For the first time a while, Noelle, Sierra and I all had a day off together. We decided to get out and enjoy it by going for a hike in the Vedauwoo area. I pulled out my copy of Marc Smith's Hiking Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest and selected a hike in the vicinity of the Blair Picnic Area.
On the way to the trailhead we made a stop at Silver Mine Subs in Cheyenne to pick up lunch. When we arrived at the trailhead we found a convenient picnic table and ate our lunch.
Even from the picnic area the scenery was pretty nice. It featured the rugged rock formations that the Vedauwoo/Pole Mountain area is famous for.
With our bellies full, we set off on the trail for our hike.
The trail began by heading through an aspen clone.
Spring comes late to this area. Leaves a just starting to emerge from their buds. Pasquflower is still in bloom.
The first significant looking rock formation we approached was Brady Rock.
We passed a couple of families climbing at the base of the rock. Past the climbers a few timber shelters had been erected.
We continued on, heading down into a wet meadow with great views.
Here the guidebook suggested turning onto an unnamed trail to the right. Instead, we opted to lengthen our hike by turning left instead. We traversed the edge of the meadow.
Then headed down into the heart of the meadow.
Here our trail headed northeast towards Twin Mountain and Green Mountain.
We passed through a gate and started to make our south.
While the lack of named trails or signed junctions can sometimes make hiking in this area confusing, we were able to use the map in the guidebook to navigate the area of meadows, aspens and distinctive rock formations back to the start.
Just before reaching the car we found our first pincushion cactus in bloom!
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