Part 2 of Day 32 of Lupe’s 2nd Summer of 2022 Dingo Vacation to Canada & Alaska!
2:37 PM, 51ºF, West Galbraith Peak (4,560 ft.) –
Alrighty, Loop! Sad, but true, summit hour is over. Ready to move on?
I was enjoying just hanging out up here, SPHP, but I suppose we better get going if we want to make it to Peak 5050.
Agree completely, Looper. This is fabulous, but Peak 5050 will be, too!
Let me tag the summit one more time, SPHP, then we’ll be on our way.
After a brief farewell return to West Galbraith Peak’s high point, Lupe started down the mountain’s NW slope. The valley W of the mountain was the Carolina Dog’s first objective. 1,000+ feet of steep scree had to be negotiated before she’d get there.
As usual, SPHP was slow as molasses, giving Lupe plenty of time to enjoy the spectacular views during the descent. While she was still fairly high, Imnavait Mountain (3,702 ft.) was in sight way out on the North Slope. Peak 4916 dominated the line of silvery mountains 2 miles NW, while Peak 4500 crowned the big ridge on the opposite side of the valley the American Dingo was heading for.
Although aided by lanes of tundra during the lower part of the descent, it still took SPHP more than an hour to reach the valley floor. Pathetic! Ever a true friend, Lupe didn’t complain. In truth, she didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry herself. Upon reaching the valley, she chose to relax for a while near a small stream.
After sharing some beef jerky with the American Dingo, SPHP munched on honey roasted peanuts.
Going to be a long, long day, Looper, but shouldn’t be hard to get to Peak 5050 from here. Think we just need to head up this valley until we reach the pass right next to it, then up we go!
A long day, but a gorgeous one, SPHP! Look at how much blue sky there is now! Hasn’t been this sunny since we got to the Brooks Range.
Yeah! Best weather in nearly 2 weeks, Loop! Wonder how close we really are to the Gates of the Arctic National Park? Wish we had a map. I’m dying to know, now that we’ve decided to do this.
Maps are your department, SPHP. Hope Peak 5050 does turn out to be in the park. Gates of the Arctic NE Peak (5,050 ft.) would be so cool!
That’s for sure! Won’t know, though, until we get back home and I can do some research, Looper. In any case, this is all incredible territory, park or no park. Hard to believe we’re really here.
After a nice rest break, Lupe headed SW up the valley. The first part was sort of steep and a bit rocky. Staying toward the E side was best. Before long, the stream disappeared and the valley widened. Climbing a broad slope of plants with white seed heads, it seemed clear that some kind of a top was just ahead.
Above the white seed head plants, the terrain did begin leveling out. An easy jaunt got Lupe to an enormous pass W of West Galbraith Peak.
Continuing SW, the huge pass became mushy. Saturated with moisture, it threatened to become a sea of mud. Meanwhile, views of the territory Lupe was now approaching were most intriguing.
A long valley did extend SW toward the region where Peak 5050 was, but what SPHP hadn’t expected was the giant gap of gently sloping terrain to the SE. Beyond the gap, the biggest glacier on Mount Kiev (7,775 ft.) was once again in sight.
In order to avoid the mud, Lupe headed for the W side of the pass, then climbed a little way up onto firmer ground. Resuming her SW course, views of the region beyond the SE gap kept getting better and better.
Wow! Look at that, SPHP! We could roam for forever and a day in these big valleys between the mountains.
Yes! Fires the imagination, doesn’t it, Loop? Not a tree in sight! This looks so much like the classic unspoiled Arctic we’ve always dreamed of!
While the view was nearly perfect, it wasn’t completely so. Down by the creek on the way up the valley, Lupe had scared up another small flock of the gray birds with white wings like the ones she’d seen on the way to Imnavait Mountain a week ago. She also seen a few other smaller birds, but that had been it for wildlife.
As Lupe stared out over the vast valleys between the mountains, nothing at all moved. No caribou, fox, musk ox, lynx, or bear in sight. Not even a snowshoe bunny. Stunningly gorgeous, but so empty! So quiet!
Needs more squirrels, SPHP!
Heh, no trees, Loop.
How about some marmots or pikas then, SPHP?
