Day 37 of Lupe’s 2018 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon, Northwest Territories & Alaska!
7:15 AM, 41°F, Tormented Valley, British Columbia – The rain had ended within an hour of when Lupe arrived last night, yet the morning dawned cool, breezy and still drearily overcast. The higher peaks were scraping the clouds. A brief light shower blew through. Didn’t look much like rain, but the uniformly dull sky didn’t appear likely to improve, either. Not a very nice day for Peak 6053.
10:34 AM, 46°F – Waiting hadn’t helped, at least not enough. Slightly warmer out, but otherwise little change. Frustrating, but might as well admit defeat. Peak 6053 wouldn’t be any fun under these conditions. A year ago, Lupe had enjoyed a such fabulous day on the International Falls trail here that returning to climb nearby Peak 6053 had become a priority this year. The American Dingo would have had an even more spectacular view of a sea of tremendous snowy peaks in Alaska!
Not happening. Not today. The G6 needed an oil change. Should at least get that done, instead of letting the whole day go to waste.
11:44 AM, 54°F, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory – Brilliant! An hour’s drive to Whitehorse only to realize that it was Sunday. So much for getting an oil change. The good news was that the weather was much better here than back in the Tormented Valley. Blue skies, puffy clouds, less wind, and warmer. Lupe could do something here, but what?
Surprisingly, the Whitehorse visitor center was open. Loop waited in the G6, while SPHP went in. SPHP wasn’t finding much of potential interest to a peakbagging Dingo until picking up a pamphlet entitled “Wildlife in Whitehorse”. Inside were brief descriptions of 15 different locations in or around Whitehorse to see wildlife. One in particular stood out:
14 – Grey (or Canyon) Mountain is the prominent landmark southeast of Whitehorse. About 6 km up the Grey Mountain Road (off of Alesk Drive in Riverdale) a small viewpoint overlooks the Yukon River valley. You may want to continue up the road by foot or mountain bike to the sub-alpine areas for a chance to see Dall Sheep or ptarmigan. The road is not maintained beyond the viewpoint and is not suitable for vehicle travel.
Grey Mountain (4,901 ft.) sounded promising! Maybe Lupe could get in a peakbagging success today after all? A map on the reverse side of the pamphlet showed how to get there.
Grey Mountain Road was paved at first, but eventually turned to gravel. It was fine for the 6 km mentioned in the pamphlet all the way to a big pullout on the R. A map posted here showed an extensive trail system, including a summit trail that continued on from the end of Grey Mountain Road. Sweet!
SPHP sort of expected to see the small viewpoint overlooking the Yukon River at this pullout, but maybe the trees had grown up enough to hide the view? At any rate, it didn’t seem to be here. This was probably the end of the maintained road, but the road continuing on past the pullout didn’t look that bad. Since it was already afternoon, and still quite a long way to the end of Grey Mountain Road, SPHP drove on.
Yeah, this was the unmaintained road alright! It quickly turned rough – deep potholes, large stones, and ridges of exposed bedrock. No big deal in a high clearance vehicle, but pretty terrible for the G6. Driving very slowly and carefully, SPHP navigated another km up the obstacle course to a little spot where the G6 could get off the road. Upon parking here, the Carolina Dog immediately leapt out.
A moment later, she leapt back in. Nope, Lupe wasn’t going to do this!
Why not? Grey Mountain Road had gone past a shooting range before reaching the big pullout at the end of the maintained road. Nothing makes intrepid explorer and adventurer Lupe as nervous as the sound of gunfire, no matter how distant. Of course, she had heard some.
So SPHP got back in, and continued the ill-advised drive. After getting quite a bit farther this time, SPHP parked at another little off-road spot. Safety first! Big Chicken still refused to get out. SPHP finally caught her and physically dragged her out. As soon as Loop realized she could no longer hear shooting, she was fine.
3:16 PM, 52°F – Lupe still had a good road hike ahead of her as she set off for Grey Mountain(4,901 ft.). Heading SE along the mountainside, she passed through a forested gap, then arrived at a better part of the road where the mountain dropped off steeply to the S.
Rounding a corner, two towers came into view. The road curved along the side of a big drainage, switchbacked higher, then curled around the S end of Grey Mountain before turning N. Once up to the S end, Lupe had a grand view of the Yukon River valley all the way to Marsh Lake.
