Days 11 & 12 of Lupe’s 2017 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon & Alaska!
Day 11, 8-10-17 – After 3 big days of adventure in a row, Loop and SPHP were both looking forward to taking it easy. Even a rest day would be packed with awesome scenery. Lupe could relax riding in style with splendid views as SPHP made the long drive to Haines, Alaska.
The morning began sunny and bright. Shortly after 8:00 AM, a steady stream of cars, trucks, and buses commenced on South Klondike Highway No. 2. Canadian Customs must have opened. SPHP fired up the G6, and Lupe was underway. Loop had no problem getting through customs – she never does. For the first time ever, though, the customs officer asked to see her current rabies certificate. Everything was in order, and Loopster was northward bound.
With a whole day to get to Haines, Loop had plenty of time for short stops at points of interest along the way. Tutshi Lake was first in line. The Carolina Dog stopped by several viewpoints along the lake’s W shore.
Whitehorse, capitol city of the Yukon, was the first big town Lupe and SPHP had been in for a week since leaving Prince George. Boring stops for supplies and fuel were mandatory. Lupe did enjoy a visit to the S.S. Klondike, a sternwheeler steamship which used to ply the upper Yukon River between Whitehorse and Dawson City.
NW of Whitehorse, SPHP stopped by Takhini Hot Pools, a relatively short detour (6 miles or 10 km) off the North Klondike Highway at the end of Hot Springs Road. The day was sunny and warm (75°F). SPHP had to leave the windows down on the G6 so Loop wouldn’t roast. SPHP spent an hour or more relaxing in the hot springs. Lupe spent it warily eyeing numerous bees buzzing about.
So how was it, SPHP?
The Takhini Hot Pools were great, Looper! Needed that. Not nearly so awesome a setting as Liard Hot Springs and twice the price, but I did enjoy the hot pools and it sure feels wonderful to be clean again!
You sniff better too now, SPHP, so that’s a good thing. Now can we get out of here? I’m lucky I haven’t gotten stung. The G6 has been humming ever since you left. These hot springs stops may be grand for you, but I’m not gettin’ a whole lot out of them.
Yeah, let’s head out. Sorry about the bees and the wait. We’ll keep the windows down for a ways and hopefully lose this swarm pretty quickly. Glad you’re OK.
The bees had thankfully all flown out the windows by the time Looper was back on the Alaska Highway. Finally able to relax again, she enjoyed a long, pleasant cruise W. At Haines Junction, SPHP turned S on Highway No. 3. 20 minutes later, Lupe was at beautiful Kathleen Lake with a view of King’s Throne (6,529 ft.) in Kluane National Park.
Only a little over a year ago, Lupe had climbed King’s Throne on a windy day. It had been a marvelous, though difficult, adventure. Loop and SPHP were the last of the few that had persevered all the way to the summit. The views of Kathleen Lake and the wild mountains to the W had been spectacular!
The Carolina Dog wasn’t going to climb King’s Throne again today, but it was fun to gaze up and remember what a day that had been! Lupe and SPHP took a stroll along the shore of Kathleen Lake, then returned to the G6 to devour a roasted chicken purchased in Whitehorse with a fabulous view of the mountain.
Highway No. 3 S of King’s Throne was a gorgeous drive! Lupe and SPHP had never been here before. The highway was in great condition, like new really, and traffic was sparse. Lupe saw Dezadeash Lake followed by many miles of unspoiled tundra and magnificent mountains. The farther S Lupe and SPHP went, the more snow and ice was seen clinging to these remote and increasingly rugged peaks.
Lupe made quite a few stops to sniff the air. Sometimes she took short walks out onto the vast tundra.
Highway No. 3 eventually went over a pass. On the other side, it was clear the road was about to lose a ton of elevation on the way down into a vast canyon. Before making the descent, SPHP found a place to park. Loop was ready to blow off some steam exploring the pass. The day had been clouding up, making the mountains appear solemn and remote, but the American Dingo had a good time.
