The Snowys

Campground view

After a very brief overnight in Denver we made our way back up to the Snowy Mountains for one last camping adventure.  We were really lucky to get the very last spot at Sugarloaf Campground at the base of Medicine Bow.  The campground sits at the elevation of 10800 feet so it's the highest we've ever camped.  It also supplanted our previous 'most beautiful' ... Dead Horse Point in Utah.

Cindi 'helping' set up camp

Sunset

We pulled out the extra long underwear and fleece jackets once the sun set.  It really wasn't too cold...mid-40's.  The wind even died once the sun went down, but we ended up setting up the table and chairs in the tent for our evening card game.  When we settled in for the night we noticed how the moon made the mountain 'glow'...and the total silence.  There were no bug noises, no birds singing, no cars zooming past, there was nothing to interrupt the peace and quiet. 

Heading up Lake Marie Trail

View from Schoolhouse Rock

Waking up early we headed off for one final big hike...Medicine Bow Peak (12,013 feet).  We decided to start from a different trailhead...Lake Marie (10,480 feet) to Medicine Bow Peak and then back by way of the Lakes Trailhead.   This made the hike a loop of a little over 8 miles.  Cooper was excited be included in this hike since he spent the last one at the spa.  He helped us by carrying the water in his pack.

Waiting

Rock scramble

Marmot chirping

We even let him run off lead a bit...he loved trying to 'catch' the marmots and picas.  He's finally figured out that all the chirping noise he keeps hearing are not birds, but the marmots and picas.   Coop still hasn't been able to get close to either though he tries hard.  He was one happy dog running form one chirping critter, back to us and then off to investigate yet another chirp.

Lake Trail view

The route was slightly easier from Lake Marie, but no less spectacular.  We left the parking lot and hiked up to the first ridge.  Wow, what a view.  Actually the trail follows the ridge line up Schoolhouse Rock (11,444 feet) along the backside of The Diamond (11, 720 feet) and The Old Main (11,755 feet) until we made the final accent up to Medicine Bow Peak.  Last time we had snow still on the peak...this year none, but we did have some  tremendous boulders that we had to traverse to reach the trail back down.  Cooper enjoyed being off lead and picking his own route.  We enjoyed not getting pulled along at his speed.

View from Medicine Bow Peak

Medicine Bow Peak View

Once off the peak we headed down the rather steep trail until we hit the return loop along a series of alpine lakes back to the Lake Marie parking lot.   All of us were pretty tired, but not nearly as wiped out as some of us were after Pine Creek Lake.  No walking downhill backwards from any of us this time...thank goodness.

Heading down from the Peak

A perfect ending to our trip...can't wait until next time.

Sunset over Medicine Bow