Lupe had already had a great day in the Laramie Mountains of Wyoming! She’d gotten an early start and climbed The Summit (8,880 ft.), Leg Benchmark (9,055 ft.), and Pole Mountain (9,040 ft.). SPHP had more peakbagging exploits in mind for her, but rain showers had delayed her start for Peak 8840. It was OK. Lupe and SPHP ate lunch in the G6 while waiting for the rain to end.
The sun came out. It was time to go (3:24 PM, 59°F)! The G6 was parked at the intersection of USFS Roads No. 703 & 714. Lupe and SPHP got out, and crossed the terrible cattle guard where No. 703 continued N. The cattle guard was in such bad shape, SPHP hadn’t even dared to take the G6 across it.
Peak 8840 was an easy peakbagging goal. It was only a mile N of the G6. Lupe could follow No. 703 (Pilot Hill Road) almost all the way there. Peak 8840 wasn’t much of a peak, just a high spot along a big ridge. Lupe was already up on the ridge, so she would only gain 200 feet of elevation. Lupe was going to Peak 8840, anyway. Peakbagging doesn’t always have to be an ordeal!
The road wound around a bit as it went over a sparsely forested rise. On the other side of the hill, No. 703 continued N. To the NNW, Lupe saw a big hill with several towers on top.
The trudge N on dirt road No. 703 wasn’t too exciting. Although big clouds could still be seen off in various directions, it was sunny and kind of hot out. The ridge Lupe was on was 0.25 mile wide, and even more in some places. No. 703 went around the E side of the hill with the towers on it, gaining elevation slowly along the way.
The road leveled out when Lupe got NE of the towers on the hill. It was so sunny and warm, Lupe and SPHP took a break under a big pine tree a short distance W of the road. SPHP put on sunscreen, and then consulted the topo map. Peak 8840 had to be at the top of the long gentle slope now visible to the NE on the other side of No. 703.
Lupe and SPHP returned to No. 703 and kept going. Before long, the road started curving NW on its way to Pilot Hill, still 1.75 miles away. Pilot Hill (8,859 ft.) was actually a bit higher than Peak 8840. Lupe would have gone there, too, except Pilot Hill wasn’t in the Medicine Bow National Forest. SPHP wasn’t sure there was legal access, and didn’t care to walk all the way over there to find out.
Where No. 703 turned NW, Lupe and SPHP left the road. Despite being in the national forest, there was a barbed wire fence near the road. Lupe and SPHP slipped under it. Lupe trotted up the long grassy slope toward the summit of Peak 8840. It was an easy, if unspectacular, hike.
Nearing the summit, SPHP turned around to look at the view. Suddenly the need for speed was apparent! Although it was still warm and sunny out on Peak 8840, a big cloud was approaching from the SW. Rain was pouring from it. The cloud was still miles away, but wouldn’t take too long to get here. Lupe and SPHP started hurrying toward the highest point at the end of the long slope.
The summit proved to be right where it looked like it would be. Several big dead pine trees were standing there. NE beyond the summit, the ground sloped down only slightly toward a long snow drift a couple of feet deep. Beyond the snow drift was the living forest that lined the N edge of the mountain.
SPHP wasn’t entirely convinced right away that Lupe had made it to the true summit of Peak 8840. Clearly there wasn’t any higher ground to the S, W or N, but a ridge extended out to the E from the summit. It wasn’t possible to see far enough to rule out higher points along the E ridge.
Despite the approaching storm, Lupe and SPHP made a hasty exploration of the E ridge. There weren’t any higher points on it than the summit Lupe had already been to. However, there were some much better viewpoints. Lupe and SPHP went all the way to the E end of the ridge. Near the end, on the S side, Lupe came to a well-constructed cairn of reddish/pinkish rocks.
Lupe posed for a couple of photos on the reddish/pinkish rock cairn with nice views to the S in the background. Then Lupe checked out the views from the N side of the E ridge.
With the exploration of the E ridge complete, Lupe and SPHP hastened back to the summit of Peak 8840. There wasn’t much time to lose. The storm was getting closer. Lupe returned to Pilot Hill Road and made for the G6.
For the last 10 or 15 minutes, Lupe and SPHP got sprinkled on. Thunder could be heard in the distance, although Lupe saw no lightning. Less than a minute after reaching the G6 (4:57 PM, 50°F), the rain hit. It wasn’t a cloudburst, but it rained steadily for 15 minutes. Lupe was safe and dry in the G6.
The rain eased up, but didn’t stop entirely. SPHP started the G6 and drove E on USFS Road No. 714. The day was now wearing on, but Lupe had one more peakbagging goal left ahead of her – Eagle Rock (8,320 ft.).
The first views of Eagle Rock weren’t very encouraging. It looked very rocky, and perhaps impossible for Lupe to climb. SPHP stopped the G6 0.5 mile WSW of Eagle Rock to wait for the rain to clear. SPHP hoped Lupe would see a rainbow. A double rainbow started to form, but faded before it really became distinct.
Lupe and SPHP explored a group of big rocks in a grassy field SW of the road while raindrops continued to splash down sporadically. Lupe was perfectly happy sniffing around. SPHP continued to contemplate Eagle Rock.
Even after the rain completely ended, there continued to be big clouds around. Now they were off to the N. Thunder could occasionally be heard. Slowly the situation calmed down. SPHP found a place to park the G6 at a small pullout along No. 714.1F less than 100 feet N of its intersection with No. 714 (6:40 PM, 44°F).
Lupe and SPHP left the G6 and followed No. 714.1F going N toward the W side of Eagle Rock. No. 714.1F went through a strange area where there was a maze of little roads. This looked like an abandoned campground, or at least a dispersed camping area with a number of sites. Big mud puddles covered the road in some places. Some of the puddles were fed by small streams trickling out of a marshy aspen forest.
Before long, No. 714.1F climbed out of the aspen forest and into the pines. When SPHP figured Lupe had gone far enough N, it was time to turn E to start the climb up the short, but steep slope to Eagle Rock. Soon Lupe was quite high up on the mountain.
It had been apparent from a distance that the top of Eagle Rock consisted of a line of very rocky and distinct high points, each crowned by stacks of large, rounded boulders. Even from near the top, though, it wasn’t entirely clear which of these high points was the true summit. SPHP could rule out the high points toward the S, but depending on where one was, either the middle or N high points looked like the summit.
Lupe visited the middle high point first. Slowly and carefully, Lupe and SPHP also worked around to competing high points farther N. The SE face of Eagle Rock was virtually a cliff, but it was possible to maneuver around on the ridgeline or just to the W of it. In truth, Lupe never got right up on top of the very highest rocks, but she got within 5 or 10 feet each time – close enough for Dingo work!
Scrambling around among the boulders on Eagle Rock was a lot of fun. It was certainly a much more interesting summit than Peak 8840 had been. SPHP was pleased with how very close Lupe was able to get to the absolute tops of the very highest rocks. Even though she technically fell a little bit short, Lupe was definitely claiming Eagle Rock as a peakbagging success!
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