Hiking and walking have a lot in common, right? So a hiking trail marked, "Difficult" is nothing more than a difficult walk. I feel as if I am a pretty advanced walker, so I decided to head towards the Medicine Bow Peak trail, a 7 mile, 1,600 ft gain, trail boasting atop the 12,013 ft peak of Medicine Bow Mountain. Although this entry begins with a slight foreshadowing of a struggle to reach the peak of the tallest mountain in souther Wyoming, I reached the peak with little frustration. The peak was beautiful. To look down upon the place I started and see how far I had come was a feeling of great accomplishment. Not to mention it was my first literal mountain to hike to the top of. It was here that I met two nice guys, who came up the mountain from the opposite side, that advised me there was another trail just down the way that was a quicker, easier way home. Although my original plan was to head back down the trail I came up, I felt assured by the guy who stated that he had made this hike several times. Not wanting to get lost in the mountains, I asked him if it was a pretty easy to find the intersecting trail back to the trail head. He assured me, "You can't miss it."This is where the story really begins. I missed it. I hiked about a mile only to see on my map that there was no way I hadn't gone too far. So I retreated back towards my original trail dreading the 300 ft climb back up the boulder ridden peak only to have to make the 7 mile hike back down the original trail. It was on the way back that I saw what faintly resembled the trail I was looking for. It wasn't. I didn't know this at the time so I started to venture down it looking on with amazement the 5 foot snow drift that covered the entire mountain side. Soon I ran out of solid ground and had to venture onto this large area of snow. Now, as I prepared for this trip I did not realize how much snow could still be present in July. JULY! So I wore my Chacos and I have since learned that Chacos were not intended for the snow. Ok, so I am heading onto the vast snow covered mountain side only to realize that the nice walkable incline has turned into what resembled to me a double black diamond ski run. Luckily, I have spent much time on my but on double black diamonds, so I proceeded to sit down, dig my Chacos into the snow, and sled down the mountain on my butt, sometimes trying to stand up and ski. Although by this time I had realized that I was not on the trail, I knew I couldn't go back up, and I was loosing daylight.
It was on my way sledding down the mountain that I saw a trail off in the distance as well as a parking lot with a number of cars in it. Hope. I immediately tossed all survivor man thoughts aside and resorted to my little girl find people and beg for help side. I trekked across the rocky mountain terrain to get to this trail and follow it to the parking lot I had spotted from above.
It was here that I met Dave and Bob. These were nice guys. It was Dave I approached, explaining my situation, and asked for a ride back to my truck. He had no problem with this and told me he and Bob were waiting on the rest of their party and then we could go. It was in this time that I noticed he was wearing a shirt with a picture of the great state of Oklahoma, so I simply asked him if he was from there. He was currently living in California, but had spent 20 years in Oklahoma working in the oil and gas industry as a geologist. Ah! We proceeded with solid conversation until they eventually drove me the five miles back to my truck. Bob was a super nice guy too. He told me a story of the time he got lost hiking and approached a lonely cabin out in the middle of nowhere. He also warned me of about 10 animals that could jump out in front of my vehicle on the way home and any given moment.
On the way out of the mountains I saw a moose. MOOSE! It was a real moose this time too, not some creepy guy in a suit that my mother persuaded me to take a picture with.
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