Moments in Dirt and Ink

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (light blue line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2 I didn't quite have enough water for breakfast, so packed it all up and got the quarter mile or so up the trail to the next tributary to eat, drink, and make merry. I couldn't help poking around a little and found that there's at least a little bit of use trail going up Jordan Creek, or perhaps it goes on the Drunkard Creek side. I didn't get far, but it seemed to be going somewhere. I didn't really get along the trail until 9AM, which is better for having a little light down into the canyon. The river is still in shadow, but the shadowed rocks of yesterday are well lit. Here comes the sun. Rocky Mountain maples have a collection of winged seeds now and might be colorful later. Getting some high (and wide) ledge time on the trail above the river. I actually spent a little more time taking in the plants than the river as I walked the return.

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (light blue line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2 Okay, so somebody in Saratoga saying they want to do the Encampment River Trail probably isn't the best reason to go and do it, but I only had to go across the road for it so it sufficed. Since the Colorado side of this trail was such a mess, I decided to squeeze everything into the 33L pack instead of the 63L pack. Hey, it saves another pound. It's a tight squeeze, so I went with cold soak meals, saving a little more weight. I packed for an overnight with the goal laid back goal of just seeing how far I got. Since I was doing all this packing in the morning, the start was a little late. The Commissary Park Trailhead has parking, information signs, and a lot of open space. The Encampment River has grown by both the East Fork and West Forks joining. Wandering along in wide, glacial valley. I followed along trails near the river, but it turns out I was off trail. The official one ...

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest ( map link ) A geocache alerted me to the presence of a nearby waterfall and I put it on my list of things to visit. My hike started at FS-550, a good gravel road running from Encampment to Steamboat Springs. There's actually road running more than halfway from there to the waterfall. The sign benignly states "4WD recommended". The description on the geocache said bring your ATV. I chatted with a local and asked, "So, you gonna drive it?" He laughed and said he had once and it wasn't fun at all. It also says "North Fork Encampment River Trailhead" because, once upon a time, this trail went a lot further. It continued along the north fork to join the Huston Park Trail, now the route of the Continental Divide Trail, below Red Mountain. Now it gets to the edge of the wilderness and what would have been a spur crosses the fork and stops. Good thing that's as far as I wanted to take it. My start. If this f...

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (red line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4 All I had to do was get back to Battle Pass and I was already much closer than my first night's camp. I wanted to add on Red Mountain, but that could only add a mile extra. I expected a lovely day of it, so had a relaxed morning. I even did something I almost never do. I photographed the setup! Camp, set up. Nemo Hunker 2 (AKA "little roof"), Mountain Hardwear Conduit SL (AKA "bivy"), Exped Ultra 5R, Tyvek, Komperdell aluminum poles with shock absorbers. Not visible is the deep purple MYOG summer quilt. Then I packed it all up and got moving. There's a peak to bag! First up, the wilderness high point. I chose a point, pondered it from a different angle, and became very sure it was the exact same point I'd chosen before. If you've hiked this trail and claim the Huston Park Wilderness high point done, I fully support that. I took in the views fr...

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (orange line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4 The day looked every bit like it would be dry and warming like my now two day old weather report predicted. Actually, it might be a little warmer than desired for all the elevation gain that needed to happen a the end of the day. When I crossed the signs on the road yesterday, I noticed that they, like the signs on the trail, were about 100 feet south of where I expected them based on the map. I had spotted that first monument without any reference to where I thought I was in relation to the state line, so wasn't sure how it sat. (My track indicates north of the line drawn.) I had reflected that being that far south could easily have hidden a monument from me when searching for 148 M, but I should still have been able to find 149 M. The first one for today was less than a quarter mile off, so I would look, then get a bit south and look again. There'...

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (blue line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4 There was no drying things out the next morning. It was dribbling again shortly after I woke up and it kept it up as I packed, breakfasted, finished up, and headed out onto the trail. Rather than lifting, the clouds were dropping. Try as I might to get under them, they surrounded me and took away every remnant of view. Bits of cloud are drifting down the canyon from the saddle near camp. I didn't have much left of the wilderness and, since the trail now shortcuts a part of old road it used to follow, I had less than I thought before the last step out. My plans along the state line were increasing. Really, why not take the trail all the way to the crossing and then go cross country to the monument I was aiming at? This would go past a second giving me twice as many chances of actually finding one. Plus "finishing" the state even if I'd just started i...

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (purple line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4 I packed up for four days but suspected my plan could only take three. That plan: hike the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) through the Huston Park Wilderness and a little further. The trail crosses an old road that happens to go past a state line monument, so I decided I would follow that down and see if I could find that monument before turning on my heels and heading right back north. There was at least one different trail diversion I could take on the way back. For the most part, trails in Huston Park Wilderness are spurs connecting to roads off the backbone of the Huston Park Trail running north to south, and hosting the CDT for most its length. It (marked #852 there) diverges by dropping to a low park (as meadows get referred to around here) and climbs back to the CDT after a similar length and about 300 extra feet of elevation change. I also wante...

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest ( map link ) My original plan for the day was to start backpacking south from Battle Pass on the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), but I decided the evening before to put it off a day for a hike north as far as Bridger Peak. Here, the trail actually follows a road although my map showed two trail diversions. These weren't enough to persuade me to try it, but I decided that Bridger Peak is a worthy destination. It is a range 5 high point with 1884 feet of prominence and 25 miles of isolation as well as a former fire lookout site. I decided not to change my start point and walked the ridge from the rest area, break check, and trailhead on the south side of the pass. There's a second rest area on the north side with some good signs about Battle, Wyoming, which was once there. Now there's a scattering of homes built on mining claims and a few other remnants of mining history. Welcome to Battle Pass. At nearly 10,000 feet, it's a goo...

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest ( map link ) I looked for a way to turn a tour of the glacial lakes below Medicine Bow into a nice overnight loop, but the loop I found came to an estimated 12 miles. A little short for an overnight in my book. With the trails that were missing on both the Forest Service topo and OpenStreetMap, I could have done it. It turns out the publication I really needed was a fishing guide which is among the many free brochures you can pick up at ranger stations. The one I visited was actually on Routt (in Walden, about 3 blocks from the library) since anything else wouldn't be open when I passed. It turns out that although they are administratively joined, that doesn't mean you can get all that much on things across the state line. There's some Motor Vehicle Use Maps until they run out. That larger loop goes over the mountain again, and I'd already done that. I also decided to try out the Circle Trail to get a little height and terrain v...

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest ( map link ) With a bit of sun coming out, I continued up the road to the interpretive trail at Miner's Cabin Trailhead. This is a short loop with signs mostly provided by Wyoming Game and Fish Department. It's part of the "Wyoming's Wildlife Worth the Watching" program that is funded by a trust fund and stamp sales. (These sales support education efforts and many other things, but it seems only nongame management.) Around the parking loop, the signs are primarily concerned with geology. Medicine Bow Peak with a sign about its geology. This one is by Game and Fish, but there's an even larger one by State of Wyoming Geological Survey. These rocks come from 2 billion years of geological happenings. A monument to United Airlines flight 409, which crashed on the mountain killing 66 people. The trailhead and the first few signs along it. Since it is Game and Fish doing it, most the signs are ecology based. There...