Friday 9-12-25 Willow Campground, Meadow Loop Trail & Reading

 

Camping at Willow Campground

 

We had another outstanding day at Willow Campground. We woke up to the temperature of 39 degrees and got up to 64 degrees. 

I slept in until 7:45 am. I rolled out of bed and got dressed. The Wave3 had warmed up the Minnie. Larry was already up and had pulled the drape closed in the kitchen area. I made maple brown sugar oatmeal and we added raisins to it for breakfast. After breakfast we got ready to go on a hike.

Larry uncovered the motorcycle and took it from it's carrier. Then he put my pouch in the tote box. We folded our hiking poles so I can carrier them to the trailhead. Then Larry started the motorcycle. Then I got on the motorcycle. I didn't wear a jacket because it wasn't too cold and Larry would protect me from the cold. The ride was about three miles up the highway to Little Laramie Trailhead. No one was in the parking lot. Larry parked the motorcycle and got the pouch out. I put the pouch on and unfolded our poles. We walked to the hiking trail map to see where we were and where to go. It wasn't the greatest map. We decided to do the Meadow Loop Trail, which was three miles. We hiked part of the Little Laramie River Trail for about a half mile. The river ran along side of the trail. We had to hike a steep hill for a half mile. I was glad it was a gradual half mile hill. The river kind of went away but it was very peaceful. The hike took us up and down hills through the forest. The signage wasn't that great. We didn't know what trail we were on but Larry had it on his GPS. This area there wasn't as many down trees as we have seen on the trails at the campground. The three trails kinda intertwined with each other. We hiked part of all the three trails. We started on the River Trail (2 mile loop) and moved onto the Meadow Loop (3 mile loop). We were 1.5 miles into the hike and got onto the Lodgepole (1 mile loop). Then we were back on Meadow. By the end of the hike we had hiked 3.25 miles and hiked for an hour and a half. It was a beautiful hike.

 

Hiking in the Snowy Range area

 

The hiking trails in the Snowy Range area

 

On the way back to Willow Campground Larry decided he would drive the road to the highway, which was four miles. The road was very rough because of chuckholes and the road was deteriorating. It was so rough even the other vehicles were going very slow. We drove past Barber Lake and Libby Recreation Area. We saw a lot of aspens changing colors for the fall. In the valley there was a community of homes. We were wondering how they got down there. We figured they must of used the rough maintenance road by Barber Lake. It was a beautiful ride.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing with a book.

In the afternoon a storm front headed our way, there was thunder, it got darker and the wind came up. We put the motorcycle on the carrier and got it all covered up. We also put the solar panel inside. After all that we only got a small amount of rain but somewhere close by I am sure they got drenched. 

We didn't go for an evening hike because Larry's little toe was hurting and he wanted to give it a break from walking. I just finished my steps by stepping in place. I ended up doing 12,000 steps. We had an awesome day.            

Thursday 9-11-25 Camping, Hiking & Visiting Centennial

 

Camping in Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest

 

We started our fourth week today. We woke up with the temperature of 39 degrees. 

I crawled out of bed at 7:15 am. Larry was already up and had the heater going. I got dressed and made pancakes. Afterwards we got ready to go for a hike.

We were ready by 8:15 am. We started by walking to site #11 where we picked up the Camp Trail. We hiked this trail to where it intersects Corner Mountain Loop. We went to the left and continued hiking Camp Trail to the main road. While hiking camp trail loop we went up and down hills and at times the hills were very steep. There was one place we had to climb over three fallen trees that were across the trail. The trail was through a beautiful forest. We saw the aspens changing colors. When we got to the main road we walked it for .25 mile to the Libby Recreation Area. This area had Barber Lake and picnic area. The lake was dried up but there was a beautiful creek called Libby Creek nearby for fishing. The picnic tables were in great condition. We walked around the picnic area because there was suppose to be a hiking trail. We saw a road and an old cross-country ski trail, which was over grown so you couldn't hike it. We figured the trail was the service road, it's suppose to be two miles one way. There is a vault toilet there. The forest website says, that Barber Lake doesn't hold a lot of water and you can fish in Libby Creek. After resting for awhile we headed back. We walked the road back to the camp trail and hiked it back. This section was challenging because we had to go downhill and at places it was steep. We exit the trail at the campground where you check in. It's weird because the trails from the campground aren't labeled as trail. You just have to know their there. We had a super hike. By the end of the hike we had hiked 2.75 miles for two hours.

