Hiking off-trail in the Snowies

After a couple weather postponements we were finally able to do our planned hike at the base of the Snowy Range this week. The area is not a good place to be when the clouds build up and the lightning starts.  During the recent monsoon weather pattern the early mornings are sunny but then the heat brings on the clouds by midday. Wednesday was the first day that was forecast to be drier.

We started our hike about 10:30 am and it was beautiful and clear and just a little cool. Our hiking companions were a couple we know through our church and our youngest associate pastor who had not been to this part of Wyoming before.

The destination was the debris area from a plane crash in 1955. A plane carrying 66 passengers veered off course somehow at night and flew straight into the face of the mountain range and of course all passengers perished instantly. After all the remains and personal effects were recovered the site was also blasted. Today all that is left is the twisted metal parts of the fuselage and bits of the wings strewn over a boulder field below the immense rock face.Rick had grown up hearing the tale and had always wanted to visit the site for himself. The rest of us went along out of curiosity. 

We started out on the Lakes Trail and then almost immediately veered off that trail to skirt around the end of one alpine lake then over a ridge to face a daunting boulder field that had to be crossed to get to the crash site.The boulders were especially challenging for me as some of them wobble and there are deep gaps between them that seem to go into the depths of the earth. The best strategy is to just plot a course and keep going, if you stop you don’t want to move at all it is too scary.

We did make it over to the debris field near a beautiful mountain meadow full of flowers. Most of the debris is hidden in the boulders though. There is a mangled engine and lots of aluminum parts with rivets strewn over a large area. Rick hiked up higher and found some landing gear.

I found an old Pepsi can but not from the wreck as it had a pop top so it was too modern to be from 1955.

After finishing that hike we drove down the road to Lake Marie and I took the classic Snowy Range picture with the lake in the foreground and some pictures from the area where the water spills out from the lake and cascades on down creating a waterfall. The flowers there were vibrant.

Another beautiful day in God’s sanctuary.