2023 Fall Trip - Day 17-of-21 - Sept 23, 2023

Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023 - This is where I spent last night:

Today I keep heading East, with a cool hike in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest:

I started out bagging Post Offices (11 today):

And hitting Love's Service Stations:

I mean - WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO DO OUT HERE?

132 miles east on I-80, and a couple of hours later, I turned right to head south on Wy 130, also known as the "Snowy Range Scenic Byway":

One Area I'm NOT GOING:

At 12:15 I crossed into Medicine Bow National Forest - I really like "National Forests" because they are a lot bigger, and a lot less-managed than the "National Parks":

I stopped at Silver Lake Campground, with its view of beautiful Silver Lake:

5 minutes later I was parked, ready to hike “Medicine Bow Peak via Lakes Trail Loop” (AllTrails above, caltopo below):

I started hiking at 12:51 (clockwise), and just went up from the parking lot:

Right from the start, the view down to Lake Marie is wonderful:

I kept going UP:

At One Mile, I was on the back-side looking west at a scree field (and the rest of Wyoming):

At Two Miles I was still making my way across scree fields. The wind was HOWLING from the northwest, but I could follow the posts-and-cairns:

Just after Three Miles I turned right, and have the wind at my back while going uphill:

Just before Four Miles - my first view OVER THE EDGE (Lookout Lake in the foreground):

At the summit of Medicine Bow Peak:

I like THE ARROW (the Trail is really just "small rocks" among a field of "big rocks"):

A nice view of where I'll be in 25 minutes:

25 minutes later, down at that little lake:

Looking back across a part of Lake Marie, back up at the ridge where I was:

I hiked 7.02 miles in 3 hours 54 minutes:

Back on the Road - Commerce in southeastern Wyoming:

3 hours later, I checked in to the Quality Inn, North Platte, Nebraska [520 miles] (THANK YOU GOD for letting me travel SAFE AND SOUND). My favorite Post Office today is 82070 - Laramie, Wyoming - clean and solid:

Music for today:

The Band - Stage Fright, 1970 3rd album:

The Band - The Band, 1969 2nd album:

The Rolling Stones - Aftermath, 1966:

Steely Dan - Aja, 1977. lyrics to "Home at Last":

I know this super highway
This bright familiar sun

Peter, Paul & Mary - Album 1700, 1967:

Steely Dan - Gaucho, 1980:

The Beatles - Help! [Capitol Album], 1965:

The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night, 1964:

Van Morrison - Hard Nose the Highway, 1973:

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Hard Promises, 1981:

various - Hard To Find 45s On [Disc 8], only 4 songs:

LAST SONG Edward Bear #3 Dec. 1972
KUNG FU FIGHTING Carl Douglas #1 Oct. 1974
RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM Maxine Nightingale #2 Feb. 1976
DRIVER’S SEAT Sniff ’n’ The Tears #15 July 1979

lyrics "Driver's Seat":

There is no elite
Just take your place in the driver's seat
Driver's seat, ooh
Driver's seat, yeah

Wow, the lyrics are a lot more dumb than the song. Great Song!

Neil Young - Hawks & Doves, 1980 - "Little Wing" is one of his best songs: