Medicine Bow Peak 12,013' - Albany County Highpoint
After completing my last Colorado Fourteener other than Culebra peak (which was then still in the category of restricted access), I wanted to do something fun and different. Medicine Bow fit the bill pretty well, and bagging two Wyoming County highpoints is decent compensation for making the trip to the snowy range. Fog had been quite prevalent on I-80 ever since leaving Cheyenne, but I wasn't very concerned about the weather. Access I had read about from the east was blocked for repair, so I parked on the shoulder somewhat Southeast of the peak before a switchback. I started up an abandoned and overgrown road and unecessarily ascended a ridge north of the paved road. I descended and soon intersected the trail that heads up the east shoulder.
|
 |
 |
I was in pretty good shape from cramming in all the fourteeners this summer, so I made the summit ridge in less than 50 minutes from the road.
There were scant snowfields to cross, however the summit ridge still had a moderate cornice yet to melt. I hadn't seen too many people up here yet, but after arriving at the summit, the church group droves were making their way from the south. On the return from the Carbon County Highpoint, navigating through the crowd on the summit would be the crux of the hike. I enjoyed a gas station italian sandwich on the traverse to Carbon County.
|
Unnamed Point 11,920'+ - Carbon County Highpoint
Having a GPS definitely eased finding the Carbon County Liner. The opalescence of the rock in the Snowy Range was a subtle but appreciable characteristic not as apparent in Colorado's ranges. I took in the views on the descent, and found a more direct route back to the road. What was to follow next before heading back to Colorado was an attempt to bag the Platte County Highpoint. That did not go so well as I did not manage to get within even 4 miles of the highest ground, where a gas generator was running near a creek with no one around. It didn't seem like my cup of tea, so I bailed.
|
 |
 |