When my alarm went off at 5am, the last thing I wanted was to get out of bed. As I lay there debating whether to get up the thought about canceling the trip kept swirling in my head. I thought of the expense it would cost me to take this short three-day adventure. More importantly, I thought of the lost income by not working while I was away. In the end, those thoughts didn’t win, and I got out of bed.
This would be the first solo backpacking trip since my excursion ten years ago that left me swearing I would never backpack solo again. I love hiking with others. For me, it’s one of the parts I cherish most about backpacking trips. Enjoying the experience with other people. But I had no one to join me this time. Either no one was interested, or wanted to go, or had the time or was injured. I had several guide trips cancel at the last minute, so I decided to head out alone. I had never been to this area before. I knew there were several mountains because I had seen them the last time I was in Cheyenne. I did some basic research, set some time in my schedule, and ‘booked’ the trip.
I left a half hour later then I intended. Then I had to stop for gas along the way. Plus, there was road construction so the drive to Fort Collins was slower than expected. I knew where I was going until I got to Laramie when I stopped to use the bathroom. At that time, I should have turned on my gps but didn’t and I drove past the road I needed. The turn was so subtle I never even saw it. My hope was I would find a road sign or something to point me in the right direction, but nothing turned up. Eventually I stopped and looked at the Forest Service map. I still could not get any service. I felt I was going the wrong way and a few minutes later I saw a worker in the road. He confirmed my suspicions. I had gone 20 miles out of my way. Now I had to backtrack to Laramie and find the right road. It was pretty obvious to me once I figured it out. But it meant not getting to the trailhead until close to 11:30am. My original goal was 9am. By the time I got all my stuff together and started hiking it was almost noon. Despite being late, I still made it to Lost Lake, my first campsite, before 2:30pm a total of 5.8 miles.
I passed a lot of day hikers but no backpackers. When I arrived at Lost Lake there were two women taking a break but as I set up my camp they left. My goal was to get to the campsite before the rain and I did succeed. Clouds were definitely rolling in during the afternoon. I found a kitchen away from my tent. This campsite even had a rope set up to hang my food. I spent the remainder of the afternoon by myself at camp with all the mosquitos just sitting and writing, waiting for dinner time or the rains to start, unsure which would be first.
I made it through day two without any problems. Overall, the trail is pretty easy to follow. Lots and lots of water! Though most of the trail was in boggy sections or wet – literally streams running through them. Possibly because the snow melt was late that year. There still was a ton of snow everywhere. Hence the massive amount of run off. I love it in one sense because I don’t have to worry about carrying a lot of water. But in the other sense there are so many mosquitos I can’t even sit outside my tent and enjoy the sun. I couldn’t avoid getting bit even with bug spray. I had so many welts, all over my body, because of them.
I saw a few people day hiking but not a lot maybe ten total. This is a pretty isolated loop but very accessible. There are campgrounds and trailheads not too far from the trail. Yet being out here makes me feel like I’m in the middle of nowhere. I haven’t seen any animals either. A few marmots and some birds maybe one pika but nothing big. All the scat I have seen is old as well. That’s probably a good thing because outside of the first night, none of the other sites had bear hangs.
Despite my aloneness I never felt scared. It rained most of the first night. I was hoping the second night would be more of the same. This would be a great trip if it weren’t for the mosquitos. The place is beautiful though. I love all the alpine lakes. It was such a big snow year that even in July there is still a ton of snow settled everywhere on the peaks. Tons of wildflowers as well, another result of the late season snow. Typically, none of them would be around at this point. The snow made some portions of the trail very wet. The water that accumulated came almost to my knees at some points. Other times the snow had covered portions of the trail in temporary lakes leaving me to either climb over it or around it. The area is popular but only with day hikers that meant many of these portions hadn’t seen a lot of people.
As I started out on my last day, I almost didn’t want to leave. It’s like that in the backcounty. Even something as close to civilization as this place. The small bit of solitude rejuvenates me in ways nothing can compare. Medicine Bow Peak sits in this small parcel of paradise. The peak is the highest in southern Wyoming sitting at 12,014′. (The highest peak in the state is Gannett Peak at 13,809′.) I had the option as I hiked out to summit the peak, which I decided to. It was early in the day when I came to the junction. I had plenty of time to summit and then head back to Denver. The trail was steep and most of it was snow covered. Slick in the late morning sun. But as most summits are, the top was glorious! I stayed for a bit before heading down the meandering trail on the other side. As I was descending, I realized how much happier I was hiking the loop the way I did and leaving the summit to the end.
I arrived back at my car, safe and sound, early afternoon. As I loaded my car up, changed my shoes and began the drive back home I couldn’t help but smile. I had thought three days ago I wouldn’t do this hike. I was nervous about going alone. I was late and got lost but I did it anyway and enjoyed myself thoroughly. “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” True words Mr. Gretzky.
