Day 17 of Lupe’s 3rd Summer of 2021 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast!
9:38 AM, 52ºF, USFS Road No. 040 pullout 0.15 mile SW of the Sleeping Beauty trailhead – Before midnight there’d been stars every time Lupe wanted out of the RAV4, but by daybreak there had been a change. Overcast! Low clouds. Not good. SPHP had spent a few hours on the trip journal. Completely caught up now, but no improvement outside.
Our usual dilemma, Loopster. Sit here and wait, hoping against hope for blue skies, simply go for it, or just forget it entirely, and move on?
Not raining. We might as well climb the mountain, since we’re already here, SPHP. Sleeping Beauty (4,907 ft.) won’t take long, will it?
Shouldn’t, Loop. 1,400 feet of elevation gain over 1.4 miles. Trail all the way. Just afraid it will turn out like Sunrise Peak yesterday, and we won’t see a thing.
And I suppose I’ll have to put up with you and your huckleberries again.
Huckleberries! That’s right! The ones on the way to Sunrise Peak had been at their juicy height of scrumptiousness. A continuation of SPHP’s newly adopted huckleberry diet was an attractive proposition regardless of what the weather might be like.
You know, I believe you’re right, Looper! Let’s climb the mountain!
Leaving the excellent pullout SPHP had discovered yesterday evening, Lupe trotted along USFS Road No. 040 to the Sleeping Beauty trailhead where Trail No. 037 headed NNE into the forest.
Trail No. 37 set out as a pleasant path winding through a leafy forest. Lupe was soon climbing steadily. She’d gone only a little way, when she came to a large chunk of deadfall over the trail. Way over the trail, that is, like suspended 9 or 10 feet above it.
Even SPHP didn’t have to duck.
My kind of deadfall, Loopster! Don’t run into it very often.
Couldn’t run into it if you tried, SPHP!
Lupe went on. Naturally, a light mist soon began to fall. No biggie, just enough to get everything damp and dripping. Might as well enjoy some of those juicy, moist huckleberries! However, the bushes along Trail No. 37 weren’t the right type. No huckleberries at all!
You tricked me, mangy Dingo!
Mangy! I’ll have you know, I’m well-groomed, SPHP. See to it personally every day with my giant pink tongue. You on the other paw …
Let’s not go there, sweet puppy! You have to admit, though, that there’s nary a huckleberry along this trail.
And how was I supposed to know that, SPHP? Dingoes aren’t huckleberry experts. We don’t even like them! I just assumed since Sunrise Peak had gobs of them that there would be plenty here, too. Just like you did!
Lupe’s climb continued. No clearings, no views, not even misting any more, just forest. Steepest in the middle part of 1,000 feet of elevation gain, the trail eventually leveled out at a big saddle. Loop was now only a little way NW of Sleeping Beauty, which although nearly another 400 feet higher, still wasn’t in sight.
Upon reaching the saddle, the trail turned E. Within minutes, Lupe was climbing again, this time traversing a steep slope.
The Carolina Dog came to a series of sharp switchbacks. At the first turn, a clearing provided a glimpse of a huge rocky knob way up the slope. The second switchback came at the base of a giant wall of rock. The third featured more rock formations.
Although the mountain was becoming more interesting, the bad news was that Lupe was climbing right up into the clouds. Getting foggy!
After the fourth switchback, the American Dingo got a better view of the rock formations above. Practically cliffs! Exactly how the trail would get her up there wasn’t clear.
The answer came at the end of the fifth and final switchback. Instead of a sharp, narrow turn here like all the previous ones, the trail widened out. Beyond this point, rock walls that must have taken an eternity to build enclosed the path as Lupe wound up a series of stony terraces.
The top of the mountain wasn’t much farther. Several big knobs could be seen arrayed along an unusually lumpy summit region.
Beyond the last of the terraces, the trail made a short steep climb up to a little notch.
The notch was a cramped narrow spot along the summit ridge. A quick scramble to the NE (L) got Loop up to some rocks where the ridge was a little wider and more open.
This still wasn’t the top, though. A path continued NE past a few trees to another little scramble.