 

Camp Loop Trail

 

Libby Creek

 

Libby Recreation Area

We rested about an hour and then I made lunch. 

 

After lunch we took the motorcycle off it's carrier. We rode up the mountain a couple of miles to a trailhead parking area. Tomorrow we plan to hike the trail if weather permits. We'll have to ride the motorcycle to do so. After checking it out we drove to Centennial. Centennial is a small town of 293 people. It's three miles from the campground and has a Historical Museum. It was suppose to be open from 12 to 4 but the gates were locked. We were there at 12:15. It wasn't a complete bust because we stopped at Country Junction and shared a couple scoops of ice cream (Huckleberry and Snowy Range). Snow Range is a vanilla ice cream with hunks of chocolate and toffee and caramel. It was very good. Country Junction is a country store with souvenirs, gifts, clothing, jewelry, baked goods, homemade ice cream and more. While I paid for the ice cream Larry walked around the store. It's very well kept up. The lady, who helped us said her boss has owned this place for 33 years. We sat outside at a table and ate our ice cream. Next to us a lady had her two kids eating ice cream. She was wondering about the Snowy Range ice cream so Larry showed her what it looked like and told her what was in it. Her son had chocolate an her daughter had strawberry. Centennial is a small town but it has a post office, a historic hotel and cafe, coffee shop and other places to eat. On the way back to the campground we stopped by the National Forest Visitor Center but it was closed until tomorrow. We picked up some information, that was outside. We had a wonderful ride. Larry didn't drive as far as he wanted because the weather didn't look too good. We driving in the campground when it started to sprinkle. It didn't last long.

 

 

 

Ice cream we shared

 

 

 

Ice Cream selection

 

 

 

Country Junction

 

 

Centennial Wyoming

 

 

We spent the rest of the day reading.

 

 

 Enjoying a good book

 

About dinnertime the wind came up and the temperature went down a little. This only lasted about 15 minutes. We didn't get any rain. We were going to barbecue pork sausage patties but instead I made taco meat out of the pork sausage. 

 

After dinner we went for a short hike on the Camp Trail Loop for about an hour for 1.75 miles. It was a nice hike. When we got back I swept out the Minnie. I finished just in time because it started to sprinkle but it didn't last. We had sprinkling for a few minutes all day but it never amounted to anything. 

 

By the end of the day I had done 13,500 steps.    

 

 

 

   

    

 

      

Wednesday 9-10-25 Camping, Hiking, Reading & Walking

 

Camping in Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest

 

We woke up to the temperature in the high 30's. The cab was 42 degrees and Centennial, which is about two miles from Willow the temperature was 44 degrees. It was perfect weather to camp. About 5:00 a little rain came in, it lasted a few minutes. We're in the mountains so we expect little showers now and then, they last a few minutes.

I got out of bed at 7:30 and made biscuits for breakfast. Then we got ready for a hike. We were ready by 8:15. We hiked from the campground' s bathroom. We hiked up a small hill and climbed over and walked around fallen trees to get to the Spruce Trail. We hiked the trail until it intersected Corner Mountain Loop Trail. There was a trail sign for both. We decided to take Corner Mountain Loop. Corner Mountain Loop was 2 miles long. It took us up and down hills and through the forest. Some of the hills were steeper than others. There was a lot of fallen trees in the forest. Larry read a review about a mouth ago, that said they had to climb over downed trees. We saw where some trees were recently cut but we didn't have to climb over any trees. The trail was very nice. We heard the chipmunks and the squirrels in the trees. A couple of places we heard them dropping pine-cones from the trees. I hike behind Larry because I'm slower. One place a squirrel ran right in front of me across a downed tree and up another. It was so fast it took me by surprise. It was a small gray squirrel. We saw the aspens changing colors for the fall. We were almost done with our hike and were close to the parking area for the trail when we met a couple. We said we were almost finished with our hike and the gentleman said they were just beginning. They were about a half a mile into the two mile loop. When we were by the parking area we said hi to another couple. These two couples were the only people we saw and both of them were about our age. It was a beautiful hike. By the time we got back we had hiked for two hours and 2.75 miles.