After Lupe’s short break from the G6, SPHP drove on down into the canyon. By the time the Carolina Dog reached the bottom, she couldn’t have been much above sea level. Highway No. 3 became No. 7 at the Alaska border. The highway followed the N bank of the braided Klehini River.
The Klehini River proved to be a tributary of the Chilkat River, which flowed SE the rest of the way to Haines. The Chilkat River is known for the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, created to protect the world’s largest concentration of bald eagles. The eagles tend to congregate here in fall and winter. Lupe didn’t see any bald eagles today.
Lupe reached Haines near sundown at the end of what had become an overcast day. Haines was in a fantastic setting on Portage Cove. Towering snow and ice-capped peaks were in view across Chilkoot Inlet. This dark evening, the town itself seemed quiet and small beneath the gray sky. Haines did not look nearly so much like a tourist town as Skagway had. No cruise ships could be seen in port.
Remaining daylight was quickly fading away. A place to park was found along the Chilkoot Inlet. Soon Lupe and SPHP were fading away, too.
Day 12, 8-11-17 – Lupe was up bright and early. Well, sort of. The sky was still thinly overcast, so the morning wasn’t quite as bright as it might have been. Lupe started her day checking out the view of the Chilkoot Inlet. Although it had taken a full day to drive to Haines (at an admittedly leisurely pace), it was odd to think that the Carolina Dog really wasn’t all that far from where she’d started out yesterday morning. Skagway was just up Taiya Inlet, which Lupe could see from here.
The first couple hours of the morning were spent at a pullout along Portage Cove with a view of Haines. This pullout would soon become a favorite spot while in the Haines area.
Lupe had a big adventure planned for today. She was going to climb both Mount Ripinsky (3,675 ft.) and Shakuseyi Peak (3,917 ft.)! It was an ambitious plan, so the American Dingo would need to get a fairly early start.
She couldn’t start too early, though. SPHP had to go shopping first. Not the usual window shopping, but real shopping. With money. After Fraser Peak (5,978 ft.) two days ago, SPHP’s R boot was threatening to disintegrate. Haines didn’t seem to have much of a business district, but SPHP did find a store that was half grocery store, half general store.
So did you get new boots in there, SPHP? You weren’t gone very long.
Nope, not boots, Looper. Did find some new shoes, though. Some sort of running shoes, I think.
Running shoes! Don’t ever remember you doing much in the way of running, SPHP. That’s my specialty.
Well, maybe I’ll take it up. Have a look. Kind of sweet aren’t they?
Why, they are the prettiest little shoes you’ve ever had, SPHP! They could be dancing slippers they look so light. The bright blue and grey look good together. I hope you actually can run in them. We’ll be able to climb ever so many more mountains, if you can pick up the pace!
Hah, we’ll have to see about that! They are rather pretty aren’t they? Merrells, too! Regularly $90 marked down to $54.
Oh, a bargain! I’m still surprised you didn’t get any boots. They look great for racing around, but not so rugged for climbing mountains. Think they’ll last?
Eh, maybe for a while. They did have one great advantage over everything else in there.
What’s that?
They were the only pair of anything in my size. Made for an easy decision. This store had a “no dithering required” selection.
And with that, Lupe was on her way to the Mount Ripinsky trailhead. SPHP found it at the end of Young Street, parking the G6 beneath the shade of some trees nearby instead of in the sandy, exposed parking lot. (9:49 AM, 54°F)
Lupe wasn’t off to much of an early start at all, but at least she was on her way. The first part of the trail followed a level ATV road.
After only a couple hundred yards, the Mount Ripinsky trail left the ATV road going L up into the forest. Here the trail was a wide, well-worn path, which in 150 feet brought Loop to a trailhead kiosk with maps and information.
Beyond the kiosk, the trail soon began to climb and quickly narrowed down to a good single track. Lupe was in an open forest of very tall trees. The forest floor contained some strange plants with huge dark green leaves 2 or 3 feet long and nearly 1.5 feet wide. Devil’s club and other plants were present, too.
