain stopped. The sky brightened. Everything was going to be just fine.
Perhaps Lupe was dismayed when SPHP turned around and started back up. If so, she had the courtesy not to mention it. Soon she was climbing higher on the Wolverine Peak trail.
Climbing at a good clip, too. The Wolverine Peak trail was much steeper than the Wolverine Bowl trail. Finally getting somewhere! The rain was holding off. Maybe it was over and done with? Confidence grew.
Ahead a big ridge divided the terrain into two separate valleys to the E. The trail gradually curved SE (R) into the valley farthest S. Entering this valley, Lupe reached a field where the trail flattened. She had already gained enough elevation so that she wasn’t far from treeline.
No rain, but it was just plain windy now. Looking ESE up the valley, the big ridge on the L was the one that would eventually lead to Wolverine Peak. The trail, however, headed for a lower ridge on the R.
The farther Lupe went, the windier it was becoming. However, it wasn’t long before Wolverine Peak (4,491 ft.) came into view at the far end of the valley.
The trail sliced up the side of the ridge on the S side of the valley. Lupe passed through a forested section, which provided some protection, but once she was beyond the last of the trees, the wind was worse than ever.
The trees were gone, the bushes were giving out, the trail kept climbing along the S ridge. Lupe could now see where the Wolverine Peak trail crossed high ground at the upper end of the valley that led over to the ridge on the L. Wolverine Peak itself was now clearly in sight. Didn’t look that hard to get there.
But it was. In the valley, the wind was roaring! Tall grass and bushes swayed in the tempest as each blast swept down from the ridgeline Loop was approaching. Seconds later, a tremendous gust would hit the trail, forcing SPHP to stop and lean on the trekking poles for support. Swirling dust devils sandblasted Lupe.
Yet the ridge the American Dingo was climbing was partially protecting her from the full force of the ferocious wind. If the gale was this bad here, what was it going to be like when she got to the ridgeline?
Progress was now made only between gusts. The rest of the time, SPHP leaned on poles while Lupe gritted it out.
Ahead a few final bushes clung to the hillside along the trail. 5 people were taking shelter next to them. As Lupe approached, a young man came over with a warning. Another member of their group had already tried going up to the ridgeline. The wind was much worse up there. He had literally been blown off his feet.
Reaching the group, it was immediately evident this was no joke. Face all scraped up and bloody, the dazed victim sat huddled with his friends. The poor guy had suffered 2 broken front teeth. This tragedy had befallen him only minutes ago.
The whole group had had enough of Wolverine Peak. As soon as their friend recovered a bit, they were all planning to help him get back to the trailhead. Did they need assistance? No, except they wanted to borrow one of SPHP’s poles to help steady their friend. SPHP offered both, but they only wanted one. They were soon on their way.
Neither advancing nor retreating, Lupe and SPHP crouched together for several minutes. The gale was deceptive. At times the wind died almost completely away, but these moments of calm only served to herald the imminent onslaught of yet another fierce blast.
A mile and a half to go. Wolverine Peak (4,491 ft.) was right there! The whole route to the top was in sight. None of it looked difficult, merely a long ridge walk higher.
Shall we wait here, and give the wind a chance to die down a bit?
What makes you think that’s going to happen, SPHP? The wind has been getting worse and worse, not better. What’s the summit of Wolverine Peak going to be like, way up there? You saw that poor, battered hiker! Dying down “a bit” isn’t going to do it.
I know, Loop, but wouldn’t hurt to wait a little while, would it? You never know.
It’s just a waste of time, SPHP! Nothing will change for hours! What if it starts to rain again? Not fun!
Another furious gust ripped a favorite red stocking cap right off SPHP’s head. In enormous bounds, the cap sailed away, disappearing over the ridgeline seconds later. Gone forever! Lupe looked up at SPHP.
Alright, that’s it! Let’s get out of here!
Care had to be taken not to get blown over during the descent, but only for a little way. By the time Lupe was back down on the Wolverine Bowl trail, it was just another breezy day.
Sporadic rain and lower clouds had swept in during the descent. Already forgotten, Wolverine Peak was lost in the fog. The Wolverine Bowl trail was now packed with hikers. Nearly all of them had dogs. Lupe had a grand time sniffing with each and every one willing to pause for a moment on the trail. Back at the trailhead, the pole SPHP had lent out was propped up against the G6. (3:02 PM, 61ºF)
In Anchorage, Lupe visited Taku Lake at a little park. Evening found her enjoying a stroll along the ocean at Point Woronzof. Still breezy, but the sky over the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet was only partly cloudy.
Oh, the ocean was lovely! This was only the second time Lupe had been to the ocean in all of 2019, so the evening stroll along the beach was a real treat. Later on, she got another treat, too! SPHP shared a giant chocolate milkshake with the lucky Dingo.
Her consolation prizes were sweet, but it still would have been nice to have seen the world from the summit of wild, windy Wolverine Peak!
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