 

New growth in the forest

 

Downed trees caused by a storm

 

Freshly cut tree on the side of the trail

 

We made it back just in time because we got another short rain storm (mountain storm). We relaxed for a half hour and then I made soup for lunch. 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing with a book outside. While we were reading a cute little weasel came down the hill to see us. We weren't sure what type of weasel it was and I didn't have my camera. It stayed around a little bit to see if it could get any food, then it climbed up the hill and disappeared. Later on we googled different weasels in the area. We found out it was a least weasel because it was light brown with a short tail (the tail didn't have a black tip). Below is a picture from the web of a least weasel.

 

Least Weasel (the smallest weasel in the weasel family)

 

It was a gorgeous day with blue skies and puffy clouds. When it was time for dinner Larry barbecued hamburger patties. Today we didn't have an afternoon shower or evening.

After dinner we went for another hike to see where the trail we want to hike tomorrow is. We started off on the same trail as we did this morning. We climbed up the hill by the bathroom to the Spruce Trail. Then hiked up another steep hill until the Spruce Trail and Corner Mountain Trail intersects. Then we turned around and came back to the campground. The only difference was we took a trail that had a sign saying back to Willow Campground. The sign was on a fallen tree. It came out by two campsites #10 and #11. It was a lot easier then climbing over trees by the bathroom. I also seemed faster. Then we walked to the entrance to get an envelope because we probably will stay another two nights. We hiked for an hour and did 1.5 miles.

When we got back to the site we put our chairs away. If we want to use them tomorrow will get them back out. I ended up doing 13,000 steps.         

   

Tuesday 9-9-25 Willow Campground & Walking

 

Camping at Willow Campground

 

It was in the 30's when we woke up. We slept with the Wave3 heater going all night because it was a little nippy when we went to bed. I surprised Larry, I went to bed the same time as he did. I usually stay up to 11:00 pm or 12:00 am, when we camp. He goes to bed at 9:00 pm or 10:00 pm. The hike had worn me out so I was tired.

When we don't have AC power our refrigerator works on propane, sometimes in high elevations it give up problems. Well, yesterday around 4:00 it turned off and wouldn't turn back on. Our next stop was going to be Sugarloaf but it's just as high as Silver Lake. Larry decided on a campground further down the mountain. I put things away and secured. We were ready to go by 8:00.

We went down the road towards Centennial, WY. We drove a beautiful mountain pass. When we got down a couple of thousand feet Larry found a pull over and turned on the refrigerator, it lit and we're so happy. We continued down the mountain. We passed a few campgrounds and pulled into Willow Campground. 

Willow Campground was 16 miles from Silver Lake. It was down a rough blacktop road about a half mile. It's a small campground with 16 sites. It was only 9:00 and some people were getting ready to go. We found a site that wasn't occupied and parked the Minnie. The site was #15. We pulled the Minnie in and the site was flat we didn't have to use any blocks. Then we walked down to pay for a couple nights. 

As we were walking we looked at other sites and saw a couple more we liked. But we decided to stay where we were. We paid and went back to our site. Larry decided to back the Minnie in so I helped him. Once the Minnie was backed in we set it up for a couple of nights. The site has a picnic table and fire ring and a little bit of trees. If anyone gets the site next to us we won't have any privacy but it's still a nice site.

