For this years hike Brian, Bob and Ted decied to hike in the Flat Tops Wilderness (Routt National Forest) in Colorado. To reach our trailhead for Hooper Lake, we started our 5 hr drive on WYO 230 to the the Wyoming-Colorado State Line. Our trip then continued on as Colorado State Highway 127 (SH 127) south to CO SH 125 through Cowdry to Walden. At Walden we turned onto SH 14 and met with US 40 at Muddy Pass and drove over Rabbit Ears pass. South of Steamboat Springs at Yampa we turned on County Road 7 to Forest Road 900. Forest Road 900 ends at Stillwater trailhead..

After we got to the trailhead, it looked auspicious. We started hiking to our destination Hooper Lake and about 1/2 to 1 mile it started raining. Hard. We hung out under a tree until the torrential downpour subsided, and hiked back to the car. We drove out looking to find a motel. To our dismay, we found nothing available on our route out after stopping in every town including Steamboat Springs. Not even a manger was available. We decided to head back to Laramie and arrived there about 1 am. We had just spent a full day driving and looking for a place to sleep and were exhausted by the time we reached Laramie.

Our emergency plan defaulted to doing one day of rock climbing at the Vedauwoo Climbing Area, drinking beer and eating. The next day we drove down to Sugarloaf Campground in the Snowy Range for a three night stay doing day hikes climbing Medicine Bow Peak and a trip to the nearby lakes.

The next day we drove back to Laramie, cleaned up, and had more food and beer. Brian and Bob departed the following day.

We almost made it, turned back about 10600 ft.

Map of Vedauwoo.

This map shows three hikes in this area of the Snowy Range - Sugarloaf (2006), North Twin Lakes (2017), Lost Lake 2008.

Vedauwoo is an area of rocky outcrops located in southeastern Wyoming between Laramie and Cheyenne. Its name, according to some, is a romanized version of the Arapaho word "bito'o'wu" meaning "earth-born". Vedauwoo is located in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and includes a day-use picnic area and an overnight campground. The cliffs of the Vedauwoo rock formation are a popular climbing area made up of 10 square miles of weathered Sherman granite.

At an elevation of 10800 ft, Sugarloaf Campground is the highest elevation campground in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest located about 35 miles west of Laramie, Wyoming. This rustic campground has awesome views of Medicine Bow Peak (12018 ft), the highest peak in the Snowy Range. The northern extent of the Medicine Bow Mountain range is the Snowy Range.