Days 39, 40 & 41 of Lupe’s 2017 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon & Alaska!
9-7-17, 6:24 AM, 44°F, Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon Territory – Lupe and SPHP were awake dark and early. That’s right – dark and early. A week into September now, long days of the far north were ending. SPHP drove S on the Dempster Highway just to let the G6 warm things up a bit. Lupe stopped and had breakfast near the big sign at the entrance to Tombstone Territorial Park.
Lupe’s Tombstone Park adventures were over. She’d had a grand time climbing Surfbird Mountain, Goldensides, and taking the Grizzly Ridge trail to Grizzly Lake. In fact, Loopster was done here in the Yukon. It was time to head home, but home was thousands of miles away. Most of the remaining days of her 2017 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon & Alaska would be spent on the road. Still, there would be stops at various sights, and a couple more big adventures along the way.
After breakfast, Lupe rode shotgun watching for wildlife, while SPHP drove. The fall scenery was magnificent.
Upon reaching the North Klondike Highway, SPHP turned SE toward Whitehorse, the capitol city of Yukon Territory. Whitehorse, which was 550 kilometers from where the Carolina Dog started this morning, was as far as Lupe was going today.
Lupe and SPHP had never been on the North Klondike Highway before. The road wound among countless hills, ridges, and valleys. There were mountains to be seen, but the highest ones were generally far away on some horizon. The highway crossed streams and rivers, and went past small lakes. Everywhere Loop looked, bright yellow forests of deciduous trees mixed with the dark greens of conifers.
The long, peaceful drive was beautiful and relaxing – just the ticket after Lupe’s nearly 14 hour day on the Grizzly Ridge trail yesterday. Loopster snoozed when she felt like it, but was always eager to get out of the G6 to look around when SPHP stopped briefly at memorable spots along the highway.
Late in the afternoon, Lupe arrived in Whitehorse. SPHP found a Jiffy Lube, and the G6 got a needed oil change. Evening featured a roasted chicken from President’s Choice. The American Dingo enthusiastically helped to devour the chicken at Takhini Hot Pools, which SPHP enjoyed for the second time on this Dingo Vacation.
9-8-17, 4:41 AM, 48°F in Whitehorse – Two foxes! SPHP watched them for a couple of minutes before Lupe woke up and saw them, too. A Dingo barkfest ensued, but the foxes only seemed perplexed and curious. After a minute or two of this abuse, they sauntered off together heading for downtown. Awesome!
Another relaxing day on the road. The morning featured gorgeous S Yukon Territory scenery along the Alaska Highway. After turning S on the Cassiar Highway, Lupe spent the afternoon in British Colombia. The Cassiar Highway was in better shape this year than in 2016. No more long stretches of gravel. Those had been replaced with new pavement. Smooth! Lupe passed by many beautiful lakes – Good Hope, Lang, Deese and others.
With so many miles to go, it wasn’t possible to stop much. By late afternoon, after nearly 2 days in the G6, Lupe was getting restless. Something had to be done. A stop along the Stikine River for a 30 minute break helped. Loop found a squirrel up in the trees. Superb Dingo therapy!
Two black bears and a horse along the highway provided what little excitement there was the rest of the day. Between these episodes, Lupe’s eyelids grew heavy. She went back to snoozing. The highway went by many beautiful snow-capped peaks. Made 550 miles today. Stopped for the night somewhere S Ningunsaw Pass. Out of Alpo. Out of everything. Crackers for dinner. Oh, yum! (8:37 PM, 50°F)
9-9-17, 4:11 AM – Out to sniff the air, then onward! Turned out Lupe hadn’t been far from the Bell 2 rest stop last night. Reached it within 15 minutes. Later stopped briefly at Bell 1 near the Bell Irving River where Lupe had spent a night on her 2016 Dingo Vacation. In the dark, Bell 1 seemed just as mysterious now as it had back then.
5:55 AM – Still dark. Stopped to fuel up at Meziadin Junction. Raining! Not good. Hours to Smithers yet, though. Hopefully the rain will stop, so Lupe can climb Harvey Mountain (6,083 ft)!
From Meziadin Junction, it rained for a long way. Finally, though, the rain slackened to only intermittent showers. Still lots of clouds around, but even that situation improved enough so that by the time Lupe was approaching Smithers on Hwy 16, it was decided the American Dingo was at least going to take a shot at Harvey Mountain.
