[at-l] The Fine Art of Camping (trip report)

[Paul Magnanti <pmags@juno.com>]

Sometimes a backpacker has to do some old fashioned camping. You know...pull up to a good spot in your car, pitch your tent, get a nice campfire going...


WEll, that is what I did. Spent the weekend up in Medicine Bow Wilderness in Wyoming.  The Snowy Range is often overlooked by many Coloradoans. This range is not as majestic as say the Indian Peaks near boulder, and the highest peak is 'only' a little over 12000', but because of how flat Wyoming is in that part of the state, the peaks dominate the landscape just as much as their neighbors to the south in Colorado. This range is also less used than parts of Colorado.   The numbers I think are the key. Wyoming only has a population of 500,000. My home state of Rhode Island by contrast has 1 million people.   The Boulder area where I currently live is within spitting distance of several national forests and a national park. Needless to say, the Colorado mountains in the Front Range area get considerably more use than the part of Wyoming I was in.

   So Saturday morning I swung by Ft. Collins and picked up Margie and headed into Wyoming by I25 to take a side trip to Sierra Trading Post in Cheyenne.  I am sure we all know about Sierra Trading Post. :D (I succumbed to temptation and picked up a Marmot shell that had been returned...$80!). Grabbed lunch in the bustling metropolis of Cheyenne (population 50k or so!) and headed on our merry way. 
   Entered the Medicine Bow wilderness, and found a great campspot off a forest service road.  It was interesting to see the contrast between Margie and myself as far as our prespectives on the outdoors. Margie spent all of last summer in Utah leading youth groups in the desert, as well as spending some time in Maine doing trail work. More in the 'base camp' mode.  I am a hiker trash, with an emphasis on minimalist gear. So our ideas of luxuries were a bit different for car camping. :D  I brought an extra sleeping pad...Margie brought bit more.. :O

Anywho, got a nice campfire going, a definite luxury for me and made some homemade soup over the coals. LNT it ain't, but something about the smells of the campfire, and the sound of wood crackling is just about the most soothing thing I know.  As I was drinking my cocoa, noticed the clouds vanishing, a fantasitc display of stars overhead due to no moon in the sky. Way cool.

Sunday morning, we packed up our camp and headed to Medicine Bow Peak. Approaching the mountain, it became quite foggy and windy. Was a bit cold as we hiked up the mountain. But was a fairly easy climb. I am thinking a good snowshoe trip in another month or so. Around noon, we got to the summit...and the sun came out! Have a fantastic view to the west of the Continental Divide. What a gorgeous day it turned out to be. 

Headed back to Ft. Collins and concluded the weekend. Now I am back in the office,  looking at some mountains on my calendar rather than hiking in them. Until next weekend!

Mags


* From the AT-L |  Need help? http://www.backcountry.net/faq.html  *

==============================================================================