White Rock Canyon

Highlights: A sandstone canyon sporting two tall rock pillars inscribed with glyphs from the cowboy era, a laughing stream and a lush growth of pines.

Location: Near Arlington on the north edge of the Medicine Bow Mountains.

Total Distance: One to two miles down and back.

Elevations: Rim, 8280’; Floor 8060’

Maps: USGS White Rock Canyon quad; Medicine Bow National Forest Map

Trailhead: Take I-80 west from Cheyenne about 90 miles, exiting at Arlington, exit 272. Turn under the interstate then go west along the south service road. At the third forest service road, FS 111, 1½ miles from Arlington, turn south. Continue on gravel FS 111 about three miles. Just after entering the forest take the right fork into a parking area. The canyon sign has been removed by vandals.

The hike: This is a little adventure more than a hike as there are no trails to follow. It’s better this way! From the rim you’ll spot two sandstone pillars across the creek. Your mission? Scramble off the canyon edge and cross the vale to find the spires. It looks easy until you discover how well hidden they are among the tall pines. After inspecting the inscriptions you’ll want to follow the creek downstream (East Fork of Wagonhound Creek) to the narrow canyon gates where there are more glyphs from turn of the century cowboys and travelers. The walls here are nearly 200 feet tall. While there try to figure out how this white sandstone came to exist in sight of the massive granite bulk of Elk Mountain. Return the way you came.

Pointers: Please don’t even think about defacing these old etchings or of adding your own. Even oil from your hands is damaging. This is one of few records left by these early arrivals, the ancestors of some familiar names in Laramie and Cheyenne today. We have many other ways of “making our mark” in the 21st century.

Cross Country Skiing at Happy Jack Ski Trails

“Shooshhh, shooshhh, shooshhh,” the snow whispers to the skis. “Shooshhh, shooshhh, shooshhh….”

A gentle compress of snow hovers on each fir’s flat needles, as if to cool the overheated exertion of a summer’s growth.

This forest, dry and rocky and ignored in summer, has been enchanted, spell bound. The sun, gazing soft and low from the southern horizon, casts countless long blue shadows, holding all enthrall. Only an occasional jay breaks the silence, a grey squirrel arcs across the quiet.

Finding a rhythm, cross country skiers breathe deeply. Inhalation of the crisp air brings exhilaration.

They have discovered that the crimped down, cramped out, wind-scoured days of a grim Cheyenne winter hold a precious treasure. While others are merely enduring the bleak, broke days of January, February and March, soldiering on until spring, these lucky few have found a reason to smile. They’ll be on Pole Mountain again this weekend.

With long, north facing terraces covered in pines, Pole Mountain captures and holds the snowfall. “The snow this year has been great,” reported Ellen Axtmann, coordinator of the Medicine Bow Nordic Association (MBNA). “We are having the best snow year we have had in years!” Read the rest of this entry »

Rock Creek – Deep Creek Trail, WY

Highlights: A lovely, long trail following the creeks of a deep, shady canyon.  It’s a popular place to stretch out because it’s so easy to get to, so well constructed and the surroundings are so peaceful and expansive.  The trail was given National Recreation Trails certification back in 1979 and along with the recognition received funding for lots of neat little bridges.  The recent Forest Service plan recommends the area be designated Wilderness.   An optional spur leads to Crater Lake, a spring-fed gem embraced by towering granite walls.

Location: The northern reach of the Medicine Bow Mountains, near the town of Arlington, 40 miles west of Laramie.

Elevations: Arlington trailhead, 7,920’; Deep Creek campground trailhead, 10,066’.

Distance: 12 to 13 miles from end to end, one way.

Maps: Medicine Bow National Forest; USGS Arlington, White Rock Canyon, Morgan and Sand Lake quads; Forest Service pamphlet “The Snowy Range Hiker.”

Guide: Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest – Third Edition, Bill Hunger’s The Hiker’s Guide to Wyoming.

