As the sun set on my drive north to Laramie where I'd spend the night, I stopped at Vedauwoo (pronounced vee-da-voo), a section of Medicine Bow National Forest just off Interstate 80 famous for its difficult name and strange granite formations. Here, I non-technically clambered halfway up one of the rock towers then wandered through the skeletal trees surrounding the stone gardens.
Vedauwoo's 8,200 foot elevation and chilly winds forced me to break out my down coat, a pointed reminder that after a balmy summer winter was fast approaching.
The next morning, I woke a couple hours before dawn and drove an hour west of Laramie to Lake Marie, in a different section of Medicine Bow National Forest. The quartzite mountain stands a couple thousand feet higher than the lake, topping out at 12,013 feet above sea level.
Medicine Bow Peak's massive, pillared rock face, black and gray in the pre-dawn light, glowed pink as the sun rose in the east, scoring a direct hit. In the clear light of day, the the rock resembled white marble.
The hike gains elevation quickly, meanders for awhile at just under 12,000 feet, and finally reaches the summit, a bump ever so slightly higher than the surrounding terrain. To the north, I could see Elk Mountain, not far from the interstate. To the south I could see Longs Peak, over a hundred miles away. The descent down the north side is even sharper and quicker than the climb up the south.
En route back to Denver, I made a few more short stops, including at the 60 foot tall Ames Monument, a sturdy pyramid built near the highest point along the transcontinental railroad in honor of Union Pacific financiers Oakes and Oliver Ames.
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