After a quick stop at Safeway in Smithers, Lupe and SPHP continued SE on Hwy 16. On the way out of town, the highway crossed a bridge over the Bulkley River. SPHP watched for a N (L) turn onto Old Babine Lake Road. The turn soon materialized. Several miles of twists and turns later, Lupe was heading up Driftwood Canyon.
10:10 AM, 47°F – The Harvey Mountain trailhead has limited parking. No problem. There was plenty of room for the G6. No other vehicles around. As soon as Lupe got out of the G6, she ran across the road over to Driftwood Creek for a drink. The rushing creek was shaded in deep forest. Mossy rocks lined the creek banks, and formed mossy islands midstream. Pretty, but once Looper was hydrated, it was time to hit the trail for Harvey Mountain (6,083 ft.)!
The Harvey Mountain trail proved to be an abandoned road or former jeep trail. Most of it was grassy, though a single track was beaten down to dirt a lot of the way. In some places, forest undergrowth had taken over all but the single track.
The trail started off easy enough, but that didn’t last long. Soon it was a steady uphill grind at a pretty fierce rate of climb. It stayed that way for a long way with only occasional short level stretches. SPHP was pausing frequently to catch breath. Lupe enjoyed showing off, trotting easily up and down the trail, while SPHP stood gasping between pushes onward and upward.
The trail switchbacked up a steep mountainside though dense forest. Other than the challenging rate of ascent, everything about this was easy. No rocks, no roots, no cliffs, no rough terrain or obstacles. In many places the whole grassy roadbed was exposed, so the trail was plenty wide, too. This was simply a relentlessly steep road hike.
Due to the dense forest, there were also no views. Even after gaining 2,000 feet of elevation, Lupe still hadn’t seen much of anything except trees. Oh, there were hints of views now and then, but not even a single decent opening appeared to allow some contemplation and appreciation of what was out there just beyond the forest.
Lupe came to a large yellow metal gate. The gate was padlocked shut to prevent any possibility of vehicle traffic on the trail. After passing this gate, the situation finally started to show some signs of changing. The forest ahead was beginning to thin out. Before long, Loop was emerging from the trees. A huge sloping alpine meadow was ahead.
Lupe had gone a long way up the slope, when it became apparent rain was approaching from the SW. SPHP donned the blue rain poncho, then sat next to a modest-sized rock which had a cairn on it. Looper curled up on SPHP’s lap inside the rain poncho, hoping to stay dry, too.
Rain and fog swept over Harvey Mountain. Visibility was close to zero. The rain showers had seemed limited in scope, when SPHP saw them coming. 30 minutes later, however, Lupe and SPHP were still sitting next to the rock with the cairn in dense fog. Rain continued to fall.
The rain fell hardest shortly before suddenly ending. The fog flew away. Loop was out of the rain poncho like a shot when SPHP urged her to move. Locally the sky was brighter again, but ragged clouds clung to nearby mountains. More rain wasn’t far off in several directions.
Conditions after the shower weren’t nearly so bright and encouraging as SPHP had expected, but Harvey Mountain wasn’t being threatened at the moment. This was Lupe’s chance to make a break for the summit. Puppy, ho! Onward!
The trail had completely faded away even before the rain hit. Loop was climbing SE following Harvey Mountain’s broad NW ridge. Cairns were seen every now and then, but the route was clear enough without them. The obstacle free terrain was getting even easier. The slope of the ridge was decreasing as Lupe progressed.
The topo map showed a high point labeled “Mt. Harvey” toward the N end of the mountain. This N high point couldn’t be the true summit. The map also clearly showed a higher contour well to the SSE. Since the N high point was closest, Lupe went looking for it first.
The Carolina Dog climbed or skirted several minor high points along the N end of the mountain before reaching the highest one. She sometimes had glimpses of impressive mountains and the deep valley to the N, but even during this break in the clouds, Looper could seldom see very far. She did get a good look at the true summit of Harvey Mountain from one of the minor high points.
Once Lupe made it to the highest of the N high points, the one marked “Mt. Harvey” on the topo map, all that remained was an easy trek across an undulating summit plateau to the true summit. Loop could see her destination from here.
The weather made the otherwise simple trek to the summit far more dramatic than it otherwise would have been. Fog repeatedly streamed by out of the SW producing temporary whiteouts, or giving the summit plateau a ghostly aura. Big patches of blue sky also appeared, suddenly bathing the American Dingo in brilliant sunshine.
