The Gap: North Gap Lake Trail, Sugarloaf Recreation Area, WY

Posted: August 2nd, 2006 | Author: Roger Ludwig | Filed under: Wyoming | Tags: backpacking, Hiking, Medicine Bow National Forest, Medicine Bow Peak, North Gap Lake | 1 Comment »

Highlights: It’s the season for a foray into the Snowy Range, the high country of the Medicine Bow. This trail takes day hikers through the gap between Medicine Bow Peak and Browns Peak, past several crystalline lakes into the expansive tundra behind the range. The fish are jumping and the flowers are high.

Location: The high point of the Medicine Bow range, west of Centennial, WY.

Elevations: Trailhead 10,800′, high point 11,120′, Deep Lake10,500′.

Distance: 3 miles each way.

Maps: Medicine Bow National Forest (note the inset); USGS Medicine Bow Peak, Sand Lake quads; Forest Service pamphlet “Snowy Range Trails.”

Guide: Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest – Third Edition
Getting there: From Cheyenne, take I-80 west through Laramie to exit 311. Follow Hwy. 130 west continuing 11 miles past Centennial. Turn north into the Sugarloaf Recreation Area and continue for a mile to the Lewis Lake trailhead. Be prepared for a parking fee and a crowd.

The Hike: The North Gap Lake Trail (#108) begins above the Lewis Lake shoreline with a good perspective of the peaks and Sugarloaf Mountain. Within a quarter of a mile the Lost Lake Trail branches to the east. Stay to the left and begin your gradual ascent to South Gap Lake, nestled against the white quartzize of the range. As you reach the gap the view broadens to the vast lake district left by the glaciers of long ago.
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