Lupe did not run around exploring this forest. She stayed right on the trail, which was probably best, anyway. Early on, there were sometimes wooden stairs or ramps with a sort of shingle-like material fastened to them for better traction. Loop enjoyed running up and down these wooden pathways. The whole forest was quite reminiscent of Lupe’s adventure in the Ancient Forest SE of Prince George, except that the trees here were not nearly as large in circumference as the redcedars of the Ancient Forest had been.
The Mount Ripinsky trail gained elevation steadily for a long way. Loop was soon past the last of the wooden stairs and ramps. The vegetation changed. The strange plants with the huge leaves and Devil’s club gave way to blueberry bushes, a delightful development in SPHP’s opinion.
These blueberry bushes were several feet tall. While walking the trail, SPHP could easily snag delicious, fresh blueberries without even having to stoop over. There were two distinct varieties, the usual purplish blue blueberries and a shinier, dark, nearly black version. Both were sweet and wonderful, with a bit of tartness.
The blueberries slowed progress down quite a bit, as SPHP dilly-dallied at particularly abundant bushes. Lupe kept a watchful eye out for any developments in the forest of interest to Dingoes, but she didn’t even see a squirrel, much less anything as exciting as a bear.
The trail went on and on through the forest. Although the sky remained overcast, the sun managed to shine through to a degree. A cool, muggy atmosphere prevailed. It was hardly warm, but even in only a T-shirt, SPHP was sweating. The humidity was getting to Lupe, too. She became listless and plodded along at SPHP’s heels.
A series of steep climbs were followed by nearly flat sections. Lupe passed by several junctions with trails coming in from the S. She always stayed R at these intersections continuing NW on the Main or North Summit trail, as signs alternatively called it. The Ridge trail intersection came first, followed by junctions with the E and W Piedad trails.
By the time Loopster reached the W Piedad trail intersection she was at close to 2,000 feet elevation and halfway to Mount Ripinsky. So far she hadn’t had views of anything except forest and SPHP greedily devouring blueberries. Nothing much changed for a while longer, but eventually things finally began to open up. Lupe could see two high hills ahead. The more distant one appeared to be above tree line.
The trail returned to the forest as Lupe started up the first hill. Back at the beginning of the Mount Ripinsky trail, the trees had been very tall. Up here, they were all short, apparently stunted by a much harsher climate at this elevation. Approaching the top of the first hill, the stunted forest gave way to steep alpine meadows.
Lupe was finally getting some pretty impressive views.
From the top of the first steep hill, the second one was in view a short distance ahead. Lupe would actually lose a bit of elevation getting to its base, but another steep climb would then ensue.
Near the top of the second hill, the trail was badly eroded. Lupe had no trouble with it, but SPHP struggled to some degree. Nevertheless, both Loop and SPHP were soon on top. This second hill was actually Mount Ripinsky’s lower S summit. The N summit, which was the true summit, was now in view directly ahead.
Mount Ripinsky’s true summit wasn’t much farther now. However, a chilly SW breeze had come up. The clouds were thicker, and the sky was noticeably darker than before. A glance toward the S looked like matters were about to deteriorate further. Rain was coming.
The views might easily disappear completely before Lupe could reach the true summit. Better take a few photos from here, just in case. This open alpine tundra was much more to Lupe’s liking than the forest had been. She was having fun running around, but agreed to cut her romp short to give SPHP a paw.
Much to Lupe’s delight, the saddle leading to Mount Ripinsky’s N summit contained several large snowbanks. A small tarn was present, too. SPHP had gotten to dilly-dally among the blueberry bushes, so Lupe figured she ought to be able to goof around frolicking on the snow for a bit.
Minutes before Lupe reached the true N summit of Mount Ripinsky, a light rain started in. The wind kept blowing more strongly as conditions continued to deteriorate. SPHP resorted to putting on a thermal layer and a rain poncho. Looper just had to endure getting cold and wet.
