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 »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Headquarters Trail, Sherman Mountains, Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

Highlights: A mountain trail that follows the spine of the Sherman Mountains, traveling through conifer forests and open meadows, passing rugged rock formations with frequent expansive views.

Location: Near the summit rest area of I-80, on the eastern side of the Pole Mountain Unit of the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Elevations: Summit Trailhead 8689′, high point 8856′, south trailhead, 8376′

Distance: Three to four miles, end to end.

Maps: USGS Sherman Mountains West quad; Medicine Bow National Forest Map

Guide: Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest; Bill Hunger’s The Hiker’s Guide to Wyoming.

Trailhead: Take I-80 west from Cheyenne about 37 miles, exiting at the summit rest area, exit 323. The Summit Trailhead is to the right on Forest Service 705 just beyond the rest area parking lot. (If you’ve hiked it before you’ll see that the trailhead has been moved about a quarter mile further to promote revegetation of the old trail.) To reach the south trailhead turn left from the I-80 exit on Happy Jack Road (WY 210). Continue five or six miles, turning right on FS 707. The trailhead is about two miles on your right and is well signed.

The hike: This is a well marked (with posts) and well maintained National Recreation Trail, blazed originally in 1868 by William Lovett. It is surprisingly wild in spite of being so close to the interstate. From the Summit Trailhead the route climbs a little, then begins its journey along the side of the rocky granite ridge of the mountain. After about a mile the route divides, with the right fork going out to a grand overlook. The trails come together and travel through ponderosa pine forests, aspen glades and open meadows. Browns Landing is a broad park worth exploring. Brown was an outlaw road agent who kept his hideout here prior to the coming of the railroad in 1869.

The trail enters the trees briefly before it makes its steep plunge down the west side of the mountain. It drops 480 feet in three quarters of a mile bringing you to the south trailhead. This trailhead is at the edge of what once was the Pole Mountain Military Reservation Headquarters.

Pointers: You are not likely to find water along the trail so you will need to carry all you need. This place can be very hot in summer, so spring and fall are best. Keep an eye out for mountain bikers who use the middle section of trail, coming in from the Tie City trailhead.