Day 25 of Lupe’s Summer of 2016 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies, Yukon & Alaska
Lupe wanted out twice during the night. Both times it was nice out, a hopeful sign. Dawn arrived a few hours later to dash those hopes. Steady rain beneath a drearily overcast low-ceiling sky. The forecasts were going to be right, weren’t they? Three more full days of rain before things might improve.
A little after 10:00 AM, Lupe and SPHP left Palmer on the Glen Highway (Alaska Route 1) heading E. Sad, very sad, but SPHP was resigned to it. There was no beating this endless rain on the Alaska S coast. Lupe wasn’t going to get to do any of the fun adventures around Anchorage or on the Kenai Peninsula.
The plan was to go as far as it took to get out of the rain, even if that meant going back to Canada. Lupe still had a couple of peakbagging objectives on her list not too far E of Palmer, if the rain would let up. There didn’t seem to be much hope of that. SPHP was prepared for a long drive. Lupe stared out the rain-streaked window of the G6 at the beautiful Matanuska River valley she was leaving behind.
The rain didn’t extend nearly as far as SPHP feared. Surprisingly, by the time Lupe was nearing the Matanuska Glacier, the sky had stopped its seemingly endless dripping. The glacier was visible from the highway, so Lupe stopped for a look.
Conditions improved rapidly as Lupe and SPHP continued E on the Glen Highway. That was great news! Two of Lupe’s peakbagging objectives were coming up soon.
The first was Lion Head (3,185 ft.). Lupe found the road that serves as a trailhead near milepost 106. Beyond a parking area, a closed gate was across the road. A “No Trespassing” sign said AT&T owned the property. No one allowed in without permission from AT&T. Most disappointing.
Surprising, too! SPHP had read online accounts touting the climb up Lion Head for the spectacular views of the Matanuska Glacier. None of them had mentioned an access problem. Several vehicles were parked along the road near the closed gate. Others must be making the hike. SPHP hesitated. Gunsight Mountain was another 10 or 12 miles E. Maybe Lupe should check out Gunsight instead?
Near milepost 117, Lupe and SPHP stopped at a large empty pullout on the SE side of the Glen Highway. A sign said this was the Camp Creek trailhead. Absolutely no other information was available. Not a soul was around. Gunsight Mountain loomed to the NW right across the highway.
Despite involving 3,400 feet of elevation gain, the climb up Gunsight was supposed to be easy and straightforward. Was this the trailhead for Gunsight? Except for those tall bushes low down on the mountain, the climb looked easy enough whether there was a trail or not. SPHP grabbed the backpack, crossed the highway, and Lupe was on her way! (1:29 PM, 54°F)
Five minutes after Lupe started her assault on Gunsight, SPHP was beating a retreat. Those tall bushes were an impassable jungle! There certainly didn’t seem to be any trail. Lupe had no choice, but to follow SPHP back to the G6. So far, Lupe’s day had been nothing but frustration. Another mile E, near milepost 118, her luck changed.
A green street sign read “Trailhead Access Road”. A short road on the NW side of the highway led to a large paved parking lot. A posted map showed several trails in this area, including one leading to Gunsight Mountain (6,441 ft.). Twenty minutes after launching her first attack on Gunsight, Lupe set out again.
An old road led to an ATV trail that climbed rather steeply at the start. Things leveled out after 200 feet of elevation gain. The ATV trail had turned N. Lupe reached an intersection where a small pond was a short distance ahead.
Lupe didn’t need to go N. She turned W on another ATV trail leading toward Gunsight Mountain. A huge, colorful hillside, was ahead. The top of Gunsight Mountain appeared above it in the distance.
The ATV trail was full of big, muddy potholes, and soon gave out. A single track trail led into the bushes which dominated the landscape. It too, disintegrated before long. A bewildering maze of little trails went in all directions, appearing and disappearing in no discernible pattern. Lupe thought this was great! She could prowl around unseen until she was almost upon SPHP.
The bushes down where Lupe had made her first brief assault on Gunsight had towered over SPHP. They had strong, thick branches. Fortunately, the bushes here were only chest high on SPHP. It was possible to push through these smaller bushes along the myriad of little trails, though it was preferable to follow the occasional strips of open ground between them whenever possible.
Getting to the top of this first big hillside took a while. The climb gradually steepened along the way. On the bright side, the open ground between bushes started to dominate as Lupe gained elevation. If there was any organized trail up this long hill, Lupe never found it. During short rest stops, SPHP consumed wild blueberries, which grew in great profusion on the hillside.
By the time Lupe reached the top of the big, colorful hillside, the bushes had disappeared entirely. Only the low, delicate plants of the tundra remained. Lupe already had some fabulous views from here.
