Laramie Peak, Wyoming - A Trip Up It

[lizs]

Everyone knows and loves Laramie Peak! I first spotted the pyramid on the horizon from the top of Scottsbluff National Monument in Nebraska - just like the pioneers. Later, I also spotted it from Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, also in Nebraska. (This summer I saw it straight in front of me traveling north on I-25, but I own that baby now. *very big grin!*)

I wanted to summit and know this peak that was so instrumental in pioneer travels. In July of 2005 I arrived at the Friend Park Campground after 10 p.m. to set up camp. There's quite a maze of roads to get there in the dark. Thankfully, I'd run into a Forest Service employee after 5 p.m. in Douglas who clearly routed the way. The next morning I was on the hike by 8 a.m. You can start right from the campground, or park around half a mile away to begin.

The elevation at Friend Park Campground is 7,400 feet with Laramie Peak at 10,272 ft. It took me around 5 hours to go the 5.5 miles. No, it was not tall enough to have any breathing or oxygen problems. (Not sayin', however, I didn't stop often and gasp for air, LOL) And, FYI, you can take an ATV nearly all the way to the top.

Speaking of the top, the summit is all a jumble of boulders, towers and a crazy helicopter pad perched half off the mountain. I took a very, very, VERY careful timer shot on top.

For whatever reason, this is nearly my most popular, "most viewed" Webshots album. I guess everybody is curious about Laramie Peak, such am important peak in the westward movement of American pioneers... (OR, no one else is fool enough to hike up it! lol) I kinda jogged down it and that took 2.5 hours. Bad move. It tooks its toll on my knees, so DON'T DO THAT!!!

Anyway... enjoy! Click on the photo to go to the album.

[lizs]

The sign states in various spots:

Laramie Peak was named after an early trapper, Jacques LaRamee, who built a cabin at the junction of the Laramie and Platte Rivers. After he was kiled in the area, his name was given to Fort Laramie, the Laramie Mountain Range, Laramie County, the Laramie River and the town of Laramie.

The trail is approximately 4.2 miles one way (hmmm, I think it was 5 or 5.5!!). It is relatively flat for about the first mile, as it follows along Friend Creek. As you climb further, the trail rises 2,500 ft. in elevation over approximately 3 miles.

Friend Falls is a small waterfall about 2 miles up the trail and provides a convenient rest or turn-around point. Panoramic views can be seen along the trail and from the summit of Laramie Peak. This trail was originally built to provide motorized access to the radio tower at the summit. Please share the trail with motorized users.

You will be able to see Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana and Colorado from the summit. You can also make out the towns of Douglas due north, Casper to the northwest, Wheatland east and even Laramie to the south.

Before you hike the trail:
-Take plenty of water. Water along the trail is not safe to drink without treating it.
-Watch out for lightning. Afternoon thunderstorms are common in the summer.
-Stay on the trail. This protects vegetation and prevents erosion.
-Pay the daily parking fee unless you are camping at Friend Park Campground.

[lizs]

This sign states in various spots:

By an old photo of a covered wagon
Wednesday, June 8 -
It is a pleasant morning after the rain. Everything looks fresh and green. We are traveling through the Black Hills over rocks and stones. There is some splendid scenery here. Beautiful valleys and dark green (clad???) hills with their ledges of rock and then far away over them you can see Laramie Peak with her snow capped top.
Evening -
Came sixteen miles today with another shower this afternoon and have camped in a lovely spot, plenty of wood, ater and good grass.
---Diary of Mrs. Amelia Steward Knight; Starting from Monroe County, Iowa Saturday April 8, 1853 and ending near Millwaukie, Oregon Territory, September 17, 1853.
NOTE ** I just Googled and got a link to more info on her here:
www.octa-trails.org/learn/people_places/profile_knight_amelia_stewart.php

The first real mountain that most emigrants has ever seen was Laramie Peak at 10,272 feet. It was an important landmark as they crossed the plains in their trek across the west on the Emigrant's Road - also known as the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Pioneer Trail.

Diaries of the emigrants almost always noted the first sight of the snow-crested peak.

"Following the Platte we had our first view of the Rocky Mountains, Laramie Peak, said to be two hundred miles away. We were in sight of it for four weeks." - James H. Richey, 1854

Pioneers used such landmarks to chart their course and mark their progress. The mountains were such a welcome site after t he weeks spent crossing the featureless expanses of the eastern part of the trail.

Laramie Peak could be made out as a purple haze on the horizion just west of Scotts Bluff and let the early travelers know that the they were approaching the Black Hills of the Laramie Range. It would take as many as eight days to reach a point on the Platte River opposite the peak.

[lizs]

One last sign photo from the Laramie Peak trailhead. It says at various locations on it:

"Roughing it"
"We passed Fort Laramie in the night, and on the seventh morning we found ourselves in the Black Hills, with Laramie Peak at our elbow (apparently) looming west and solitary - a deep, dark, rich indigo blue in hue, so portentiously did the old colossus frown under his beetling brows of storm-cloud. He was thirty or forty miles away, in reality, but he only seemed removed a little beyond the low ridge at our right."
-- Mark Twain

The emigrants had a fairly flat route as they traveled along the Platte and North Platte Rivers through most of Nebraska and into eastern Wyoming. However, that all changed when they passed Fort Laramie. The terrain got tougher and was broken up by deep ravines and steep climbs.

The first glimpse of Laramie Peak may have been awe-inspiring, but it also brought forth some trepidation as it marked the beginning of the emigrants; ascent into the mountains.

From this point forward, their journey would prove more difficult. Laramie Peak guided their journeys for nearly a week. All of the trails skirted the mountain itself, buts its looming presence seemed to taunt the travelers as they struggled to climb the hills nearby. The emigrants' struggles are marked by gravesites, wagon ruts and inscriptions in rocks.

As you reach the summit of Laramie Peak, look to the north to imagine the challenges these emigrants faced as they traveled across the vast landscape.

[lizs]

Here's what pioneers saw. This is taken a bit northeast of Laramie Peak on the lonesome gravel/dirt road to Glendo. Please check the album for more, if you wish.

[bc]

Thanks lizs. Nice pictures. And I'm sure the pioneers got tired of climbing that barbed wire fence too. ;D

[lizs]

I'm sure the WSGA got sick of those fences, too! (ha, I had to go Google "Johnson County Cattle Wars" to come up with that! ;-P I knew of, but hadn't read up on that ordeal till now)