Day 10 of Lupe’s Summer of 2022 Dingo Vacation to Wyoming!
7:34 AM, HP8844 on Wolf Mountain’s NE ridge –
I’ll be ready pretty quick, Looper!
The Carolina Dog was already ready. She watched patiently, though, as SPHP disassembled, then packed up her tiny house. The morning air was wonderfully cool and clear. Not a cloud in the sky! Nearby, the E face of Wolf Mountain (9,483 ft.) was brightly illuminated. Yesterday evening, Lupe had visited the summit.
Before long, it was Onward! Puppy, ho!
Heading W around the N side of Wolf Mountain, the forest was full of huge snow banks. Snow covered long sections of Trail No. 062, slowing SPHP’s progress, and making the route difficult to follow. Meanwhile, Lupe was doing great! The American Dingo seemed energized. For the first time on this backpacking trip, Loop didn’t hang back playing her stalking game, instead keeping right up with SPHP, or leading the way.
Upon reaching the W side of Wolf Mountain, Trail No. 062 turned SW. A steady, snow-free, descent to Red Pass ensued.
Arriving at Red Pass, Lupe paused briefly to take in the view S toward the N end of the Salt River Range. She then followed the trail NW, as it began to loop up onto the ridge W of the pass.
Back on a snowy N slope again, SPHP lost the trail. Lupe rediscovered it before reaching the crest of the ridge. Once on top, Trail No. 062 began winding W along the ridge, often staying N of the crest. Loop enjoyed a terrific view of the Teton Range from open ground overlooking huge meadows, but came to forested stretches, too.
As awesome as the views were, Lupe was far more interested in a herd of giant deers in one of the meadows.
Even out in the open, the trail was sometimes hidden beneath enormous snowdrifts melting away beneath the dazzling late June sun. Lupe liked crossing them. Hitting a high point early on W of Red Pass, Trail No. 062 began a gradual descent, interrupted periodically by short climbs.
Winding W along the ridge more than 1.5 miles beyond Red Pass, Trail No. 062 then curved NW, starting a steeper, more prolonged, descent. Near the bottom, a snowmelt pond appeared. Instead of continuing down to it, the trail curved W again, going past a little glen.
Wha’dya think, Loop? We’re almost down to the upper Dog Creek valley. This looks like a good spot to set up your tiny house to me.
Nice and secluded, but it’s only noon, SPHP! Aren’t we going any farther? I thought we were going to climb another mountain today?
Yeah, we are, Loop, but I’d sure like to ditch some of this gear. Think we’re close enough to where we’re going now to get there and back before dark. In fact, if we don’t ditch this gear before we have to start climbing, it will slow me down so much that we may not get to another summit today.
Well, if that’s what you need to do, then do it, SPHP! Fine with me! By the way, where are we trying to get to today?
Kind of depends on how it goes, Looper. Observation Peak (9,960 ft.) is our main objective, but if it seems out of reach, we might have to settle for Indian Peak (9,683 ft.), since it’s closer.
1:14 PM, near the upper Dog Creek valley – SPHP had the tiny house set up again. Sleeping bags and whatever else was heavy and expendable were stashed inside. Time to press on!
Heading W from the tiny house, the trail descended another 40 feet. A flat, open plain in the upper Dog Creek valley was ahead. Crossing 2 tiny streams, Lupe roamed WNW over the plain. She soon reached a larger tributary of Dog Creek. A short distance beyond it, a trail headed SW.
This new trail was Trail No. 009. The topo map showed it climbing up and over a steep ridge 0.33 mile NNW of Indian Peak. This same ridge was also Lupe’s intended route to Observation Peak, so following this trail seemed like a sensible thing to do.
Crossing the big tributary of Dog Creek again, Trail No. 009 curved NW, and soon began slanting up an open slope. Gaining 200 feet of elevation, it then turned SW into a forested valley full of snow.
From the amount of snow visible ahead, following the trail up onto the ridge N of Indian Peak suddenly no longer seemed viable. Abandoning No. 009, Lupe headed W into the forest.
The plan was to get to the ridge N of Indian Peak by the shortest route possible. After an initial climb, Lupe roamed through a large, relatively flat region of snowy woods, eventually emerging on a snow-covered plain just E of the ridge.
The ridge was such a steep climb that SPHP ventured up toward the NW where snow-free terrain provided better traction. A rest break was in order once up on top.
Lupe had reached the ridgeline only a little S of HP9582. Following the broad ridge N after her break, a moderate rate of climb through mostly open forest got the Carolina Dog up to HP9582 without any difficulties. Next to a small area of flat, bare ground, a huge snowbank wrapped around the N and E edges, providing big views in those directions.
Wolf Mountain (9,483 ft.), where Loop had set out from this morning, and the long ridge she had traveled from Red Pass on the way here, were of particular interest.
Forest hid the views to the S and W, but exploring HP9582‘s W slope, an opening was found where Observation Peak (9,960 ft.) was in sight.
Observation Peak was now only 1.25 miles W, but the American Dingo faced a fair amount of up and down along the ridge leading to it. The next objective was HP9600. Continuing down HP9582‘s W slope, Loop quickly broke out of the forest, coming to nicely rounded, open terrain.