You’d think we’d see something, wouldn’t you, Loopster? But we don’t. C’mon. Onward! Puppy, ho!
Continuing SW, Lupe headed for the valley leading to Peak 5050.
Super easy terrain! Even SPHP made rapid progress while Lupe roamed ahead. Soon she was in the valley, starting the trudge toward the pass that would get her to Peak 5050. Especially in the lower part, the valley was carpeted with brown moss. Near a tiny stream, there were places where the moss was still bright green.
The stream soon vanished. The valley steepened and became rockier. As Lupe approached the pass, SPHP wondered what she would see on the other side?
Surprise! Upon reaching the pass, a second pass was ahead. Beyond a 50 foot drop, the valley Lupe had been following continued higher. This upper section actually drained into a narrow gorge to the R (N).
Peak 5050 was right there, though. All Lupe had to do was get up to that second pass, and she’d be perfectly positioned to climb it. Fortunately, the 50 foot drop wasn’t a sheer one. After a steepish, rocky descent, the American Dingo kept going.
When Lupe got there, the second pass proved to be as big as a football field both in width and length. Continuing across it, Peak 5176 was in view on the far side. A third, slightly higher pass was also in sight, but beyond a much deeper drop into another valley draining N.
Clearly, getting to that third pass would be considerably more difficult, but as much fun as it would be to roam forever, Lupe didn’t need to go any farther. Peak 5050 was immediately NW of this second pass. Still 600 feet higher, only the lower slopes were visible from here.
Heading NW, Lupe attacked the mountain. Tundra-covered slopes gave way to steep scree similar to that experienced on West Galbraith Peak. Utilizing lanes of vegetation whenever possible, Lupe scrambled higher. Once the rate of climb diminished slightly, she angled WSW toward a S ridge where knobs of bedrock were visible.
Upon reaching this ridge, the Carolina Dog had only another 200 feet of elevation gain left to go. The rest of the ascent wasn’t hard at all.
7:09 PM, 47ºF, Peak 5050 – Dark clouds hung over the Brooks Range when Lupe reached the true summit on a short ridge running SW/NE. A reasonably large area of moderately sloping scree surrounded this ridge providing plenty of space to move around. With scarcely a breeze, and sunnier skies N and E, conditions were still quite pleasant.
The views were incredible! 8 miles SW, beyond the third pass that Lupe hadn’t made it to, a long high ridge sporting a line of glaciers was among the first to grab attention.
We’ve seen those glaciers before, SPHP, but from much farther away!
We have, Loopster, from Imnavait Mountain (3,702 ft.). That ridge is Peak 7386. It’s beyond the Itikmalak River valley.
The big glacier on Mount Kiev (7,775 ft.) that had been visible from West Galbraith Peak (4,560 ft.) earlier today was also in view.
Having left the Galbraith Lake campground more than 9 hours ago, Lupe was glad to see a couple patches of brown tundra on Peak 5050’s summit ridge where she could rest. SPHP sat next to her, as the American Dingo made herself comfortable.
Well, we made it to Peak 5050, SPHP! Wonder if we’re in Gates of the Arctic National Park now?
Don’t know, Looper. I’m certain we’re at least seeing it from here when we look SW.
Wouldn’t happen to have another chocolate coconut bar, would you?
Sorry, I don’t, Loop. Didn’t realize we were going to go this far when we set out this morning. Only brought the one we ate on West Galbraith Peak. I’ve got a chocolate chip Cliff bar we can split, though.
That’ll do, SPHP!
Congratulating Lupe on her successful ascent of magnificent Peak 5050, SPHP shook her paw, then shared the Cliff bar with her. Basking now and then in evening sunshine, glory was all around!
Looking back to the NE, West Galbraith Peak (4,560 ft.), looking much lower from here, partially blocked the view of Galbraith Lake. Lake Benchmark Mountain (5,000 ft.) was lined up directly behind it.
Imnavait Mountain (3,702 ft.) and Slope Mountain (4,010 ft.) were still in view, too, way out on Alaska’s North Slope.
Peak 6800 was SE. Nearly 1,000 feet lower than Mount Kiev, which was always up in the clouds only a few miles away, Peak 6800‘s summit was cloud-free.
