Happy Fourth of July! To celebrate our Nation’s independence Megan and I drove up to our Northern neighbor ( Wyoming ) for a two night backpacking trip in the Snowy Range portion of the Medicine Bow Range.
After a leisurely start to the day on Friday we drove up and were amazed to find very few other visitors at the trail head parking area. We started on the trail around 1PM and made camp a few short miles later at Sheep Lake, on the backside of Browns Peak. The scenery was incredible with rolling peaks and lush grass and flowers everywhere! Camp was a small patch of trees on the West side of the lake and we got right to fishing. If memory serves, this was the first lake in which Megan landed a trout on her second cast, a feat she repeated two more times when arriving at a new lake.
While the scenery and privacy were unmatched, so were the mosquitoes. Before pitching our tent I had called Megan over and told her to just listen, the swarms taking shelter from the light wind in the upper reaches of the cluster of pines were audible from 20 feet away! Thankfully we enjoyed a light wind most of the evening, keeping the swarms to just a slightly tolerable state. That night we feasted on trout after Megan practiced her fish gutting skills.
Day 2 had only about 5 miles on the itinerary so again a late start with plenty of fishing breaks was planned. Our route took us straight over the shoulder between Medicine Bow Peak, the range’s namesake, and Browns Peak. On either side of the shoulder a large lake was formed by glacial action and were suitably named North and South Gap Lakes. Here we began to encounter the crowds, which I’m guessing even by Wyoming standards weren’t much. We Crossed paths with a half dozen or so other small groups but once past South Gap lake and headed East again were left alone for our second night at Telephone Lake.
We arrived at Telephone lake in a hurry as a fast approaching storm was threatening to drench us before setting camp. However, in the battle of man versus nature, we prevailed and had our tent pitched and jumped inside just as the rain reached us. The storm quickly passed and after a quick move of camp to a better spot we found, we were back reeling in 12″ trout and cooking them up.
Day 3 completed the 16 mile loop with a few easy miles traveling past another half dozen lakes under sunny skies. Overall, a great trip. Next time, more butter for the fish and mosquito nets for our heads!
Mosquito Bite count: 52
( this number includes Megan’s right leg, foot and ankle… nothing more )
Calculated total bite count between Megan and I based on a 4x lower multiple, a * 0.80 factor for torso and arms ( 4x ) and a * 0.20 factor for head and neck ( 2x )
395.2