{"id":1834,"date":"2015-09-22T08:10:46","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T14:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=1834"},"modified":"2019-04-09T19:18:55","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T01:18:55","slug":"laramie-peak-wyoming-8-9-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=1834","title":{"rendered":"Laramie Peak, Wyoming (8-9-15)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A post about August 9, 2015, Day 1 of Lupe’s grand Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation which took her to parts of Wyoming, Colorado and\u00a0a new Lupe state – Utah!<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally the long-delayed day for the start of Lupe’s grand Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation arrived!\u00a0 The trip had been postposed by the terrible injury Lupe suffered to her\u00a0left front leg\u00a0on Black Hills, SD Expedition No. 135<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to Peak 6820<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0& Crooks Tower<\/a><\/span> (7,137 ft.)<\/span><\/strong> on 6-27-15.\u00a0 She had run straight into a downed 5-strand barbed wire fence in Trebor Draw\u00a0and gotten all cut up.\u00a0 Thankfully, lead emergency veterinarian Dr. Erin Brown<\/a><\/strong><\/span> at the\u00a0Emergency Veterinarian\u00a0Hospital\u00a0in Rapid City was available late that Saturday night to stitch\u00a0up\u00a0the gaping\u00a0wound on Lupe’s leg.<\/p>\n

Lupe had then spent a mostly very dull July and early August encouraged to do as little as possible while her leg was healing.\u00a0 Other than a trip to Cascade<\/strong> Falls<\/strong><\/span><\/a> on Xochitl’s birthday, nothing very fun had happened to the increasingly discouraged Dingo.\u00a0 So Lupe was surprised and hopeful, when SPHP got up a little after 4:00 AM on the morning of 8-9-15, and started loading the G6 with the small mountain of supplies that had been sitting in the living room.<\/p>\n

Packing the G6 seemed to take a long time.\u00a0 SPHP kept remembering additional things that needed to be brought along or done before departure.\u00a0 Lupe, already perched up on her stack\u00a0of supplies, pillows and blankets in\u00a0the G6\u00a0began to wonder if anything was really going to happen or not.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe became bored in the G6 waiting for her great summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation to begin while SPHP kept thinking of more things to do before departure.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was nearly 10:00 AM, by the time SPHP backed the G6 out of the driveway.\u00a0 Although Lupe’s perch in the front passenger seat was arranged the way it normally was on Lupe’s prior vacations, at first Lupe didn’t seem to remember that this meant something great was about to happen.\u00a0 It was over a year since returning from her 2014 Dingo Vacation to the Canadian Rockies and Beartooth Mountains, a very long time to Lupe.\u00a0 She didn’t start getting excited\u00a0until she was already on the highway and saw cows to bark at.\u00a0 She sprang into action with\u00a0her usual deafening enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

The sky was overcast in the Black Hills, but Lupe and SPHP drove into sunshine leaving the hills.\u00a0 At Mule Creek Junction in Wyoming, SPHP stopped long enough at the rest area to snap a quick photo of Lupe and the cloud still hanging over the Black Hills in the distance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lupe at Mule Creek Junction, Wyoming. A last look back towards home at the big cloud still hanging over the Black Hills, SD in the distance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe by-passed Lusk, WY by taking the more scenic Hwy 270 to Lance Creek and then S to Manville, WY.\u00a0 A few miles before reaching Manville, Lupe and SPHP stopped for a short break at some interesting rock formations.<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe near the rock formations along Hwy 270 N of Manville, WY.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Manville, Lupe went\u00a0to Douglas, WY and then S on Hwy 94.\u00a0 Hwy 94 turned into a gravel road well before reaching Esterbrook.\u00a0 Lupe was\u00a0on her way to her first peakbagging goal of her Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation – Laramie Peak<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(10,272 ft.)<\/strong><\/span>, the highest mountain in the Laramie Range.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lupe near Laramie Peak. Photo looks SSE.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Laramie<\/a>
Laramie Peak from the NNW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe WNW of Laramie Peak, Wyoming.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Lupe N of Eagle Peak<\/span><\/a> (9,167 ft.)<\/span><\/strong>, which is about 4 miles W of Laramie Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shortly before reaching Friend Park Campground, there was a left turn that led up a hill to the Friend Park Trailhead.\u00a0 Only 2 other vehicles were at the dusty trailhead when Lupe arrived.\u00a0 The owners of one vehicle returned while Lupe was still at the trailhead.\u00a0 They told SPHP they had gone quite a distance up the trail to Laramie Peak, but they had children with them and had to turn back before reaching the summit.\u00a0 There was a $5.00 fee required to hike the trail.<\/p>\n