Arriving at the saddle leading to HP9600, SPHP got the brilliant idea that unnecessary elevation gain could be avoided by traversing the S slope. Worked great until Lupe ran into a rock slide, which made it easier to simply climb to the top of HP9600.
Being forced higher was a good thing. The views from HP9600 were wonderful! Snow-clad Indian Peak (9,683 ft.) looked beautiful to the SSE. Peak 9708 and Red Peak (9,771 ft.) strung out along the ridge S of it were lovely, too. Off to the W was a great look at both Observation Peak and Obs Benchmark (9,935 ft.).
The trek W along the ridge leading to Observation Peak from HP9600 was gorgeous! The S slopes were nearly all snow-free. The N slopes still harbored extensive snow fields, which Lupe sometimes had to cross.
Near the end, Loop came to a signpost half-buried in a large snow field, the only sign she had seen since leaving the Dog Creek trailhead 2 days ago. It wasn’t much farther to Observation Peak now. From a little rise, a trail was seen heading up a moderately steep, rounded slope.
Oh, yeah! Pure cake!
5:41 PM, 66ºF, 5mph SW breeze, Observation Peak (9,960 ft.) – Conditions were ideal when the American Dingo arrived on a 300 foot long, 20 – 25 foot wide, summit ridge running E/W. This open ridge was wider and rounded toward the E, narrower and somewhat rocky W.
Scraggly trees ran along the N side about 2/3 of the way toward the W. Near the tallest of these trees, big sticks were piled at the true summit, almost on top of a cairn harboring a clear plastic jar with a blue lid. Only an old photo film container was visible inside.
Congratulations, Looper, on your successful ascent of Observation Peak! After our ghastly start two days ago, I wasn’t so certain I’d ever have the pleasure of shaking your paw here!
Persistence, SPHP! I’ll do most anything for a chocolate coconut bar!
Well, you’re in luck, sweet-tooth puppy! Happen to still have one in the pack. C’mon, let’s pick a spot to rest where there aren’t so many trees.
Grabbing the plastic jar from out of the cairn, SPHP led Lupe out to the W end of the summit ridge. The views were fabulous! After sharing the much anticipated chocolate coconut bar, Lupe curled up on SPHP’s lap. Far to the NNE, Grand Teton (13,770 ft.) and Mount Owen (12,928 ft.) dominated what could be seen of Wyoming’s famous Teton Range.
While Lupe relaxed, SPHP removed the film cannister from the plastic jar, and opened it. Within were only 2 carefully folded pieces of paper. One was sopping wet and barely legible. SPHP could make out only “2020” and “Sketchy climb up from the NW. Scintillating view!”
The other paper was merely damp. Dated way back on July 4, 1996, it was much more legible.
Weary after a 3 day march to get here, Lupe and SPHP remained seated out near the W end of the summit ridge for quite a while. Magnificent mountain scenery was on display in all directions.
Obs Benchmark (9,935 ft.), with a sheer N face, was the most intriguing of the relatively nearby peaks. A long ridge extending toward it clearly dropped sharply away before connecting to it. Probably not easy to get to Obs Benchmark from here.
After a while, SPHP managed to summon enough energy to get up and stroll about to gaze more intently on some of the other views. Loopster was willing to tag along, but generally preferred to lay down whenever SPHP paused somewhere.
From the E end of the summit ridge, the ridge Lupe had followed from HP9600 to get here was in sight. Wolf Mountain and Indian Mountain were clearly lower than Observation Peak, but on the SE horizon was a peak that was definitely higher. SPHP didn’t realize it at the time, but that was probably Hoback Peak (10,862 ft). Lupe had been there!
Stewart Mountain (10,103 ft.) and the N end of the Salt River Range were far to the S, well beyond a line consisting of Red Peak (9,771 ft.), Peak 9736, and Deadhorse Peak (9,767 ft.). Only the top of Bradley Mountain (9,292 ft.) was visible at mid-range between them.
Back and forth along the summit ridge multiple times, so much to see!
The sun was sinking. Still going to be up for a while, but getting back to the tiny house would take a while, too. Lupe returned briefly to the true summit, then relaxed once more back at the fabulous viewpoint near the W end of the summit ridge.
7:00 PM – Sadly, as always, precious time had flown. On this glorious evening, Lupe left Observation Peak heading down the E slope, back the way she’d come. Although tired, her entire return was one marvelous scene after another.
Once back to HP9582, the American Dingo varied her route. Descending a steep, open slope, she reached a saddle on the ridge going E. Here, a gendarme presented a tricky little scramble. Went just fine. No other obstacles lay beyond it. Loop was soon able to leave the ridge, roaming SE through meadows on a long descent into the upper Dog Creek valley.
The sun was down, but there was still light in the sky when the weary Carolina Dog reached the tiny house again. What a day it had been! Lupe had made it to Observation Peak, her main objective. Even if she did nothing more than return to the RAV4 from here, this backpacking trip was now an official success.
Great job, but you better sleep tight, Looper! You’re not done here in the Snake River Range quite yet!
Links:
Next Adventure Prior Adventure
Want more Lupe adventures? Choose from Lupe’s Summer of 2022 Dingo Vacations to Wyoming, Canada & Alaska Adventure Index, Dingo Vacations Adventure Index or Master Adventure Index. Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.