 

The creek, that runs behind the sites

 

After setting up we went for a walk to find where the hiking trail was. We had to walk through trees and climb over down trees. We found the trail but I fell over a down tree very hard. I think the tree broke my fall. I bruised my shins, scraped my hands and scraped an elbow. It sounds worse than it was. Larry was worried and told me not to move. I rolled over and sat on the tree. Larry made sure I was ok and then he helped me up. I was very lucky I didn't break anything. I just dirtied my shirt. We went back to the Minnie and I put some Bactine on the scrapes and a band-aid on my elbow.

In the afternoon I took a nap and Larry continued to do research on where to go. Our Mobley hotspot wasn't working, both of our cell phones had a signal but would not work with data. Larry setup Starlink and a solar panel because the sun was shining. The internet works now. Later in the day the Mobley started to work.

Larry started a new book and so did I. I finished reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It was a great book. I started reading another book called Forever by Pete Hamill. It takes place back in the 1700's in Ireland. It about a little boy growing up and I like it so far.

 

Reading is fun

   

About 4:00 a small front came through with wind and a little bit of rain. Once the rain stopped Larry barbecued hamburgers for dinner. He finished just in time because it started to sprinkle.

After dinner we went for a little walk to the entrance of the campground to see how far it was. Larry looked at his trial maps to see how far it's to the lake. The sign had said .5 mile but the map said .3 mile. We decided if we wanted to do the lake trail we would have to take the motorcycle. Then we walked back to the Minnie. I ended up doing 7,000 steps today.           

Monday 9-8-25 Camping at Silver Lake & Hiking Meadow Fall Trail

 

Camping at Silver Lake

 

We woke up to a brisk morning with the temperature in the 30's. Larry got up at 6:00 and turned on the Wave3 heater. When I got up he said, that the temperature in the cab was 42 degrees and the coach itself was 44 degrees. When I finally got up it was 7:30 and the temperature had risen to 54 degrees. I'm glad we have the Wave3 heater.

I made cornbread for breakfast. I usually use a glass pan but today I decided to use a cast-iron skillet. Last night when I baked chocolate chips cookies they were a little crunchy. I cooked them at a lower temperature but I melted the butter instead of soften the butter. Tonight I'll bake some more but do them a little different. This morning I baked the cornbread at a lower temperature and the least amount of time the package called for. They came out terrific, they rose to the top of the skillet and were flaky. We ate half for the cornbread for breakfast and had the rest after our hike.

 

Cornbread breakfast and snack

 

After breakfast I put water in my pouch and got ready for our hike. Our hike was a 3.8 mile loop on Meadow Falls Trail. We started from the RV and hiked the road .10 mile to the trail. Then we climbed up a steep hill but there was no loose gravel. It got our hearts pumping. Once on top the trail leveled out. There were other climbs but not as steep. The trail took us through meadows and through the forest. We didn't see any wildlife. Not true we saw chipmunks, squirrels and a couple of pikas (at the end of the hike). Larry thinks we saw a couple of turkeys because of their tail weathers. I wasn't sure. We hiked to the trail sign for the Meadow Falls, about 1.5 miles in the hike. The trail to the falls was about 600 ft. The Meadow Falls wasn't big but it's the wrong time of the year. The falls was called Meadow Falls because it was fed from the meadows surrounding it. Once enjoying the fall we hiked back to the trail. This section took us up and down hills. Some of the hills were steep and we had to rest once in awhile to catch our breath, we are at a high elevation. The campground is at 10,230 ft. and we hiked up to 10,590 ft. We hiked by a few rock slides. When we got to them we looked for pikas because we remember they live in the rocks when we visited Big Meadow Campground by South Fork, CO. We had to cross the creek a few times. We used rocks to get across. We also saw a few mountain ponds. The last .5 of a mile was to the campground on Silver Lake trail. While hiking the shoreline of the lake we met up with a couple who were hiking the trail. The mas was not wearing a shirt or shoes, only shorts and she was all wrapped up like us. Larry asked him how he could hike with no shoes. The guy said you get use to it. We thought his was crazy because the trail has rocks, roots and trees and other growth that can poke you. I'm clumsy so you may fall. The last .20 mile to the campground is very steep. We had to rest a couple of times to catch our breath. By the time we finished our hike we had hiked for three hours and 3.8 miles.