Trailhead: To reach Arlington from Cheyenne, WY, take I-80 90 miles west to the Arlington exit (#272).    Go south on FS-127 1-1/2 miles to the trailhead and parking.  The Deep Creek campground is on FS-101, which can be reached from WY-130 about four miles west of Centennial or from the Arlington exit by going 1-1/2 miles west on the south service road to FS-111, taking it 13 miles to FS-101, where you turn left and go 1-1/2  miles to the campground.

The Hike: The description will begin at the bottom, at the northern trailhead near Arlington.  Rock Creek spreads out broadly here, a sheen of shallow, silver water.  The canyon stretches for miles ahead, a deep, broad “V” cut 1,000 feet into the rock.  The hillsides are open sage, pierced by rock outcrops; the trail floor soon leads into the shade of a mature aspen grove.   A moldering cabin and tailings pile mark the site a of miner’s failed dream. But yours has just begun.

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The Shelf Lakes

Highlights: A high alpine lark from lake to lake – seven in all — cutting through and along the great white granite of the Snowy Range.

Location: West of Centennial near the high point of Hwy. 130 in the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Elevations:  Trailhead, 10,785’; The Gap, 11,040’; 4th Shelf Lake, 10,860’

Distance: Approximately 2 miles each way.

Maps: Medicine Bow National Forest (Snowy Range inset is excellent), free Forest Service pamphlet “Snowy Range Trails”, USGS quads Medicine Bow Peak, Sand Lake

Guide: Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest

Trailhead: From Cheyenne, WY, take I-80 west through Laramie to exit 311.  Follow Hwy. 130 west (Snowy Range Road) continuing 11 miles past Centennial.  Turn north into the Sugarloaf Recreation Area, pay your five dollar day use fee and drive on for a mile to the popular Lewis Lake trailhead.  You’ll find toilets, picnic tables, grills and benches but no potable water.

The Hike: Come fall many hikers hang up their boots, wanting to stay clear of hunters.  Yet it’s a great season to hike.  The colors are often vibrant.  The cool air is bracing.  And the mosquitos are dead.  So what’s a person to do?

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A “Treasure Hunt” of the Weird and Wonderful at Pole Mountain, WY

Veduawoo and Pole Mountain is Cheyenne’s back forty. We love to play up there, all with our different passions: fishing, four-wheeling, camping, hiking, climbing, hunting, skiing, sledding or just messing around on the rocks.

The rocks are monumental sculptures, painted with lichens in green, orange and black. The beavers have crafted jewels to reflect the sky. There are the twisty groves of aspens, forests of ramrod straight pines. It’s rare not to see deer and antelope.

If you’ve wandered around much, enjoying the wonderful, you have probably stumbled across some of the weird.

After all it was a "Target and Maneuver Range" for more than 50 years. The Army, Air Force, ROTC and National Guard guys all had some fun blowing things up and shooting things down. There once was a headquarters with 18 buildings.

And before that there was the town of Tie City. Telegraph poles were taken even earlier for the first transcontinental telegraph line. A highway man lived up on Brown’s Landing, robbing travelers. Feldspar mines were blasted from the rock. There was a Civilian Conservation Corps camp. The Happy Jack Ski area operated for many years and there was a lodge where the summit rest area is now.

Frankly, there is a lot of weird stuff to be found.

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The Angel at Devils Gate

Highlights: This short hike is long on attractions: interesting geology, abundant moose and beaver, boiling brookies, but most of all, fascinating archeology.

Location: In the southern Snowy Range, west of Foxpark, entering the Platte River Wilderness

Elevations: Official, four wheel drive trailhead, 8,850’; Douglas Creek:7,950’.

Two wheel drive trailhead on FS 580, 9,188’; Douglas Creek:7,950’.

Distance: From official trailhead, 2. 8 miles each way. From FS 580, about 3. 8 miles each way.