Sitting together on the biggest patch of brown tundra at the true summit, the sense of remote isolation was profound. Peak 5050 almost felt like a different world, a new, unspoiled world of unknown and unsuspected mysteries, dangers, and epic beauty.
It’s like we could go on forever, and never see anyone again, Loop!
Forever wouldn’t be nearly as long as you think, SPHP, once we ran out of supplies. Speaking of which, I’m famished! I sure hope you brought some!
Lupe had some Taste of the Wild from her silver bowl. SPHP shared some delicious beef jerky with her. Must have been enough to take the edge off her hunger. Eyes grown heavy, for a while the Carolina Dog snoozed on her soft, lofty perch on the N side of the Brooks Range.
Facing WNW toward the setting sun, SPHP sat crunching away on honey roasted peanuts while looking down an arm of the mountain that ended with a plunge into a deep canyon. Beyond the next ridge, a series of long jagged ridges extended from the Brooks Range toward the North Slope where lakes and rivers Lupe had never seen before, not even from Imnavait Mountain, glistened.
Lupe was most likely as close as she ever would be to that unknown land beckoning on this gorgeous late August evening. Technically, this wasn’t a new world, but an ancient, yet still pristine, one. Entirely new to Lupe and SPHP, though, and that was all that mattered.
One thing for sure, days like today are what being the Most High Exalted Dingo of the Arctic Sisterhood is all about, aren’t they, Loopster?
Absolutely, SPHP! If only every day could be like this one! After a 3 year absence, I really have returned to the true Arctic, haven’t I?
Long overdue, but here we are, Loop. And isn’t it grand!
Tragically, summit hour was ending. A final look around, and time to go.
8:14 PM – The spur of the moment decision to venture on to Peak 5050 had been a stupendous success! Still lots more adventure yet to come during the long trek back. While SPHP started down, Lupe lingered on the summit waiting for the signal to come along.
Alrighty, Looper! Onward! Puppy, ho!
The return was amazing! Would have been even better if SPHP’s paws hadn’t started developing blisters. As light slowly faded from the Arctic sky, Lupe led the way for hours, SPHP limping after.
It was pretty dark by the time Lupe made it back to the little stream W of West Galbraith Peak. No need to go over the mountain again. Lupe just kept going down the valley until she could angle NE through the pass S of HP3500.
11:30 PM, N of West Galbraith Mountain – August was nearly over, and the sun had already been down for 1.5 hours, yet there was still a little light in the sky as Lupe emerged from the pass. Off to the N, a rosy glow illuminated the smooth horizon leading to the North Slope.
Should have taken a photo. Waiting for midnight, it was gone. At times, a few lights showed the location of the Galbraith airstrip. A couple of fires at the campground soon went out. In darkness, aided only by the flashlight, what SPHP expected to be an easy downhill march proved to be confusing, rumpled terrain. Weary and ready for it all to end, Lupe soldiered on over one unanticipated minor hill after another.
Finally did end, though. Suddenly the campground access road was just ahead. Upon reaching it, a painful, hobbling success was assured.
8-31-22, 1:11 AM, Galbraith Lake campground – Exhausted, Lupe leapt up onto her pink blanket in the RAV4. Too tired to eat, she was out like a light, happily on her way to Dingo Dreamland where it really is possible to roam toward that unspoiled, ever-beckoning Arctic horizon forever.
Note: Months later, SPHP checked online maps and discovered that Peak 5050 is not in Gates of the Arctic National Park, and did not deserve the proposed name of Gates of the Arctic NE Peak (5,050 ft.). However, Peak 5176 less than a mile SSW is right on the boundary of Gates of the Arctic National Preserve. As the highest mountain along or within the boundary in that region, it would merit the name Gates of the Arctic NE Peak.
Links:
Next Adventure Prior Adventure
Lupe’s Peak 5050 GPS Track (Return)
Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve Map
Lake Benchmark Mountain, Brooks Range, Alaska (8-19-17)
Slope Mountain & Highlights of the Dalton Highway Revisited, Alaska (8-22-17 & 8-23-17)
Imnavait Mountain, North Slope, Alaska (8-22-22)
BLM Dalton Highway Visitor Guide
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