Hiking in the Snowies

We finally got to spend some time in one of our favorite places, the Snowy Range Mountains and the Medicine bow National Forest west of Laramie Wyoming on highway 130. We finished all our weekend chores on Saturday so that we could enjoy two guiltless days away. We had impulsively made a last minute reservation to stay the night at an old Hotel in Centennial near the old stomping grounds of the VC clan. The folks used to own a cabin in town and we spent many a family weekend there when the children were younger. They might remember it from the photos.

Sunday we packed up our picnic supplies and loaded up the dog and headed out west. We decided to take the road to Albany and Keystone instead of driving directly to Centennial as we had extra time and wanted to see the area around Lake Owen and The Rob Roy Reservoir. I also have a friend whose family owns cabins in the Keystone area and we thought we might stop by there if we could find it.

The gravel road to Lake Owen is dry and dusty. Off-road vehicles were out in force with the long holiday weekend. When a car encounters a string of such vehicles the lead driver holds up a hand showing how many more are following in the dust cloud behind him or her. Many of the drivers are young and drive way too fast crossing over the center line around the curves. It is an accident waiting to happen.

We walked part way around the lake when we got to Lake Owen which seems to be primarily a destination for camping and fishing. We had a nice picnic there. Penelope proceeded to jump in the lake to cool off and had a great time.

Driving on west to Keystone we took a few lucky turns and managed to find the place we were looking for but no one was home. It is in a beautiful forest area alongside a creek with rustic log cabin homes. We found another road on a map to take us on a short cut to Centennial a distance of about 15 miles. It was an unimproved jeep trail and quite rocky and bumpy, it took an hour to get there but was a nice adventure as long as we didn’t get stuck.  It was fun to see a different part of the forest as we drove north. It got steep on the downhill side and there were some drop-offs on my side as we neared Centennial. We got to town just in time to check in to the Buffalo Roam room of the 100 year old hotel and have dinner across the street at The Old Corral.

The rest of the evening was spent up the mountain at the lakes and the overlooks waiting for the sky to darken so we could see the stars in all their splendor at ten thousand feet. The Milky Way gradually appeared overhead. It was cold but there was no wind which is highly unusual. The drive back to town only takes about fifteen minutes. Penelope settled in on her bed at the hotel and thankfully did not bark at any strange noises in the night.

 Monday was spent taking more photographs and hiking the alpine trails from the Sugarloaf area. We tried a new portion of a trail that climbs and then levels out and follows along to view several alpine lakes at the base of the mountain range. The day was perfectly sunny and cool and quite a few mountain flowers were still flowering in the sheltered areas. Penelope ran miles and swam and drank from every lake. The scenery was spectacular! A good time was had by all. All three of us are extra stiff and sore today.

Lou