It was 4:02 PM when Lupe started up the Laramie Peak Trail.\u00a0 The trail goes through a pine forest nearly all the way to the summit.\u00a0\u00a0The first half mile or so on the way\u00a0to Friend Creek\u00a0was relatively flat, and may have even lost a little elevation.\u00a0 Although the area looked like it had been very dry recently, Lupe and SPHP were glad to see that Friend Creek still had pretty good flow in it.<\/p>\n

Soon after crossing the bridge over Friend Creek, the trail started to climb steadily.\u00a0 Switchbacks helped to slow the rate of ascent to some degree, but the trail was fairly steep all the rest of the way up the mountain.\u00a0 Occasional very small streams crossed the trail, and at one more point the trail came near Friend Creek again.\u00a0 A sign said something about a waterfall, but there weren’t any notable falls apparent from the trail.<\/p>\n

As Lupe gained elevation, now and then there were views of a high ridge to the NW.\u00a0 It wasn’t until well up on the mountain that some glimpses of a large valley to the SW came into view.\u00a0 Most of the time, the forest hid the views pretty effectively.\u00a0 About 3\/4 of the way up, Lupe met a couple of women coming down the mountain with a little black and white dog named Decker.<\/p>\n

Decker liked Lupe and didn’t want to leave when the women continued down the mountain after chatting briefly with SPHP.\u00a0 Lupe wasn’t terribly gracious.\u00a0 She didn’t want to be sniffed.\u00a0 Lupe\u00a0growled at Decker.\u00a0 Decker wasn’t discouraged.\u00a0 The women had to come back up to retrieve Decker before they could continue on down.\u00a0 Decker and the two women were the only other party Lupe and SPHP encountered anywhere along the trail.<\/p>\n

About 45 minutes before sunset, Lupe and SPHP finally reached the top of Laramie Peak.\u00a0 It was disappointing to see how much human\u00a0junk was there.\u00a0 There were metal sheds, antennas, solar panels, wires and cables left behind from apparently abandoned communications systems.\u00a0 Fortunately there didn’t appear to be any broken glass, although there were a few boards with nails sticking out of them.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A lot of human debris from old communication systems greets the eye on the approach to the summit of Laramie Peak. A disappointing find!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe on Laramie Peak. This photo looks S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>Fortunately the summit of Laramie Peak was very rocky and the forest did not extend up onto the rocks.\u00a0 The summit was pretty rugged.\u00a0 There were big rounded boulders of reddish rock at the very top.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP worked around the various boulders and rock outcroppings exploring different parts of the summit area.\u00a0 Since there weren’t trees at the top, there were some really great views in most directions.<\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>
Looking SE from Laramie Peak.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"View<\/a>
View to the SSW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Looking<\/a>
Looking NE from Laramie Peak. A high ridge of solid rock and boulders separated the E side of the summit area from the W. Unfortunately more junk marred the otherwise terrific view.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe couldn’t get up to the very tippy-top of Laramie Peak, because the last couple of\u00a0boulders at the top were just way too large for her to jump up onto.\u00a0 She did get very close though.\u00a0 Close enough for Dingo work to claim success!\u00a0 Lupe seemed very pleased to have climbed Laramie Peak, a considerable trek for the first mountain of her Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation with nearly 2,800 feet of elevation gain.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lupe near the some of the very highest boulders on Laramie Peak. Photo looks N.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Yeah,<\/a>
Yeah, Lupe didn’t quite make it up there. Shown are the very top boulders on Laramie Peak. Photo looks E.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was one structure up on Laramie Peak that looked very interesting.\u00a0 A short distance to the NW of the very summit was what appeared\u00a0to be a viewing platform\u00a0with a metal ladder leading up to it.\u00a0 The platform would have been a great place from which to take a look around.\u00a0 It would offer great views to the NW,\u00a0a direction\u00a0difficult to see from where Lupe and SPHP were.<\/p>\n

