On our one full day in Laramie, we headed out on the Snowy Range Scenic Byway, Wyoming’s second highest pass at 10,847 feet. Our first stop was the Libby Flats Observation Point (from which the panorama above was taken, as well as the two pictures below).

A short distance down the road, the Medicine Bow Peak Overlook had good views over the peak and Bellamy Lake nestling below it.

From here, we also took a short trail of about a mile which looped round the abandoned Red Mask Mine and a miner’s cabin. Built in the 1920s, the mine was thought to contain rich veins of copper, gold and silver but only traces were ever found.

Descending a little further, we parked at Lake Marie, named after Mrs Mary (Marie) Bellamy who led the successful suffrage drive which led to the 19th amendment allowing women to vote. She was also the first woman elected to the Wyoming Legislature in 1910. Wyoming women’s history rocks!

A trail led off from Lake Marie passing Mirror Lake, Lookout Lake and several smaller lakes – and now I can’t remember which is which! So I have helpfully labelled all the photos in the next gallery Lakes Trail. Breath-taking views – in more ways than one….

The trail wasn’t difficult as it climbed gently uphill, but I found myself short of breath and (even) slower than usual. The air is much thinner when you’re at 10,000 feet before you even start walking and it took us a few days to acclimatise.

Eventually, we reached a saddle with a junction of trails.

We could, of course, have continued upwards and onwards to the summit of Medicine Bow Peak and back to Lake Marie along the ridge – um, not likely! We returned by the same 2.4 mile route we had come. At least it was now mostly downhill and easier to breathe.

The next day, we left Laramie and headed for Rock Springs.