Hiking Lakes Trail

Well, I left Wyoming with a bang!  I couldn’t be happier with my final hike of the summer.  Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest is a hidden gem! I can’t believe I overlooked this place when I lived only 3 hours away in Denver.  The Lakes Trail is fantastic.

Towns Near Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest

The biggest city closest to Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest is Laramie, Wyoming, approximately 45 miles east.  Fort Collins, Colorado is about 1.5 hours southeast and Denver 3 hours.  As a result, day trips are good options, though camping along with mountain cabins dot WY-130.

Additionally, two very small towns flank both side of the forest, Saratoga to the west and Centennial to the east.  Centennial is equipped with a small general store and a restaurant.  Saratoga is much bigger.  It has a gas station, some restaurants, hot springs, a museum, a grocery store, and a nice dog park. 

HAPPY HIKING!
view on pole creek trail

Hiking Pole Creek Trail

Pole Creek Trail is located in the Bridger Wilderness near Pinedale, Wyoming.  It is the main starting point for popular backpacking loops in the wilderness.  As a result, there is a huge parking area, pit toilets, and a basic campground at the trailhead.

After two days of consistent rain, I wondered if hiking the Pole Creek Trail to Elklund Lake was worth it with the collection of people in the trailhead.  It might have been the most people I had seen preparing to hike during the entire month I have spent in Wyoming. That said, it is not like a Colorado 14er or any other popular hikes near Denver when you can’t even find a parking space after 7am.

Additionally, I got a later start than usual and I hiked on the weekend…two things I avoid to enjoy the solitude of nature. Anyway, most people in the parking area were loaded down with heavy packs and were definitely prepping for a backpacking trip.  Donning just a day pack for a long day hike to Elklund Lake, I was able to stay ahead of the traffic.

HAPPY HIKING!
beartooth highway

Beartooth Highway Scenic Drive

The Beartooth Highway was completed in 1936 and is one of the most scenic drives in America.  It connects Red Lodge, Montana to the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park while climbing to 10,947. 

The Beartooth Highway travels from lodge pole pine forest to alpine tundra as it winds through some of the most rugged areas in the lower 48 states.

With 20 peaks over 12,000 feet in the surrounding Beartooth Mountains, Beartooth Highway features spectacular views, hundreds of alpine lakes, magnificent wildflowers, and a plethora of wildlife.

TAKE A ROAD TRIP!
lost lake

Hike to Lost Lake

The hike to Lost Lake is located in the Custer Gallatin National Forest very close to Red Lodge, Montana.  The paved trailhead with pit toilet, marked on AllTrails, is no longer the starting point.  The flood from a year ago has washed out the bridge, and it is difficult to cross the creek that feels more like a river at this location.  As a result, the once 10-mile hike is now 13 miles.

HAPPY HIKING!
heart mountain

Heart Mountain National Historic Landmark

I was today years old, minus a couple of years, when I learned that Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from the homes and kept in camps during World War II.  Chalk it up to me being a slow reader in high school and finding history incredibly boring or that it wasn’t taught.  I don’t know which, but ever since I learned about this injustice, I wondered where the camps, known as “relocation centers” were.  One, was located in northern Wyoming and is now the Heart Mountain National Historic Landmark.

LOOK BACK IN HISTORY!
porucpine waterfalls off scenic highway 14A

Waterfalls Off Scenic Highway 14A

US Highway 14A, also known as Medicine Wheel Passage Scenic Byway, travels 98 miles from Cody, Wyoming to Burgess Junction.  It features five waterfalls on the 53 mile stretch between Lovell and Burgess Junction along with a few other interesting stops.  Below are the five waterfalls off Scenic Highway 14A.

CHASE WATERFALLS!
prayer flags and bluebird at bighorn medicine wheel

Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark

The Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark, located in the Bighorn National Forest, is absolutely fascinating to me and extremely sacred to Native Americans.  In fact, the Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark was so interesting to me, that I returned twelve years later to see it again. Given I rarely go the same place twice, that’s saying a lot!

I can’t really explain why I find the Medicine Wheel so interesting, except that I was completely surprised by the limestone rocks that form a circle 80 feet in diameter during my first visit.  I can’t imagine being the first settler to discover the Medicine Wheel, with 28 rock spokes radiating from a center cairn, spread across the northwest ridge of a mountain at nearly 9,700 feet!

EXPLORE!
annie on canyon rim overlooking bighorn lake

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area

Around the Bighorns

After my week in Buffalo hiking and visiting historic areas, I sort of bounced around a few days, spending a little time in Ten Sleep, Greybull, and Lovell.  Ten Sleep had a great brewery that offered $3 hot showers.  Greybull has a pretty good grocery store called Lynn’s Superfoods and the KOA let me fill up my water tank for $2.  And finally, I got some laundry done in Lovell. In the process of looking for shade on this 90 degree day, I ended up at the offices for Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.

I hadn’t planned to visit Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area beyond making a drive by to see if I could spot any of the wild mustangs on the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range.  But after stopping inside the ranger station to ask a few questions, I spent almost a full day at the recreation area.

EXPLORE MORE!