Moments in Dirt and Ink

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (purple line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 No frost over my feet this morning. Actually, everything was nice and dry and probably a little warm for that. The lake was pretty in the dawn colors, but more photogenic a little later. Gem Lake from the shore near camp in the morning. So I headed back down to Main Fork Encampment Trail and lost the trail on the way. It was in right about the same place as I lost it on the way up. It's just a bit too thickly covered in trees there. Getting back on track was easier on this second go. Following the trail along the outlet stream back down to the river. The outlet stream gets big on the way down. A random pool along the way down to the river.

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (blue line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 I woke in the middle of the night and celebrated the fact that there was only a little roof over my head by scrunching around to watch the stars for a while. Then I got cold and scrunched back under and tucked in properly again. Good stars, though. Maybe the reason I can't feel any inclination toward any of the tents I've been pondering is that I'm just not a tent person. They're good at blocking winds, but they do it by trapping you inside with no way to just look out whichever way you want. Anyway, I managed to get back to sleep and woke up in a brightening world with frost over my toasty feet. Even cheap down socks are brilliant things. The junction of Beaver Creek Stump Park Trail with Buffalo Ridge Trail. There wasn't quite as early sunshine as I'd hoped to get, but it came and the place warmed nicely. I headed off for the last little bit of trail to the junct...

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest (orange line, map link ) DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3 I settled on a three day loop plan to see a bit of the Encampment River at the north end of Mount Zirkel Wilderness with an excursion up Davis Peak for a bit of variety of terrain as well as visits to a few lakes. I thought about including some of the Continental Divide Trail, but the odd fat dotted line it follows turns out to mean ATV trail (on the western edge of the wilderness). Pass. I swapped out the Exped Ultra 5R for the Big Agnes AXL Insulated, so camp will look very similar to the picture a couple days ago except the mat matches the bivy instead of the roof. It saves half a pound and if I can't use that "3 season" thing in August, when can I use it? The Encampment River Trailhead might be the only one in Colorado you're allowed to camp at, or maybe someone's just removed the sign. There's a large loop with a few spots and a corral in the middle and a toil...