Maps: Medicine Bow National Forest, “The Platte River Wilderness” free Forest Service pamphlet, USGS Quad Elkhorn Point

Trailhead: From Cheyenne, Wyoming take I-80 to Laramie, take exit 311, following WY 230 southwest to Foxpark. Turn right on FS 512. After crossing Douglas Creek stay on 512, making a sharp right. Two wheel drive or low clearance vehicles should turn left on FS 580, continuing until the junction of FS 514. Park at the junction. Four wheel drive, high clearance vehicles can continue to FS 506. Turn left and follow this rutted narrow road to 506D. Turn left again, continuing about ½ mile to the Devil’s Gate Trailhead.
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Huston Park Continental Divide Trail

Highlights: This hike is a resplendent walk along the Continental Divide Trail where it weaves together a succession of verdant meadows, each a vast, rich, colorful carpet of wildflowers rimmed with pines, rising and falling along the gentle crest of the southern Sierra Madre Mountain range.

Location: West of Encampment, Wyoming in the Huston Park Wilderness area of the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Elevations: Red Mountain Trailhead, 10,067′; high point, 10,500′, Pipeline Trailhead, 9, 190′/

Distance: Entire trail through Huston Park Wilderness is 13.5 miles one way. The hike is out and back as far as you wish to go.

Maps: Forest Service brochures “Medicine Bow National Forest Continental Divide National Scenic Trail” and “Huston Park Encampment River Wilderness Trail Map”, Medicine Bow National Forest Map, USGS quads Red Mountain, Solomon Creek

Guide:Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest – Third Edition

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Sheep Mountain Trail, Centennial, WY

Highlights: This is the mountain that everyone sees but few explore, the eastern most spur of the Medicine Bow Range. While from the road the mountain simply looks like a narrow ridge the top is a pleasant surprise, a long basin with flowing streams, wetlands and floating mat bogs. The 19,238 acres of Sheep Mountain were designated a National Wildlife Refuge on August 8, 1924 to preserve our elk population. It is roadless and the trail is the longest hiking trail in the Wyoming side of the Medicine Bow range. Mountain bikes are allowed.

Location: West of Laramie, east of Centennial.

Elevations: Sheep Mountain trailhead (south) 7840’, high point 9480’, north access route 7700’.

Distance: Roughly 15 miles from end to end.

Maps: USGS Rex Lake (north), Lake Owen (south); Medicine Bow National Forest Map, Medicine Bow “Sheep Mountain” pamphlet.

Guide: Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest – Third Edition
, Erik Molvar’s Wild Wyoming
.

Trailhead: From Cheyenne take I-80 to Laramie, Exit 311, go southwest on WY 230 for 23 miles, turn north on Fox Creek Road (Forest Service 311). There are three southern trailheads. Fence Creek is first, at 1.4 miles, Sheep Mountain Trailhead (with the largest parking area) at 2.3 miles and the Forbes Game and Fish Trailhead (best for horses) at 5.5 miles. The Forbes trail is closed until July 1^st to protect elk calving. The North access, which only the crazy or the seriously athletic would want to ascend, is marked by a sign on the fence on WY 11, 1.9 miles south of WY 130.

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Curt Gowdy State Park: The Chameleon

Visit the Chameleon, the ruler of Curt Gowdy State Park. You’ll find him and Hidden Falls by taking Crow Creek Trail, looping back on Mo’Rocka.

Highlights: A lovely little spring or late season trek following Middle Crow Creek to its mysterious Hidden Falls. An optional loop back climbs to the plateau where a great megalith–the Chameleon–rules the countryside. At sunset you’re likely to hear coyotes singing their lullabies.

Location: 25 miles west of Cheyenne off Happy Jack Road

Elevations: Trailhead at Granite Springs Reservoir, 7, 240’; Hidden Falls, 7, 434’; Plateau top, 7,520’.

Distance: 4 miles to the Falls and back on Crow Creek trail, 4.4 miles with loop using Mo’ Rocka trail.

Map: Plastic reference maps are fastened to posts along the trail. The “Curt Gowdy State Park Trails” brochure is on the web at http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/Site/SiteInfo.asp?siteID=4. While useful, it is outdated as more trails have been added and all trail names have changed.