 

Meadow Fall

 

Where we saw a couple of pikas

Pika from the internet

One of the ponds we saw

 

Walking of a creek via stepping stones

 

For lunch we had soup. For lunch dessert we had Great Value Fig Bars, which Shirley (Larry's ma) bought us for our birthdays. Thank you, Shirley.

 

Fig Bars

We spent the rest of the day relaxing. We read and I took a nap.

In order to get to the internet Larry has to setup the Starlink. So when we got back from the hike he set it up to do some research on where we're going from here. I can also do my blog. 

The weather today was sunshine, clouds and wind. Overall it was nice even though it was cool when the wind kicked in and the clouds rolled in. 

After dinner we went for a half mile walk. We walked part of the Meadow Fall Trail. We walked through one of the tent sites to the trail, where there was a meadow and a small pond. We wanted to see if we could see any wildlife. We didn't see any. We might have been there too early it was only 6:15. Then we took the trail back to where we started it this morning. Then we walked back to the Minnie. The Meadow Fall Trail is very nice and through out the trail they had Carins. Carins are trail markers with stacks of stones. The ones we saw were a post with slabs of granite piled up around it to keep it standing. The wind went down a bit and the sun came out so our walk wasn't cold. It was very nice.

By the end of the day I had done 13,500 steps. I did more than Larry but it's probably when I walk or hike I swing my arms and he doesn't. We had a super day.   

  

       

        

Sunday 9-7-25 New Campground, Hiking & Weather

 

Water pump at Silver Lake Campground

We had another super day visiting Medicine Bow National Forest. 

 

We spent two nights in Ryan Park Campground. Today we moved up the mountain 10 miles to Silver Lake Campground. Ryan Park was at 8,300 feet in elevation and Silver Lake is 10,200 feet elevation. We'll be here for two nights.

 

We woke up to the temperature in the low 40's. I got out of bed at 7:15. 

 

We weren't going far and wanted to let the other campers have a chance to pack up their stuff. I made premade biscuits in the oven for breakfast. I put things away and put a cooler together. 

We walked the campground trail, it is a bit less than a mile. 

 

We read until 10:30. Then we finished putting things away and secured. Then we got on the road again. We arrived at Silver Lake at 11:15. We parked the Minnie in a campsite, that was level and waited. There was another site we preferred because it has a view of the lake. Once the other camper left we walked over to check it out. While there a gentleman started to talk to us. He was out of the Dallas area. While I continued talking to him Larry went and got the Minnie. This site wasn't as level as the other one but we only had to block the driver side one block higher. The site is huge and has terrific views. It also has easy access to the short trail around the lake.

 

After setting up the Minnie we had lunch. While eating lunch we saw the skies getting dark. Then we had a quick mountain shower of hail and rain. It was very quick about five minutes. We discussed if wanted to stay one or two nights because this campground has two hiking trails. One goes to Meadows Falls, which is a 3.7 mile loop and the other one is Silver Lake , which is 1.3 mile loop. We decided to stay two nights.

 

We have no cell connection so Larry setup the Starlink. The Starlink uses a lot of power so Larry setup a set of solar panels to keep the batteries charged. We also have no power. Thank you honey for setting up the Starlink. 

