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| Hiking | 4.76 Miles |
1,443 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.76 Miles | 3 Hrs 47 Mns | | 1.45 mph |
| 1,443 ft AEG | 30 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | This was a hike to the summit of Medicine Bow Peak (elevation of 12,013 feet and prominence of 3,233 feet), the highpoint of Albany County. Once I got to the summit I continued on the west ridge of the summit about 0.3 miles until I got to the Albany County-Carbon County line, which is the highpoint of Carbon County. This point on the county line is at an elevation of 11,920 feet.
I started and ended the hike at the Lewis Lake Trailhead. The last mile of the drive was on a well-graded dirt road that any vehicle could navigate.
I took the Medicine Bow Peak Trail all the way to summit. The trailhead was not far below the treeline, so there were great views along the trail, particularly of the numerous lakes that are in the area. After about a mile I came to a junction with the Lakes Trail, which one could take if you wanted to do a loop hike. Once past this junction, the Medicine Bow Trail started to remind of the Humphreys Summit Trail from Agassiz Saddle to Humphreys Peak -- there were lots of rocks and boulders to navigate around. About 100 feet of vertical from the Medicine Bow Summit, the hike became a class 2 exercise. There was no exposure, but I had to use my hands quite a bit to balance on the sometimes wobbly rocks and boulders. There were nice 360 views at the summit.
I ascended on the east side of the summit, and took the trail to the west over to the Carbon County highpoint. The descent to the west was mostly class 1, as there were far fewer rocks and boulders to deal with. I had to go off the trail for a short distance to get to the Carbon County highpoint. Once there, I went back to Medicine Bow Peak and retraced my route back to the trailhead.
I did this hike on a Saturday with nice weather, and not surprisingly there were quite a few people on the trail.
This was an enjoyable hike, and if I were to do it again I would likely ascend from the west at Lake Marie (queue the John Prine), or do a loop using the Medicine Bow Trail and the Lakes Trail. |
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| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
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