Grey Mountain Road climbed steeply shortly before ending at a parking area near the towers. The towers were fenced off, but Lupe was free to get up on a big wooden platform nearby.
Although the absolute summit wasn’t in view from the platform, Lupe could see Grey Mountain ahead to the NNW. A trail was visible on the ridge leading to it. Getting to Grey Mountain was going to be a cinch!
The journey along the ridge was gorgeous! Beneath blue sky and white clouds, bushes blazed in the golds, oranges, and crimsons of autumn amid scattered deep green conifers and light grey rock. The trail climbed at an easy to moderate pace with only a few steep sections.
When Lupe reached the high point visible from the wooden platform, she was at the S end of a large summit ridge. This ridge was lumpy with many exposed light grey rock formations, and still rose gradually toward the N. Low bushes and sparse tundra were present, but almost no trees grew up here, so Lupe already had tremendous views.
Exploring N along the broad, lumpy ridge, Lupe searched for the true summit. She often had a choice of trails to follow. A succession of high points led to a survey marker with an arrow pointing toward one more high spot, the apparent true summit of Grey Mountain.
Between the survey marker and the summit, Lupe came to a wide gash 40 or 50 feet deep that sliced across the entire ridge. The sides of the gash were fairly steep, but the American Dingo had no problem getting across the gash to reach the top of Grey Mountain (4,901 ft.).
The summit of Grey Mountain was a flat mini-ridge superimposed upon the rest of the mountain. Metal bars stuck up out of the ground here, but Loop did not find another survey benchmark. Low bushes grew around the perimeter of the mini-ridge, while the center was nearly barren.
SPHP congratulated Lupe on climbing Grey Mountain (4,901 ft.). She gracefully accepted the praise, but what the Carolina Dog really wanted was protection! She had been hearing gunfire again for a while now, and had been gently begging SPHP to comfort her.
Of course, sweet puppy!
At the top of Grey Mountain, SPHP sat facing SW with a panoramic view of a vast region of magnificent Yukon territory. The air was getting a bit chilly again. Wrapped in a purple pullover, Lupe curled up on SPHP’s lap to be loved and petted.
More than half an hour went by, during which Lupe gazed calmly upon splendid scenes. Directly ahead to the SW, was a fabulous view of the mighty Yukon River valley. Snowy peaks mostly hidden by clouds were far to the S. Mount Lorne (6,229 ft.) was in the same general direction, but somewhat closer. To the SE, the Yukon River stretched all the way to Marsh Lake on the horizon.
Whitehorse, capitol city of the Yukon Territory, was off to the NW. Cantlie Lake was back to the E. To the NE were unknown mountains higher than Grey Mountain that looked like relatively easy climbs.
Clouds repeatedly cast Grey Mountain into shadow. Even when Lupe was in sunshine, it wasn’t warm out. Well into September now. Time was running out on this Dingo Vacation. Depending on the weather in the next day or two, it was possible Grey Mountain might be the last Yukon peak Lupe would ever climb. Such a gloomy thought!
Lupe would have liked to stay even longer relaxing and enjoying the views. She was right, so incredible here! However, another mini-ridge was a little farther N beyond another smaller gash. Since it looked close to being in contention for the title of true summit of Grey Mountain, the Carolina Dog really ought to go tag that high point, too.
Getting over there took only a few minutes. At about the highest spot, Looper found a collection of rocks. A tumbled down cairn? Maybe this actually was the true summit of Grey Mountain? Admittedly a close call, but SPHP still thought the first mini-summit ridge was a bit higher. Hardly mattered. Lupe had been both places now.
Lupe explored the second mini-ridge a bit farther N. She didn’t get much beyond the wrecked cairn before the mountain began to drop away. Clearly, nothing higher was ahead. This was the end.
The return trip was a beautiful, easy trek. Lupe never did see any Dall sheep on Grey Mountain, but she did spot a ptarmigan.
All too soon, the towers at the end of Grey Mountain Road were in view again.
The downhill road trek was pleasant enough, but couldn’t compare with being up on the trail. Lupe was happy, though. She was leading the way back to the G6, a bumpy return ride to the maintained road, and dinner.
Trudging along behind that curly tail in the shadow of the mountain, SPHP couldn’t help but think about what an unexpected and fabulous peak Grey Mountain had been. The perfect end to what had begun as a dismal day! (8:37 PM, 56°F)
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