Medicine Bow National Forest: Tipple Trail and the Miner's Cabin Loop

Last night after work, Noelle, Sierra, Rosie and I headed out on the road to escape the heat by camping in the Snowy Range. After a stop for gas and another for sandwiches at Silver Mine Subs, we made it to our campsite at the North Fork Campground. We set up camp in the dark and settled in for the night. This morning we awoke, ate breakfast and headed out for a hike on the Tipple and Miner's Cabin Trails. We parked at the Tipple Trailhead, on the west side of the Snowy Range Pass, near Lake Marie. 

There were wonderful views right from the trailhead.

We hit the trail and hiked a short distance before finding another great view of the mountains that also overlooked the short Lake Marie Falls Loop that we had hiked 2 summers ago.

The trail followed the rim of a small canyon (French Creek Canyon) for a bit, 

before heading into the woods. Once in the woods, the trail passed a small cascade.

Shortly after the cascade, the trail came to a junction with the French Creek Canyon Trail.

We continued on the Tipple Trail which intermittently passed through wooded areas and meadows.

There were lots of wildflowers in bloom to admire as we hiked.

Eventually we climbed to a more open area where we found the short Miner's Cabin Loop Trail. We found the namesake cabin pretty quickly 

and admired it for a bit before we moved on. The trail led up to a parking area where there was a great view of the Snowy Range.

There was also a memorial to the victims of a plane crash that happened near Medicine Bow Peak.

After admiring the view for a bit, we continued on the loop, following it in a clockwise direction.

We approached the Red Mask Mine

and admired the ruins for a bit

before completing the loop near the cabin.

Then, we retraced our steps on the Tipple Trail back to the trailhead.

Once back at the trailhead, we were hungry for lunch, and so we headed to Libby Lake for a picnic.

Lunch with a view! We also stopped by the Libby Flats Observation Platform to admire the view 

before returning to our campsite for the evening.