The true summit of Harvey Mountain was up on a small ridge of dark colored rock. This ridge was 25 to 30 feet long, 5 to 10 feet wide, and sat 25 to 30 feet above the immediately surrounding terrain. Looper easily scrambled to the top from the W end. Except for doubt caused by the weather, Harvey Mountain (6,083 ft.) had been cake!
SE of the summit, Harvey Mountain dropped very steeply away into a deep canyon. Lupe could see clear to the bottom. Clouds continually hid Pyramid Mountain on the other side. The topo map suggested it might be possible to journey over to Pyramid Mountain and an even higher peak to the E traversing a saddle farther N, but the weather squelched all ideas of giving that a try.
In fact, after only 10 or 12 minutes at the summit, with another line of showers approaching from the SW, Lupe had spent long enough up here. The American Dingo would have had tremendous views of the Babine Mountains on a clear day, but that didn’t seem to be in the cards. Loop had better start her descent in case the situation decided to take a turn for the worse.
So Lupe left the summit of Harvey Mountain. She proceeded NW toward the S Central high point.
This time, Lupe did go to the top of the S Central high point. By the time she got there, though, the next squall had arrived. This one was mostly a dense fog. Once again, everything disappeared from view. Raindrops fell at first, quickly followed by snow granules.
Lupe was stuck here. The snow granules, which stung a little driven by the wind, weren’t the problem. With no trail and no visibility, it would be way too easy to get turned around.
Another wait doing nothing. The wind and snow made it cold. SPHP started getting nervous when the fog didn’t show any sign of breaking up quickly. 20 minutes went by. Finally, the outline of another hill not far to the N could be seen. Lupe headed for it, and the fog thinned some more. Enough so Loop could keep going.
By the time Loop was near the N end of the mountain again, the fog was only wispy. She turned and started down the broad NW ridge. Blue sky appeared! Oh, yeah! Nearby, though, clouds still prevailed.
By the time Lupe reached the last big rock formations on the NW ridge, she was in sunshine. She had it made now. The trail was just down the big alpine slope from here. Once she reached the trail, it wouldn’t matter how foggy it got.
Of course, Lupe did reach the trail. The return was super simple the rest of the way. Gravity helped to make it all so easy compared to SPHP’s huffing and puffing ascent. The weather steadily improved (naturally!). Looper even saw the glacier on Hudson Bay Mountain (8,494 ft.) off to the WSW, although the summit remained shrouded.
After glimpsing Hudson Bay Mountain, it was down the winding trail through the forest all the way back to the trailhead. (3:46 PM, 59°F)
Harvey Mountain was destined to be the last peak Lupe climbed in Canada in 2017. After another round of refreshment in Driftwood Creek, the Carolina Dog left the Babine Mountains returning to Highway 16. The rest of the day was spent on the road, traveling SE through gorgeous British Columbia toward Prince George.
Loop didn’t make it all the way to Prince George. Toward evening she stopped for another adventure. This adventure wasn’t about climbing mountains, instead it was an adventure in beauty. In 2016, when Lupe had been on her way NW on Hwy 16, she had stopped at the prettiest city park, Steelhead Park, in the little town of Houston.
Steelhead Park is right along the highway. It isn’t very large, but walkways lead across a beautifully manicured lawn past shady trees and carefully cultivated flower beds. There is even a fountain. A stop to stretch those legs and enjoy Steelhead Park again was a must!
After visiting Steelhead Park, Lupe continued on. Near Cluculz Lake SE of Vanderhoof, it got dark. Lupe and SPHP stopped for the night. No sense missing any scenery! Tomorrow was another day.
Harvey Mountain trailhead directions: From Smithers, British Columbia head SE on Hwy 16. After crossing the Bulkley River bridge, watch for Old Babine Lake Road, which soon appears on the L. Follow Old Babine Lake Road approximately 4 miles to another L turn onto Telkwa High Road. Go 1 mile to a R turn onto Driftwood Canyon Road. Follow signs to Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park. Keep going 6 km up Driftwood Canyon. After crossing a series of single lane bridges over Driftwood Creek, the Harvey Mountain trailhead appears on the R. Parking is limited. Additional parking is available 1 km farther on at the Silver King trailhead. Total elevation gain to the summit is 2,943 feet.
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Babine Mountains Provincial Park
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