RIBS & WHISKEY
“Well, ribs and whiskey making my mind feel tight
Whiskey, making my body feel hot”
From
“Ribs & Whiskey” by Widespread Panic
The
following day was my birthday, and I wanted to make it special. Technically, any day in the mountains of
Wyoming is special, but I was really hoping to out-do myself. For starters, I got up before sunrise in hopes
of catching some morning alpenglow on the mountains behind Brooks Lake. It was a cold morning – cold enough to make
holding the tripod unpleasant – but it was worth the discomfort. I was treated to some lovely color on the
cliffs, though there was enough of a breeze to eliminate any reflections in the
surface of the lake.
We
broke camp and headed for Dubois for breakfast.
Unfortunately, the road beyond Brooks Lake was closed. That road is a scenic route that rejoins
highway 287 just west of Dubois. Because
of the closure, we had to backtrack and take the highway into town. Once in Dubois we found our way to the Cowboy
Café.
We
first visited the Cowboy Café on the final morning of our first Wyoming trip,
back in 1999. That breakfast had been
legendary. So much so that on our next
visit to Wyoming we drove 65 miles, one way, from Colter
Bay in Grand Teton National Park for breakfast.
That meal had been a little disappointing, probably because it couldn’t
possibly have lived up to the expectations we’d created for it.
Breakfast
was good this time, and it provided a fitting meal for my birthday. Afterwards we drove east of town and picked
up the dirt road leading to the Torrey Creek Trailhead, on the northeastern
edge of the Wind River Range. The
Glacier Trail begins there. It is a popular route with mountaineers heading for Gannett Peak,
the highest point in Wyoming. The trail
is 22 miles long, ending at the base of Dinwoody
Glacier, the largest remaining glacier in Wyoming. However, I had something else in mind for my
day.
Christy
dropped Boone and I off at 9am and headed back to Dubois for some
shopping. After she left, Boone and I
started up the trail towards Ross Lake and Whiskey Mountain. My goal was Whiskey Mountain, which involves
a 9-mile round trip with a 3000’ elevation gain.
The
trail started with hot, dry switchbacks on a south-facing slope. Views from here extended up the Torrey Creek
Valley and encompassed the surrounding mountains. Early on my biggest concern was finding water
for Boone. The map shows the trail
crossing several seasonal streams, but all of them were dry. This was a big surprise after running into
snow and high water levels every other place we’d hiked in Wyoming. There hadn’t been any water at the trailhead,
either, and I was kicking myself for only bringing three liters. It was a hot, sunny day, and we stopped twice
in the first hour so I could give Boone some of my water.
After
an hour or so we reached a meadow. At
the upper end was a small snow bank drained by a rollicking stream. The meadow was full of wildflowers, and I took
photos while Boone indulged in the creek.
Mud and bugs accompanied the water and flowers, but under the
circumstances that seemed like a reasonable compromise. Beyond there the trail followed a ridge with
nice views of Lake Louise, Ross Lake, and some small glaciers spilling down
from the surrounding mountains. An
impressive waterfall tumbled down below Lake Louise far below. This scenery continued through more meadows
on up to the junction with the Ross Lake Trail.
I
left the beaten path there and continued climbing through knee-high grass and
wildflowers towards a saddle west of Whiskey Mountain’s summit. Although there is no trail, the route is
marked with cairns. The walking was
actually rather difficult due to the soft, uneven ground.
At
the saddle I was treated to a fine view to the north and west. I wasn’t quite satisfied though. I continued the hike, following the ridge
east towards the summit. This was
actually easier walking, and I reached the south (higher) summit of Whiskey
Mountain (11,157’) a few minutes later.
From there I had a fine view of most of northwestern Wyoming. The vista included the northeastern end of
the Wind River Range, the Tetons, and even the Absarokas
farther to the northwest, beyond the Wind River valley below.
The
ascent had taken 3 hours. I took a long
break at the summit and had a snack before heading down. For the descent I took a more direct route
back towards the junction with the trail to Ross Lake. This worked well, and the return hike was
quick and easy. I passed 2 groups of
hikers heading up, which were the only other people I saw all day. I returned in under 2 hours and beat Christy
back to the trailhead. I was out of
water and Boone was thirsty again, so I took him down to Torrey Creek. Christy arrived when we returned to the
parking area. We had lunch at a picnic
table next to the parking lot before heading back to Dubois.
On
the way back Christy pulled the car over and asked me to take a photo of the
mountains ahead. Those mountains displayed
some unusual geology that she could use in her Earth Science classes. Oddly, the lens of my camera seemed to get
jammed. It wouldn’t focus no matter what
I did. It had done the same thing a
couple of times earlier in the day, but this time I couldn’t seem to fix it.
Back
in town we stopped at a gas station gift shop for photos of their giant stuffed
Jackalope:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackalope
Then
we hit the road bound for Lander. There
we got gas, snacks, ice, and beer. From
Lander we endured a long, boring drive to Rawlins where we rejoined I-80. We followed the freeway east before detouring
through the small town of Saratoga on our way to the Snowy Range. Saratoga s small, but there
seemed to be a lot of people walking around town. There were a number of restaurants, too, and
I found myself wishing that we hadn’t picked up food to grill earlier.
We
drove east from Saratoga towards the Snowy Range, but stopped at the Ryan Park
Campground before starting up the mountain.
The Ryan Park Campground is open, scrubby, and simply not much to look
at. At our visit it seemed to carry an
air of neglect. On the upside it was
mostly empty, and we had our choice of campsites. The price was reasonable ($10), the water was
on, and there was a surprising absence of mosquitoes. We set up camp and I started the
charcoal. That night we had a late
dinner, as I grilled a rack of ribs (for me) and fish (for Christy). Later we were treated to a spectacular display
of stars. Unfortunately we both slept
poorly that night, mostly because Boone managed to poke another hole in our air
mattress.
Continue reading about our trip as I hike to the summit of Medicine Bow Peak in the Snowy Range of southeastern Wyoming.
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