11:10 AM, 42ºF, Sleeping Beauty (4,907 ft.) – Skunked again! No mist, but a thick fog enveloped the mountain as Lupe reached the apparent summit. The path leveled out, passing between two stony ridges, the ridge on the R (SE) only half as high as the one on the L. Another high spot, which couldn’t have been much lower, was visible off to the E.
Well, shucks! Whose nutty idea was it to come up here in such conditions anyway, Loop?
Ours, SPHP! It was a joint decision.
I blame the huckleberries, Looper. The ones that don’t exist!
We could console ourselves with a chocolate coconut bar, SPHP.
Might as well, but not until you get up on that highest ridge, Loop.
Close, but no banana! No chocolate coconut bar, either. C’mon silly Dingo, get up there!
Alright, I’m at the top! Why did we come here, anyway, SPHP? What was the big attraction?
Why, for the spectacular view you’re currently enjoying of Mount Adams, of course!
Mount Adams (12,276 ft.) seems a bit hazy at the moment, if you don’t mind me saying so, SPHP! What direction should I be looking?
NE, Loop. It’s a giant volcano. You can’t miss it!
And yet, somehow, I am, SPHP.
On a day like today, you have to use your mind’s eye, Loopster. Close your real eyes and concentrate! Go all Zen Dingo! Tell me when you see it!
Oh, yes! There it is, SPHP! Wow! Amazing!
What does Mount Adams look like, Looper? Describe it. I’ll take notes so I can include the description in your post about Sleeping Beauty later on.
OK! Mount Adams is enormous, SPHP! Truly incredible!
Yes, yes! What else?
And looks so delicious …
Delicious? That’s an odd description for a mountain, Loop, especially for a volcano. How so?
SPHP, you aren’t going to believe this, but Mount Adams is shaped like a massive bar, rich with chocolately coconut goodness!
I might have known.
Good! Glad you understand me, SPHP! Now I have a question for you …
By all means, Looper! Appears chocolate coconut bar time is upon us!
In no time at all, the chocolate coconut bar did resemble Mount Adams – gone for good!
Despite virtually non-existent hopes, the American Dingo hung around on Sleeping Beauty awaiting a Mount Adams miracle. Lupe checked out various perches. She peered down the trail, which went farther beyond the summit, but there didn’t appear to be any reason to follow it.
A cold breeze sprang up out of the SW, making conditions less tolerable. More than half an hour gone by, and not the slightest hint that the fog might dissipate.
Might as well call it, Loop!
Heading SW along the short little trek back down to the notch, a massive rock formation was momentarily visible some distance away. It looked every bit as high as where Lupe was. Maybe a good 10 feet higher!
Once below the notch, Loopster tried to investigate, but didn’t get far. However, she did get close enough to see that something was up there.
Took the assistance of the camera’s telephoto lens to see what it was.
Looks like an old railing, Loop!
Oh, like the one on Sunrise Peak, SPHP?
Yeah, I think so. Must have been a fire lookout here, too, at one time.
Ought to be a way to get over there then, SPHP!
Couldn’t find it, though. Not in the fog.
If we’re ever back this way on a sunny day, I guess we can check it out then, SPHP, along with that spectacular view of Mount Adams!
Maybe so! A happy thought! With reason enough to return some day, Lupe started down the winding path among the rock walls and terraces. (End 12:23 PM, 55ºF)
Once back at the RAV4, Lupe soon hit the road. Naturally, the afternoon turned sunny by the time she reached the Columbia River. SPHP pulled over to the side of the highway.
Crossing the railroad tracks, Loopster saw lots of people parasailing out on the river. A strong wind was blowing out of the W, evidently coming from the narrow gap where the Colombia River flowed through the mountains. The sky looked darker over that way.
To the SE, blue skies, white clouds! The town of Hood River was visible on the S bank.
Oregon, SPHP! Looks like fun!
That it does, Looper! But we aren’t quite done with Washington yet.
And with that, Lupe and SPHP returned to the RAV4, and drove W into the storm.
Links:
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Sleeping Beauty GPS Track by Jason O’Connell (9-5-21)
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