Making it to the summit of Mount Ripinsky was only half of the plan for the day. Lupe was still supposed to go on to Shakuseyi Peak (3,920 ft.), which was in sight to the NW. SPHP had seen a metal container chained to the top rocks on Mount Ripinsky. No doubt it contained a registry, but between the deteriorating weather and pondering whether it made any sense to continue on to Shakuseyi Peak, SPHP failed to sign it for Looper before she left the summit.
Loop and SPHP made a start for Shakuseyi Peak, but didn’t get far at all before it was pretty clear that an unavoidable loss of hundreds of feet of elevation would be involved. The trail ahead wound along a narrow ridgeline that looked like fun. However, it was still another 2.8 miles to Shakuseyi Peak, and the weather was only getting worse. Lupe would have to retrace every step on the return trip.
The wind started to gust. Rain fell harder. The world was turning gray as more distant high peaks faded from view. It was getting just plain raw and miserable out. Conditions weren’t awful, but they weren’t much fun either. Did Lupe want to go back to the G6?
Finally! I thought you would never ask!
At the mere suggestion, Lupe barked like a nutcase, she leapt at SPHP, she ran in circles.
Already sick of being cold and wet, aye? I’ll take that as a yes.
It was too bad that Shakuseyi Peak had to be abandoned, but under the circumstances, it seemed the only reasonable thing to do. Who knew what was in store? Lupe returned to the summit of Mount Ripinsky, then started back down the trail toward the lower S summit.
Of course, life being what it is, the weather began improving almost as soon as Loop lost appreciable elevation. However, it was hard to know how it would all turn out. This might easily be nothing more than a temporary respite. Other than a dull sense of remorse over not persevering, no further thoughts were devoted to Shakuseyi Peak.
Lupe continued back toward Haines and the trailhead. At least the views hadn’t been totally devoured by fog and rain.
By the time Lupe was back in the forest, the rain had quit. The wind wasn’t blowing down here, either. It warmed up enough so that even going downhill SPHP had to peel off the thermal layer. Oh, well. Lupe made it back to the G6. (5:52 PM, 62°F)
The evening was spent at the now favorite pullout on the N side of Portage Cove with a view of Haines. The rain started in again almost as soon as Lupe and SPHP arrived. Maybe not going on to Shakuseyi Peak hadn’t been a bad decision after all?
The rain continued off and on all evening. Whenever it abated, Loop and SPHP went out for short strolls along the beach. Most of the time, Lupe relaxed in the G6. SPHP made ham and cheese sandwiches. Later on it was cheese and crackers. The American Dingo deemed both sheer brilliance, and eagerly participated.
Beneath gray skies and light rain, a couple of paddleboarders rounded a point and paddled for Haines. The cruise ship Norwegian Sun appeared sailing down Chilkoot Inlet on its way S from Skagway. It did not stop at Haines.
Loop and SPHP took a long snooze, awaking to find that the sun must have set some time ago. Dark clouds hung low in a dim late November sky. The mountains were hidden from view. Another cruise ship sailed S in mist and fog. Brightly lit, it was a bastion of cheer amid the gloom. It also bypassed Haines and was lost from sight. (11:11 PM)
Mount Ripinsky Trailhead Notes
Skyline Trailhead: From Main Street in Haines, take 2nd Avenue N to where Lutak Road veers off to the R. Do not take Lutak Road. Stay straight going uphill on Young Road. Young Road turns to gravel and winds around to the NE ending at a sandy parking lot about 1.7 miles from Main Street next to the ATV road where Lupe started for Mount Ripinsky.
Piedad Trailhead: Main Street becomes Haines Highway No. 7 on the way W out of town. Piedad Road soon appears on the N side of the highway within walking distance of downtown. The Piedad trailhead is at the end of Piedad Road. This is a steeper, shorter route to Mount Ripinsky than the Skyline trail. Higher up, it splits into separate E and W routes before intersecting the main trail. West Piedad trail is the most direct.
Sevenmile Saddle Trailhead: This trailhead is seven miles NW of Haines on the N side of Haines Highway No. 7. This is a steep route which first climbs Shakuseyi Peak (Peak 3920) before continuing on to Mount Ripinsky.
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