BACKPACKING THE SNOWY RANGE OF THE MEDICINE BOW MOUNTAINS, WYOMING (VOL. I--August 12-17, 2022)

I’ve got a new favorite western mountain range to backpack (along with at least 6 others), the Snowy Range in the Medicine Bow Mountains of south-central Wyoming. Although somewhat compact compared to others, the variety of scenery is outstanding, at least 30 glacial lakes, both forested and alpine mountains and high peaks, and vast grassy prairies. On our mid-August backpack, from the Lewis Lake Trailhead our hiking route was slightly above or a bit below 11,000 feet for its entire length. So before the trip we acclimated to those high elevations by spending some time at around 5,250 feet in Denver (with an REI Flagship Store visit of course) and then Boulder, enjoying the great restaurants in both, the Boulder pedestrian mall, and greenways in both, and also in the very small town of Centennial, WY, at 8,000 feet near the Snowy Range (with a surprisingly good restaurant). This album covers those acclimation days and then the first two days of our backpack, as we hiked from Lewis Lake to first Lost Lake (a high elevation lake with 11,646-foot Brown Mountain right above) and then West Twin Lake. With me on the trip were Beverly Smith, John Dunlap, Tommy Pritchard, Paul Leiby, Bob Perlack and Joan Tomlinson, all from the Knoxville area. For more photos and a video, see https://theskeltonview.smugmug.com/20... The balance of the trip will be presented in Volume II.