Lupe started heading toward the viewing platform, but the\u00a0way was full of really big boulders separated by equally big drops.\u00a0 With the sun due to set soon, SPHP decided it wasn’t going to be worth the effort to get over there.\u00a0 Even though the platform wasn’t very far away, there was no sense getting stranded away from the trail in the dark.\u00a0 The terrain was just too rough for that!<\/p>\n

\"Lupe<\/a>
Lupe with the high viewing platform up on Laramie Peak visible beyond her. This platform would have offered great views to the N and NW, which were not easily seen from the rest of the summit area where Lupe and SPHP were.\u00a0 Photo looks NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe stayed up on top of Laramie Peak while the sun set.\u00a0 The view struck SPHP rather strangely.\u00a0 Around the mountain were still largely unspoiled scenes from the Old Wild West, conjuring up in the mind images of vast empty tracts of land where\u00a0huge buffalo, deer and antelope herds roamed free.\u00a0\u00a0It\u00a0couldn’t have looked much\u00a0different during\u00a0the days of Indians, tipis, cowboys, covered wagons, cavalry and forts.\u00a0 But those\u00a0storied days, which\u00a0still really aren’t all that long ago,\u00a0will never return.\u00a0 They have passed into a history no one has any living memory of now.<\/p>\n

Contrasting with the images of the\u00a0Old Wild West was the\u00a0debris on the mountain.\u00a0 Among it all,\u00a0an abandoned American flag hung limply from an old antenna.\u00a0 Now and then the sun lit\u00a0the flag\u00a0up, as it fluttered briefly in a breeze, only to droop again as if it were exhausted.\u00a0 None of this stuff\u00a0served any purpose any more.\u00a0 It was a monument to the wasteful despoiling of the natural world by humanity for temporary gain.\u00a0\u00a0It looked and felt like national decline and the end of the American dream.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
An abandoned American flag droops among the debris at the top of Laramie Peak at sunset.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sunset was still pretty, though.\u00a0 Lupe and SPHP spent the last few moments together watching the sun disappear from view.\u00a0 When it was gone, it was time to start down the mountain.\"Sunset<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A final look back toward the summit of Laramie Peak after Lupe and SPHP started down the trail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About 1\/3 of the way down, twilight had faded to the point where SPHP had to bring out the little flashlight.\u00a0 It was 10:54 PM when Lupe reached the G6 again.<\/p>\n

In the middle of the\u00a0night, Lupe finally seemed to understand that her great Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation had really begun.\u00a0 She was all excited, and not the least bit sleepy.\u00a0 She ran around sniffing like a\u00a0Dingo possessed\u00a0in\u00a0a huge dark\u00a0field surrounded by even blacker forests.\u00a0 Stars blazed above her in a moonless sky.<\/p>\n

At last, she was done.\u00a0 Lupe returned to SPHP.\u00a0 She fell asleep on SPHP’s lap.\u00a0 The night grew chilly.\u00a0 A warm Dingo felt good.\"Sunset<\/a><\/p>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next Adventure<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s 2015 Wyoming, Colorado & Utah Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0Dingo Vacations Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span> or Master Adventure Index<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A post about August 9, 2015, Day 1 of Lupe’s grand Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation which took her to parts of Wyoming, Colorado and\u00a0a new Lupe state – Utah! Finally the long-delayed day for the start of Lupe’s grand Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation arrived!\u00a0 The trip had been postposed by the terrible injury … Continue reading Laramie Peak, Wyoming (8-9-15)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[274],"tags":[105,106,26,132,104,11,275],"class_list":["post-1834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2015-wyoming-colorado-utah","tag-american-dingo","tag-carolina-dog","tag-dingo-vacations","tag-laramie-peak","tag-lupe","tag-peakbagging","tag-wyoming"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/P1060520.jpg?fit=1651%2C1238&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1834"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20830,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834\/revisions\/20830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}