The morning of 8-28-15, Day 20 of Lupe’s great Summer of 2015 Dingo Vacation, dawned bright and beautiful. While Lupe started her day playing in the forest near the outlet stream from Spirit Lake in the Uinta Mountains, SPHP had decisions to make. Up until now, Lupe’s vacation had been going pretty much according to plan. The trouble was, Lupe had way more yet to do than time remaining to do it all in.
Before long, SPHP had decided which adventures had to go on the chopping block for this Dingo Vacation, and which would remain. It was time to head out. SPHP called Lupe back to the G6. After just a few fun days in Utah (where she did live “Life Elevated”!), Lupe was going to head N into southwestern Wyoming. Lupe loves riding in the G6, and was ready for whatever adventure lay ahead.
The first part of the drive was a long one on gravel USFS Roads. Lupe left Spirit Lake on USFS Road No. 001. When it reached the intersection with No. 221, instead of taking it E back to the Sheep Creek Geological Loop, SPHP took it N to Wyoming. It was a very pretty drive that took Lupe out of the Uinta Mountains.
Lupe finally reached pavement again when she crossed Hwy 414 between McKinnon and Burnt Fork. N of Hwy 414, a paved road headed NE through scenic ranchlands to meet up with Hwy 530 S of Green River, WY. Heading N on Hwy 530, there was some pretty wild looking territory off to the E toward the N end of Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area.
After a short stop in the town of Green River, WY, Lupe went W on I-80 just 6 miles to Hwy 372. Hwy 372 headed NW paralleling the Green River, but at some distance from it, so the river was often out of sight. This territory was high, dry prairie land. It was dominated by low hills and sagebrush. In late August, it all looked hot, dusty and not terribly inviting. Hwy 372 eventually led to Hwy 189, which Lupe took N to La Barge.
After a quick tour of the small town of La Barge in the G6, Lupe and SPHP drove 2 miles S on Hwy 189, and turned W on La Barge Creek Road, No. 315. The first 11 miles of No. 315 were paved. After that it turned to gravel. The road headed W, before gradually turning N as it followed the beautiful La Barge Creek valley upstream. The valley grew progressively narrower as the road went on.
About 20 miles from Hwy 189, suddenly the gravel road deteriorated sharply. For 3 miles it crossed private land where the road was so poor that SPHP considered just turning the G6 around. If the road had been at all wet, there wouldn’t have been any choice. High clearance vehicles wouldn’t have any problem with it, but the road was just about all the challenge the G6 could take on.
After 3 miles, the road entered the Bridger National Forest, where it immediately improved. There were still some pretty rough spots now and then, but nothing like what the G6 had just come through. SPHP resolved to leave the area by some other route.
Lupe was now up in the mountains of the Wyoming Range. Her destination was Wyoming Peak (11,378 ft.), the highest mountain in the entire range. Of more immediate interest to Lupe, cows were grazing in the high mountain valleys. There was plenty of hard barking going on in the G6, even though most of the cows were so far away they were unaware of the frantic Carolina Dog passing by.
SPHP had some notes on how to find the trailhead for Wyoming Peak, but what little signage there was at the few intersections along the road didn’t match up real well with the notes. SPHP just kept driving slowly N looking for USFS Road No. 10126, which leads to the trailhead. Finally a high peak came into view. It had to be Wyoming Peak!
SPHP soon found USFS Road No. 10126 at the confluence of Greys River and Shale Creek. This point was 41 miles from where La Barge Creek Road had left Hwy 189. Greys River was a pretty good sized stream, even in late August, but Shale Creek was quite small. The trailhead was supposed to be 3.5 miles in along No. 10126. As poor as the main road had been in places, SPHP didn’t want to try taking the G6 up No. 10126. Lupe would have to walk.
It seemed like it was already pretty late in the day to think about climbing Wyoming Peak, especially when it was a 3.5 mile hike just to get to the trailhead. However, SPHP thought it wouldn’t hurt to at least scout things out. The weather was clear and favorable. Maybe Lupe could still make it up Wyoming Peak today. Lupe and SPHP left the G6 at the start of USFS Road No. 10126 at 2:56 PM (70°F), and began following the road up Shale Creek.
There really wasn’t much of a trailhead. At a bend in the road was a marker, and a trail heading up a hillside, but there were no big signs and no parking area where the trail to Wyoming Peak left No. 10126. Lupe and SPHP started up the trail. At first it was pretty steep, but before too long, the trail started on a series of long switchbacks.
The trail Lupe was following climbs Wyoming Peak from the SW. It appeared to get only moderate use, and was often rather narrow. Even so, most of the trail was in quite good condition. It was always easy to follow. There was only one tricky spot at a sharp bend where red dirt had eroded away from the trail down into a steep gully. The tricky part was very short. Lupe and SPHP were beyond it in just a few seconds.
The entire W slope of Wyoming Peak is consistently steep, but whoever designed the trail did an excellent job. There were steep parts at the very beginning and the very end, but for the great majority of the climb, the trail consisted of long switchbacks rising at just the right pace. SPHP didn’t have to stop to rest very often. It was easy to make fast progress up the mountain.
Before reaching tree line, the trail also made good use of available shade. It passed through some of the scattered forests along the way. In between the forested areas, the trail was exposed to big views to the W. The combination of shady rest stops along with great views made for a very fun climb.
Near the end of the climb, the trail reached a saddle between Wyoming Peak to the N and Mount March Madness (11,220 ft.) to the S. Much of the rest of the way to the top, the trail consisted of very short, steep switchbacks full of loose rock. Despite the late start, Lupe made it to the summit of Wyoming Peak an hour before sunset!
SPHP was not happy with the ugly collapsed building on top of Wyoming Peak. SPHP stuffed as many broken little boards with nails in them, and other small hazardous looking pieces of debris as possible into a sack. The sack went in the backpack to be disposed of later. Only 10,000 more trips and Wyoming Peak will be junk free again!
The views were really great from Wyoming Peak. The view that captured the imagination the most was a very high and rugged mountain far away to the N. It was so far away, the camera just wouldn’t capture its faint outline. SPHP was almost certain that distant peak had to be the famous Grand Teton (13,770 ft.). Lupe and SPHP spent more than half an hour up on Wyoming Peak, while the sun sank steadily in the W.
With the sun sinking into a smoky haze from distant forest fires, it wasn’t possible to get a decent picture toward the W. Lupe and SPHP saw mountain ranges off in that direction, though, too. They were lined up one after another, fainter and fainter as far off into the horizon as it was possible to see.
Lupe and SPHP sat together admiring the world from the top of Wyoming Peak. When it became clear the sun was just going to sink into the murk without any particularly wonderful sunset, it was time to go. Lupe may as well get a good start down the mountain before it got dark.
Lupe was about 80% of the way down the trail by the time it was so dark the flashlight had to come out. When she reached Shale Creek Road (USFS No. 10126) again, Lupe wanted to take a break. She had water and what was left of her Taste of the Wild. Then she just curled up for 15 minutes before she was ready to go again.
In the meantime, a nearly full moon had come up over the side of Mount March Madness. The flashlight was no longer needed. Together Lupe and SPHP traveled the moonlit road beneath the shining stars.
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