 

We continued reading our books. About 2:30 we decided to go down to entrance of the campground and pay. We decided to hike Silver Lake Trail. The trail took us around the lake. A couple of places we had to use a small bridge to get across an arm of the lake. We also walked over a couple of boardwalks. We hiked through the trees and along the banks of Silver Lake. At the beginning we climbed down granite steps to the lake. We had to be careful because there were loose rocks. The trail has some rocks in it. Before doing the trail we said hi to a couple. While we were hiking we met up with the lady. Larry asked if they had lost a fishing net, we had seen one laying on the bank. She said they had just arrived and it wasn't theirs. She said she was going to hike the trail while her husband fished. There is a trail at our site that takes you to Silver Lake Trail. Instead of hiking to the campground entrance when we got to it we took it back to the Minnie. The trail was very well used and moderate. We had a beautiful hike.

 

 

 

Silver Lake

 

 

 

One of the bridges on the trail

 

Hiking trail terrain

Granite rock on Silver Lake trail 

We got back just in time because we had another small rain shower. The clouds continued to roll in and out for the rest of the day. 

We spent the rest of the day reading.

 

Relaxing with a good book

  

After dinner we went on a half hour walk around the campground and to find where we can pickup tomorrow's hiking trail to Meadow Falls. Larry wants to walk it the opposite direction, than other hikers usually hike the trail. It was a very nice walk. 

By the end of the day I had done 10,000 steps.  

   

Saturday 9-6-25 Hiking, Camping, Reading & Walking

 

Camping at Ryan Campground in Wyoming

 

We woke up to the temperature in the low 40's. It got to 71 degrees. We had a very pleasant day.

Larry woke up at his normal time and I got up at 7:15. I got dressed and then made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. After breakfast I put two water bottles in my small pack. We were ready for a hike.

Ryan Park only has one small hiking trail but you can hike the roads nearby. We started out hike from the campground. We walked a cross-country ski trail about 1/3 mile to the main highway. The hike on the cross-country ski trail was very challenging because it really wasn't marked and had a lot of over growth. We had to cross Carroll Creek via a fallen tree. Larry went first and put his hiking pole out so I could hold it. It wasn't a wide crossing but I had to do a big step to get off the log. I always have problems doing this type of crossing because I hesitate and worry I'm going to fall in the water. Once across the creek we were back on the trail. When we got to the main highway we took National Forest Road 225. It was open to everything. The road is a dirt road, that takes you up the mountain 14 miles to another campground (South French Creek Campground). We hiked 1.7 miles of the road. We stopped occasionally to look at the beautiful view of the mountains. We saw three deer (does) and a small community of homes. While we were hiking a few vehicles came up the mountain but when the drivers saw us they slowed down so there wasn't a lot of dust coming at us. Medicine Bow National Forest is very dense with beautiful pine trees and aspens. By the time we got back we had hiked 4 miles and were gone almost 2 hours. We had a super hike.

 

Sign saying road open to everything

 

Aspens and some pine trees

 

Three does running through down trees

 

Mountain community

 

 Larry and I both clocked our hike. Larry's watch was cool because it tracked us via GPS and everytime we did a mile it would talk to him and said you've gone 1 miles and walked 2.3 mph. At the end it said how far he hiked, how long it took him, how fast he hiked and his heart beat. Neither Larry's watch or my band have a hiking setting so we use the walking workout. This workout works great for us. My band worked through GPS because we had my phone with us His watch has a GPS built in. The tracking of miles are very close. His watch will say 1 mile and mine will say .97 mile. Both devices work great.

When we got home we setup our chairs outside and relaxed until lunchtime. For lunch we had soup. After lunch we went back outside and read in out chairs. It started to get hot so I went inside and Larry decided to come in, too.

I took an hour nap. Larry continued to read. When I woke up I went for a 50 minute walk around the campground loops for a total of 2.25 miles three times each loop. Then I went back and read.

For dinner we warmed up a couple of sausages from last night on the grill. My band told me I needed to charge it because it was at 10%. While it was charging I bagged the chairs and Larry put the grill away.

After my band was charged we went on a walk we walked the loops once, Larry went inside because it started sprinkle. I decided to do another lap around our loop to get one mile. I got back just in time because it started to rain. We spent the rest of the night inside reading. 

By the end of the day I had done 19,000 steps, which is 7.95 miles.