In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Encampment River Backpack
02 September 2017 thru 05 September 2017
Saturday 02 September 2017
Our original plan for this Labor Day was to visit Gary’s family in Oregon then paddle at Lake Owyhee in western Oregon. However, this plan fell thru due to fires in western Oregon and work schedules). Instead we decided on two different activities: backpacking one of the wilderness areas in the Medicine Bow National Forest then paddle at Flaming Gorge.
We leave on Saturday, heading out of town finally at 4:30 PM after a stop at Whole Foods for sushi for supper. We make our way to Fort Collins and north on Hwy 287 to Laramie and the Wyoming Boat Inspection Station. Then west on I-80 to the Saratoga exit. The time to Laramie was about 15 minutes shorter than usual and we were getting off the interstate at 6:30, just about 3 hours from Longmont.
Now we head south to our destination for the evening, the North Platte River Access at Pick Bridge. If that turned out to be too crowded, we would go on to Sangar, about 2 miles further.
We are in luck! There is plenty of space at Pick, so we setup our bivy and make a dinner of sushi and sake, then turn in.
I sleep well but have a weird dream about planning a trip to Sweden but forgetting to buy tickets. Its around 8 AM when I wake up and already its warming up. I had looked at my clock once during the night and it was 28 degrees! Brrr! But its already 40 and the sun is out and it feels warm.
Tuesday 05 September 2017
We arrive back at the truck about 1 PM. Gary carried the tent back which made the trip back for me more doable and manageable….and enjoyable since I was not struggling. In addition, it is much cooler today.
We head back to Saratoga by way of the Forest Service Road that runs on the west side of the Encampment Wilderness. If we come back, this will be the preferred route as it is about 10 miles less of gravel road.
The scenery here is outstanding, high mountain parks and rolling hills. There is a trailhead at Bottle Creek campground that I need to lookup. Soon we are at I-80 and headed west. Next stop: Green River
Monday 04 September 2017
We slept good but really late, maybe till 9 or 9:30. Today’s plan is to hike downstream. The trail starts out hugging the stream then goes up and back down though more time above the stream than at the stream. There are a couple places to camp but are pretty close to the trail.
I turn back after 90 minutes, once I feel the fatigue set in. Gary continues on for an hour or so. Once back at camp, I take a nap. After pumping water, I take pictures and draw and am totally consumed! Life is good.
Sunday 03 September 2017
We pack up and head back to the highway, encountering a pack of wild burros along the way. Then south to Saratoga for gas and coffee then head south to Riverside and Encampment. I am not quite clear how we actually access our trailhead so we stop for a minute and look at maps. It looks like we need to pick up FR409 so we backtrack to Hwy 230 and head south for about 5 miles then turn off. We come to a sign for a trailhead (?? Gulch) and take it. It’s a 4-wheel drive road and is becoming marginal so we head back and reaccess. We continue down 409 to 489 where there are a couple more trailheads, one for the East Encampment River and another that is not well marked on the map but turns out to be the trailhead for the Encampment River so we pack up and start out. I am happy that this is not steep since its pretty hot. This is a really pretty trail and after a time we cross a bridge and head uphill. We have been hiking for nearly 2 hours which is what I estimate my limit is. Gary goes ahead to investigate and comes back with possible campsites at 5 minutes and 20 minutes. I figure I have 30 minutes left in me so we march on.
The first one is on an island which is really inviting. We head there, putting on tevas/chacos to cross and setup camp in this primo site which is a bit open and has the river on both sides.
I almost forgot: As I setup my crazy creek, Gary told me to look behind me. There was a quarter, a lucky quarter so he names this ‘2 bit campsite’