Day 22 of Lupe’s 3rd Summer of 2022 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast!
7:30 AM, Cascade Lakes Highway –
Elk Lake! Campground and a beach. Want to try it, Loop?
Elk? You mean giant deers, SPHP?
Oh, yeah! What was I thinking? Giant Deers Lake, Looper!
Yes, then! Giant Deers Lake sounds fabulous! Let’s go there, SPHP!
SPHP made the turn. Great choice! Giant Deers Lake was fabulous! No giant deers in sight at the moment, but there were squirrels in the pines. Lupe was happy with that. Colorful sailboats and catamarans were lined up along the water’s edge, and across the lake were terrific views of both Mount Bachelor (9,065 ft.) and South Sister (10,358 ft.).
Lupe had climbed South Sister only yesterday, so the plan was for a rest and repositioning day today. Beyond that, though, nothing was set in stone. SPHP wasn’t even sure if the American Dingo should stay in the Cascades, or head for the coast hoping to escape the wildfire smoke that always seemed to be hanging around.
No need to decide quite yet. The trip journal was way behind. SPHP could work on it right here while enjoying the lovely views.
Some varmint ran under the RAV4. Lupe was thoroughly entertained, watching and waiting for it to emerge for hours. Turned out that Giant Deers Lake was shallow and warm. SPHP enjoyed a refreshing swim. Progress was made on the trip journal, but by mid-afternoon SPHP was sick of that.
Giant Deers Lake had been lovely, but decision time now. Where to?
Kind of a risky choice, Looper, but I’ve been thinking.
Thinking? That is fraught with danger, SPHP, especially when you’re the one doing it!
Uh-huh. No, I mean I’ve been thinking about where we should go next, feisty Dingo! Could maybe do Paulina Peak (7,984 ft.) yet this evening. Would leave us well within striking distance of Diamond Peak (8,744 ft.) tomorrow, which is a big climb that we don’t have time for today. Might be our only chance to hit Paulina before heading to the coast.
Sounds like a plan, SPHP! But what’s so risky about it?
Just that Paulina Peak is off by its lonesome out on the Columbia Plateau E of the Cascades. Might be a lot of wildfire smoke out that way. Could turn out to be a complete waste of time and fuel.
As long as this drought holds, isn’t that always going to be the case on this Dingo Vacation, SPHP? Might as well try it!
The Newberry Volcanic National Monument entrance station was closed when Looper arrived. A sign said visitors should check in at the visitor center. OK, fine. However, the visitor center also turned out to be closed. Huh. Oh, well!
A R turn onto the road that goes to the Paulina Peak lookout was only a short distance beyond the visitor center. Could have, but SPHP didn’t drive all the way to it, parking instead less than a mile up the road at the Paulina Peak trailhead. Lupe would have more fun exploring Crater Rim Trail No. 57 the rest of the way.
5:05 PM, 68ºF, Paulina Peak trailhead – The trailhead was vacant, but within minutes, a pickup with enormous knobby tires pulled in. A guy and a brown dog leapt out. Heading straight for the Crater Rim trail, they immediately vanished into the forest.
Lupe waited for SPHP before she was on her way, as well.
Heading ESE through the forest, Crater Rim Trail No. 57 started out flat or climbing slowly. Not much to see except trees, which didn’t bother the American Dingo in the least, as she kept a sharp eye and keen nose out for squirrels. Occasional blue diamonds marked the route.
After 0.33 mile, the trail turned S, climbing more rapidly near an edge. Lupe caught glimpses of cliffs high on Paulina Peak’s N face. However, she lost sight of them when the trail veered SW. Ahead, a long straight stretch rose steeply through the forest. Actually, it wasn’t that bad, but sure felt steep after yesterday’s workout on South Sister!
The trail eventually curved S, then E, climbing more slowly again. Lupe reached a much better viewpoint where the same cliffs were visible.
For a little way, the trail trended SE near big drop-offs, or behind a low ridge of sandy soil that ran along them. Down in the Newberry Caldera, Paulina Lake was sometimes visible off to the N.
Crater Rim Trail No. 57 made a second foray SW, but this stretch wasn’t as long or as steep as the earlier one had been. The trail turned E again.
Loop was somewhere N of Paulina Peak’s lower W summit, when the guy and the brown dog appeared again, heading this way. Lupe got to meet Daisy. Slender and spry, Daisy was 12 years old, and still climbing mountains! She’d already been to the top of Paulina Peak.
After bidding Daisy adieu, wishing her happy trails, Lupe kept going. Displays began to appear about disappearing whitebark pine forests. The placards said whitebark pines were dominant on Paulina Peak, but increasingly rare throughout much of their former range.
As Loop continued up the mountain, it seemed that the displays were in the wrong order. SPHP got an education on the plight of the whitebark pines in reverse. Meanwhile, Lupe came to more viewpoints.
By now, Lupe was already quite high on the mountain. Climbing more slowly again, Crater Rim Trail No. 57 continued E near the N edge. A high flat ridge jutting out to the N turned out not to be the summit. The trail turned SE. A clearing was on the R (S), when Loopster reached a junction with Paulina Peak Trail No. 51.
