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...

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...

White River National Forest Routt National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6 Dawn breaks through a blanket of clouds after another mild night. There is no excuse that I am at a lower elevation this time, this is my highest camp of the trip. The ponds seem decidedly sterile and there have been no mosquitoes up here. It sure is nice. Enjoying breakfast wondering if the sun is high or not. Today should be an easy day, but it might be a little long. I want to get down to the last water shown on the map before the long dry section on the ridge to the trailhead. That should leave just six miles downhill for tomorrow so that it will be super easy to be out by noon. Just have to wander around the bit of rock and ponds and onto the good trail to follow it on down. At least until it is no longer good trail. A long way to go across the flat tops. Somewhere down there is Mosquito Lake...

Routt National Forest White River National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6 The night was quite mild and I used the quilt alone, but the morning is cool enough to keep the mosquitoes at bay almost long enough to have breakfast. Just the elevation change is not enough to explain the warmer temperature. A number of lakes, including the Lost Lakes, lie ahead, and then a climb up to the slanted flats above and eventually to the intersection my proposed cutoff would have got me to quite a bit earlier. The map indicates that it is quite dry up there until the finish, but there have seemed to be lakes nearby so far. I am starting with a little more water than I have been just in case it is true. It certainly does start off passing lots of little ponds as indicated. When I get nearby, I will see how I feel about doing a benchmark and a peak. The ponds seem to have multiple geological origin...

White River National Forest Routt National Forest DAY 1  |  DAY 2  |  DAY 3  |  DAY 4  |  DAY 5  |  DAY 6 There is the tiniest bit of frost around again and it does not seem to want to leave until the sun hits it. That will be a little longer than I want to wait. It sure is easy to get up before the mosquitoes when I already have my warm stuff on. The plan for today is to head up the high point of the mountain range, then suffer the indignity of shortening my trip because I just do not seem to be moving fast enough to do the whole loop. Sunrise in the shadow of the biggest flat top of them all. With the sun nearly upon me anyway, I head off away from the lake with its few fish and horse skeleton. (There is all too often a horse skeleton somewhere.) The trail seems good enough, but it actually leads to two routes to get to the lake. The map shows it heading south an unnecessary length before splitting and goin...