Medicine Bow, Wyoming Solo Fly Fishing Backpacking Trip

​Spontaneity is not my speciality, but one Friday in July, I found myself at home, alone with my dog, and with no plans for the weekend. I deemed this situation unacceptable, and with no idea where I’d go, I packed up my backpacking gear.

After filling my kelly green Kelty 90 bag, I did a little internet browsing. Luckily, the planner in me had already prepared for situations like this, and I looked to a few lists of trails saved on AllTrails.com. ​

I filtered my search down by limiting the number of miles to 10 roundtrip and confirming the trail was dog friendly. I compared these results on a map, and I found the trails within a five hour drive.

​I was left with a few choices, but none stood out like The Medicine Bow National Forest outside of Laramie, Wyoming!

I found dozens of trails in an area just south of Medicine Bow Peak itself many of which were designated for backpacking. I turned to social media to find put which area seemed the most picturesque. It all appeared beautiful and spectacular, but the southwestern side of the valley seemed a bit more scenic than other areas. I read one review that said, “Do any trail you want, but you HAVE to start at Lake Marie. It is the most beautiful.” I took this advice, printed off maps of the Lake Marie area, and set my car’s GPS to the nearby parking lot.

By 6 p.m, Maria and I were standing on the edge of Lake Marie. She was standing in the water, and I was gazing around with my mouth wide open for the view in front of me. The Medicine Bow mountains were sprawled out in front of me while bright, bursting yellow and purple flowers surrounded me. It was one of the grandest scenes I've experienced.

We continued walking around the east side of the lake and followed the trail up to Mirror Lake. It was a quick walk between the lakes, but each one was very different and uniquely beautiful. From Mirror Lakes, we came to what would be our destination for the night, Lookout Lake. 

It only took me seven minutes from the Lakes Trail Trailhead Sign to see the water of Lookout Lake. We approached the area from above it and on its right side. From here, I could see there was a small grove of short trees that looked like the perfect shelter. I veered off the trail, walked toward the water, and found the perfect clearing.

​It didn't take me long to set up my camp, and Maria was jumping in and out of the lake the entire time. She would only stop to chase chipmunks and marmots. It’s fair to say that she always has the time of her life in the great outdoors. ​

I attempted to do a little fishing as the sun was setting and I had unpacked my gear. I tied on a green wooly bugger streamer, but sadly, I didn't have any luck. I questioned whether or not there were even fish in the lake, but I figured I would try again in the morning.

Wide awake at 5:30 that morning, I stammered in my tent for a bit before getting out to get the food from my bear bag. When I walked out, I was a little surprised at the sight I found! Fish were jumping everywhere! There were so many that it looked like a light rain was falling. It was a sight I had never seen before. I quickly got my food down and grabbed my rod.

You can see more of these fish jumping in the extended YouTube video below!

I took off the cumbersome streamer that I had been using the night before, and I put on the smallest dry fly I could find. It was a #22 blue wing olive pattern. I attached it to the end of my tippet with a fisherman’s knot and started swinging.

​It took me a few minutes to get a bite, and the first one slipped out right away. It caused my fly to be wet for the next cast, and the fly didn’t sit on the water properly. I applied a little Loon floatant and cast again. I caught my first ever fish on a dry fly pattern, and it was magnificent. ​

​It didn't take me long to reel the beautiful brook trout into my net, and it didn't take me long to send him back on his way. I snapped a few pictures and unhooked the little guy. In just a few seconds, I was already back on the shore throwing my line again. A few casts later, I had success again when another beautiful, tiny fish was in my net.

The success continued, and I was blown away by how much fun I was having. This incredible show of jumping fish continued on for almost two hours, and all of a sudden, they stopped. No more fish were biting at my flies or popping out of the water anywhere. I finally decided to stop and reeled it in. I called it a day after landing six trout!

It was only 9 a.m, so I warmed up some breakfast and tea and enjoyed the sunrise over the mountains above me. By the time I had eaten, looked at my maps, cleaned up camp, and grabbed my day hiking gear, it was starting to warm up outside. I decided to walk over the pass on the Lakes Trail to see what the view looked like from above.

Around 10:30 a.m, I left my camp and walked to the trail. For the mile-and-a-half up, the trail went through patches of wooded forests, opened into a blooming valley surrounding a small unnamed pond, then turned back into the trees. It felt like it was a fun game of peek-a-boo with the ponds that Maria and I were playing.

When we made it up to the high point of the trail, we could see down onto the area we had come from and a new area full of more lakes and trail systems. Instead of walking down among the new lakes, I looked left and saw The Medicine Bow Peak trail. I decided that heading up to the summit is what I would do.

​The trail marker sign said it was only .8 miles to the top, so I asked a couple of different groups how long it took them. Their speeds and times varied ranging from one hour to three, but they all agreed that it was extremely worth it. ​

It was 11 a.m. when Maria started pulling me up the trail. It was a rough trail of steep switchbacks, but with every turn, I swear the views somehow got better. We eventually climbed high enough to see seemingly all of the lakes on all sides of the mountain and miles past them.

The trail was fairly populated, and very easy to follow. It took us roughly 40 minutes to make it to the top of the ridge line which led up to the summit. We paused at the top to take in the views, but also because there was snow! Maria rolled around and cooled down on the icy pack then pulled me along across the icy sheet. ​

Once we got near the summit, it got a little crowded, but it was all because people were coming down instead of going up like we were! We took a long pause and let several groups pass. We had the final ascent to the summit all to ourselves with plenty of room for us to run around!

We spent a good while exploring at the summit. The views were breathtaking, and they were the perfect place for us to take a break and catch our breath. We found a seat, I grabbed a snack, and Maria drank a bowl of water. We hung out for a while at the top and took it all in.

When I heard someone mention that it looked like a storm was rolling in we started heading down. It took us only 20 to 30 minutes to make it down the trail. It was rocky and a little rough on the knees, but we kept pushing down the hill, as more and more people were talking about the weather. 

It was almost 1 p.m. when we made it back down to the trailhead sign, so I decided we would go back to our campsite, break it down, and hike back out to the car before any weather could hit us. ​​

​When I made it back to camp, the clouds were starting to roll in. It only took me 30 minutes to break down and clean up the entire campsite. I situated my backpack and hit the trail. Maria took one last dip in Lookout Lake, and we started our journey back home.

It only took minutes for us to get to my car, and I was so surprised, when I arrived, by how many cars were in the lot. The night before, it had been empty, and the trail hadn't been crowded, but the lots were full and Lake Marie and Mirror Lakes were full of people swimming, fishing, and paddling.

Even though I cut the trip a night short, my first solo backpacking trip was an absolute success. It went more perfectly than I could have imagined. The views of the lakes from above, the surrounding flowers close below, and the perfect morning of fishing, were incredible. This spontaneous trip was unlike anything I could have planned.

You can watch more from the entire weekend in my YouTube video below!

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