Trailhead: Take Happy Jack Road (Wyo 210) west 25 miles to Curt Gowdy State Park entrance, turning left into the park. Past the Fee Booth the park road crosses the inlet of the reservoir. Park on the dirt lot to the right just before the inlet. Walk along the road, crossing the water. The trailhead is on the right.

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Albany Trail, WY

Hike of the Week: Mysterious Albany Trail

Highlights: This is a secret trail, not shown on any maps and without trailhead markings, yet someone has blazed most of it with white triangles. It leads to crystalline beaver ponds, up weathered granite hills to sweeping views of the Laramie Plains, and marches on to overlooks down into Hells Canyon, the most precipitous run in the Snowy Range.

Location: West of Albany along the eastern edge of the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Elevations Southern Trailhead, 8,790’; Northern Trailhead, 9,310’.

Distance: Approximately five miles from end to end

Maps: For trail head directions, use the Medicine Bow National Forest map. USGS quad, Albany.
Albany Trail Map (.PDF)

Trailhead: I-80 to Laramie, take exit #311, following Snowy Range Rd (WY 130) west 24 miles, turning south on WY 11 to Albany. Through town continue on FS 500.

To reach the southern trailhead go 2 miles from the large Medicine Bow National Forest sign above Albany.Turn right on FS 305, then make an immediate right on an unmarked four wheel drive road. If you are taking a passenger car, this is the place to park. If you’re in a friend’s four wheel drive continue straight on this rough, rocky road (it is FS 500B 01) exactly 1.0 miles, keeping to the right at any intersection. Park at the right hand pull-out. The trail begins on your left. You’ll know you are there if the wide trail is over run by a creek.

To reach the northern trailhead continue on FS 500 to Rob Roy Reservoir where you’ll turn right on FS 338. Then turn right on FS 305 at Cinnabar Park. In 7/10ths of a mile turn left on 305C. The only sign identifying this road is 100 yards or so down the road, a snowmobile trail sign orange over silver marked 305C. Go down this narrow, rough, and yes, rocky four wheel drive road 2.1 miles when you’ll come to a natural park on the right. To your left is a large fire ring and room to park.

The Hike: A recent decision by the Forest Service is turning this trail from hikers only to a dirt bikes track. Construction has to be completed before this change can take place, improving bridges over the riparian areas, work which may be done next summer. This is your last chance to enjoy this unique trail in peace and quiet.

Because much of the trail is not marked it should only be attempted by those looking for a little extra route finding adventure.

From the south trailhead, make your way through or over the creek, which is the South Fork Little Laramie River. At the first intersection, take the right fork, keeping the creek on your left. (Do not take 500B 03!.) At an unmarked Y, take the left fork. Now you are safely on the trail. In a while you will begin to notice white triangles painted on trees to mark your way.

After walking through the trees you may notice some creeks from the left. This area is called “Many Ponds”. Beavers have turned these unnamed rivlets into strings of pearls. Proposed for “Research Natural Area” status in the draft Forest Service Plan, the ponds nourish a wide variety of plants and make boreal toads downright happy.

At two low pine-pole bridges there are fine spots to stop to enjoy the perfect mirrored reflections of sky, rock and trees.

The trail leads on to a second attraction, hills of amber colored, pea-sized granite gravels. Scrambling to the top of one provides searching views of Centennial and the Laramie Plains.

Beyond two more small creeks the trail turns to the west drawing you to the third attraction, overlooks of Hells Canyon, the steepest, longest plunge in the Snowies. You’ll need to step off the trail a few yards to take in the view of the forested canyon and the Snowy Range gleaming white in the distance.

Beyond “Hell” the trail joins a logging road. Turning to the left takes you to the northern trailhead.

If you are hiking from the north trailhead, walk on down the logging road. Turn right on a trail marked for snowmobiles, orange over silver. At a small logged area the snowmobile trail and the Albany Trail separate. Keep to the left edge of the clear cut.

Pointers: Since this is a relatively low elevation trail it is lovely in the spring when the upper range is still snowed under. It is also pleasant in the fall after the first snows have come to higher ground. Some big aspens may bring gold fever.