Medicine Bow National Forest: Medicine Bow Peak

Medicine Bow Peak has to be one of my favorite mountains now! What a beautiful area! I woke up this morning, packed up camp and then headed east into the higher elevations of the Snowy Range. I saw some great wildlife as I drove: three moose and a red-tailed hawk with a small rodent in its talons. Soon I was at Lake Marie and the trailhead for my hike up Medicine Bow Peak. I packed my pack and hit the trail.

It didn’t take long, however, for me to find an amazing view where I had to stop and soak it all in. I decided I would take my time on this hike; there would be no need to hurry. I stopped often to admire the view. I also did something I’ve never done before, I brought my MP3 player and listened to some music on my hike. On the way up the mountain I listened to the Smiths.

Before too long I was on the summit of Medicine Bow Peak.

I ate a snack up there and then headed down. The views just kept getting better! I listened to some of the Killers and Beastie Boys as I descended to some really pretty lakes. What an amazing hike. I had beautiful temperatures and blue skies until the very end of the hike. Towards the end some dark clouds started to roll in, but more than anything else they helped make the scenery look even more interesting.

When I got back to the trailhead, I got into my car and drove east through some more beautiful country. I stopped to check the view at Libby Flats and then started to descend. Soon I was in some desolate country; there wasn’t a tree in sight. Then I made my way into Laramie, home of the University of Wyoming, and a pretty nice town too. I got lunch in town and looked for a little something to send to Noelle in Minnesota. I didn’t spend too much time there though, I had a lot of driving left to get back home.

After leaving Laramie I made a quick stop for a short hike at Vedauwoo, an area of interesting rock formations. From there I went into Cheyenne where I went to Sierra Trading Post to get a cleaner for my waterproof jacket, and then stopped at the post office to mail some things out. Finally I was headed home.