Only 0.25 mile to the summit! Abandoning Crater Rim Trail No. 57, which veered off to the SW here, Lupe continued SE on Trail No. 51. Whitebark pine displays appeared at regular intervals.
Views N of Paulina Peak kept improving. In addition to Paulina Lake, East Lake could now be seen down in the Newberry Caldera, too, along with the lower end of the Big Obsidian Flow.
Near the end, Lupe could see a railing along the upper edge of the next cliff to the SE. Two more whitebark pine displays were along the final short, steep stretch of Trail No. 51.
6:49 PM, 63ºF, Paulina Peak (7,984 ft.) – Shadows were lengthening when Lupe arrived at a parking lot. Several vehicles and half a dozen people were here. The big views were toward the N and NW, but Lupe’s first order of business was to tag Paulina Peak’s true summit, a collection of boulders capping a 20 foot high hill just W of the parking lot.
The true summit was easy to identify. One big rock in particular was a good foot higher than any of the others. Not a roomy perch, but Lupe easily scrambled up there.
Paulina Peak was easy, SPHP! Glad we did this!
Me too, Loop! Except that now I’m all depressed about whitebark pines.
And I’ll be all depressed, too, if you forgot to bring a chocolate coconut bar again, SPHP. Please tell me that you remembered to bring one!
Fear not! Not going to fail you twice in a row, Looper! Got one in the pack. Shall we find a spot to split it?
More vehicles and people were arriving. Paulina Peak was sort of busy. A very short use trail ran from the NE end of the parking lot over to a small, exposed viewpoint without a railing where both lakes and more of the Big Obsidian Flow were in sight.
Hoping to find a quiet spot to split the chocolate coconut bar, Lupe and SPHP arrived at this viewpoint moments after a terrible tragedy struck a family with children. Oblivious to the danger, an angry young girl flung her stuffed animal in midst of a tantrum. In shock and horror, she then burst into tears, weeping bitterly after seeing it disappear over the cliff.
Devastated, the girl and her family quickly departed, before some other unforeseen evil could strike. Seeing SPHP splitting the chocolate coconut bar with Lupe, a much calmer girl asked SPHP if she could give Lupe a piece? Her mother was dubious, but let her do so. Both were surprised by the polite and dainty manner in which the Carolina Dog took it from the girl’s fingers, prior to making short work of it.
Mom was happy! The girl was happy! Even SPHP was happy. Lupe licked her chops.
Wow! SPHP, did you notice how happy they were just because I ate a piece of chocolate coconut bar?
Yup. The girl thought feeding you was fun.
Oh, it is fun, SPHP! I certainly enjoyed it! Got any more chocolate coconut bars? We could make money doing this! You provide chocolate coconut bars (at a decent profit, of course!) to anyone who wants to feed a Carolina Dog, and I’ll eat them. Why, we could get rich doing this!
And you could be the size of 3 normal Carolina Dogs, and die of chocolate coconut bar poisoning, too!
SPHP’s earlier fears that Paulina Peak might be lost in a cloud of thick smoke from wildfires had been partially correct. Especially bad toward the horizons, smoke was visible in all directions, yet the air seemed quite a bit clearer locally. Lupe checked out the rest of the summit region.
A hazy plain beyond low forested hills was about all there was to see to the S or E, and trees hid the views to the W. Close to where the road came up, there was an outhouse, and a Paulina Peak Overlook sign.
Half an hour before sunset, a small crowd eagerly awaited the big event along the N rim of the lookout. Evidently, sunset from Paulina Peak was a big deal. Half a dozen people had fancy, expensive cameras with huge lenses and tripods. Best views locally were of Paulina and East Lakes plus the Big Obsidian Flow, but that wasn’t what they were here for.
A clear day would provided a terrific view of the Cascade Range. Off to the NW, Mount Bachelor (9,065 ft), South Sister (10,358 ft.), Middle Sister (10,047 ft.), and North Sister (10,085 ft.) were all lined up. And way off to the N, Mount Hood (11,239 ft.) stood barely detectable in the smoke on the edge of vision.
Unfortunately, drifting in from the W, the smoke seemed to be getting worse. As the sun sank toward the murk, Lupe visited various vantage points for scenic effect.
I don’t know, Loop! Not a cloud in the sky, and smoky. Too bad, but I think everyone is waiting in vain tonight. Doubt there’s going to be much of a sunset at all. Want to head back while we’ve still got some light?
Another big day tomorrow, SPHP? Like South Sister was?
Hope so, Loop! Depends on the smoke. Might just drive to the coast.
Well, I suppose we may as well head back then.
15 minutes before sunset, while the crowd still waited, Lupe took a final look at South Sister, where she’d been only yesterday. The Carolina Dog then started back down to Crater Rim Trail No. 57, where twilight faded among the ancient whitebark pines of Paulina Peak. (8:29 PM, 61ºF)
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GPS Track by T J Kodras (8-16-21)
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