Solitude Trail

Solitude

So I have been on this trail three times. Each time I have found parts challenging, beautiful, and fun. This has been our Go-To trail in the Cloud Peak wilderness of Wyoming.

We usually stop to fill up with any last minute food, supplies or gear in Buffalo, WY. This last trip was no different. We stopped for a couple of tiny bottles of spirits. I talked with a man at a gas station about his Ducati Diavel, and his ride from San Jose, CA to Sturgis, SD. We then zipped up the road and into the rain that met us at the trail head. This was as far as our car could take us. We then footed up the forest road to Soldier Park. This is, in my opinion, a boring march up an unmaintained road. It feels like forever with a pack on.

After a misty wet trek through soldier park we finally made it farther than most 4x4's can go. After a rocky uphill slog we finally hit the wilderness area. The trees opened up and we were teated to the splendid Cloud Peak Wilderness. We spend our first night near the creek and watched the cold air and fog roll down from the mountains above. It hovered low on the ground, and was cold, like real cold. We turned in for the cold night exhausted and early, my dog Beckett was shivering inside the bottom of my sleeping bag. This was August.

That afternoon we hiked up the pass without packs. We enjoyed an afternoon at Florence lake. Here we learned of a WWII bomber that crashed at the lake and thought about how difficult the recovery would have been.