The best route to the top from here was obvious. Lupe headed W across a broad area of fairly level tundra toward the NE ridge of the mountain. She even lost a little elevation along the way, before the climb resumed.
Lupe was still on her way up toward Gunsight’s NE ridge, when suddenly there was a voice coming from above. A young woman was cheerily hailing Lupe and SPHP as she hiked down the mountain. SPHP hadn’t even seen her. Her name was Laura. She was here in Alaska visiting friends who had to work today, so she had just trotted on up to the top of Gunsight Mountain for something to do.
Laura was from Montana, which made her practically a neighbor to Lupe. She was very friendly. Was the guy following Lupe and SPHP part of the group? SPHP turned around. There was someone coming! He was still over toward the top of the long, colorful hillside, but heading this way fast. No, Lupe and SPHP had never seen him before.
Laura and SPHP chatted pleasantly for a few minutes, before she went onward. A few minutes later, she could be seen talking to the guy who was hot on Lupe’s trail coming up. Meanwhile, Lupe reached the NE ridge. Staying on the less steep SE side of the ridge, Lupe and SPHP continued toward the summit.
Within a few hundred feet of the summit, the tundra finally gave way to a long, scree slope. During the fairly steep ascent up the scree, the guy who had been following Lupe overtook SPHP. He promised to save Lupe and SPHP good seats with a view at the top.
Coming up the easy, broad E slopes of Gunsight Mountain, SPHP had come under the impression that the summit might well be a large plateau, with plenty of room for Lupe to run around. However, when Lupe reached the top of the scree slope, the mountain simply ended. On the other side of the little summit ridge was a gaping chasm.
Standing out at the very end of a small, narrow prominence, surrounded on 3 sides by nothing but air, was the guy who had promised to save Lupe and SPHP good seats with a view. He stood on the brink of destruction at the chasm’s edge surveying the spectacular views, as calmly as any mountain goat might to whom it was all old hat, part of a daily humdrum routine.
His precarious position made SPHP nervous for him, but he calmly walked over to greet Lupe and introduce himself to SPHP. His name was Luke Hall. He was originally from Sidney, Australia. Luke had left Sidney 3 years ago. Since then, he’d worked for a while in Banff, Canada and London, England, and a few other places around the globe. At the moment, Luke was in the middle of an already months long trip exploring and climbing peaks in Alaska.
Wow! Sounded like Luke was adventure personified! Lupe, Luke and SPHP spend 30 minutes together on Gunsight. A lot of chatting, comparing notes, and taking photos went on. Luke had been to Berg Lake in Mount Robson Provincial Park in Canada. Lupe had been there on her Summer of 2013 Dingo Vacation, too. Luke and Lupe had both been to several other places, among them Sukakpak Mountain (4,459 ft.), N of the Arctic Circle.
Luke was surprised to learn that Lupe had made it to the top of Sukakpak. He had been there a couple of weeks ago. He’d made it very high up on the mountain, but hadn’t found the route to the summit. Lupe and SPHP shared how Lupe managed to get there.
Of course, as long as Luke had already been exploring Alaska, he’d seen a lot of places Lupe hadn’t. There was so much to talk about! Fun times, but it was getting to be evening, and this was, after all, the top of a mountain in Alaska. Luke was wearing shorts. Not too surprisingly, he started getting cold standing around. He needed to get moving again, so good-byes were said, and Luke started down the mountain.
After Luke departed, Lupe and SPHP spent another 20 minutes at the summit. The views were tremendous in every direction. The day had started discouragingly, but was ending on a literal high note here with Lupe at the top of splendid Gunsight Mountain!
After nearly an hour at the top, Lupe started back down the NE ridge. The evening and surroundings were incredibly beautiful. Most encouragingly, the patches of blue sky and sunshine which had started appearing on Lupe’s way up seemed to be spreading.
Luke had said he was planning on going to Anchorage and the Kenai peninsula. Maybe Lupe should, too! Maybe the weather was going to improve, and Lupe wouldn’t have to miss out on all the fun that had been planned there. She was only an hour’s drive E of Palmer. Lupe could climb Lion Head tomorrow, and then return to Palmer! It was too soon to leave Alaska, if Lupe didn’t have to.
Although the plan seemed to change with each passing cloud, these happy thoughts accompanied Lupe and SPHP as they took their time on the descent. The long, colorful hill was easier descending than ascending. It was possible to see the pattern of the open areas between the bushes from above, which made it easy to avoid the worst of the bushes. Of course, Lupe thought the bushes were fun, but she didn’t mind being able to run in the open, too.
A tired, but happy American Dingo arrived back at the G6 (9:29 PM). This had turned out to be a great day after all. Maybe things were looking up. Tomorrow, Lion Head!
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