Snowy Range and Laramie, Wyoming - July 2016

Click on the thumbnails to open a larger image. The Snowy Range mountains are about 30 miles west of Laramie, WY. I have many memories of these mountains from childhood when my grandparents lived in Laramie. The name of the mountain range is appropriate given that there is so much snow in the winter that the road through the pass is typically closed from around October through March each year due to the winter snow depths that take place.Lake Marie is one of three naturally formed lakes at the base of Medicine Bow peak. These photographs were made near the end of July 2016, and there was still snow on the mountain peak. Highway 130 over Snowy Range Pass is 10,847, and the mountain and cliffs just west of the highway rise around 1200 feet higher, with Medicine Bow Peak at an elevation of just over 12,000 feet. The wind on the pass is so intense that many of the pine trees are called “Warbonnets” because the branches grow out on only the downwind side of the trees.Laramie, Wyoming has a history with the Union Pacific Railroad, and is home to the University of Wyoming. A railroad museum sponsored by locals in Laramie is located in the southern part of the town. The snow shovel attachment ahead of the locomotive in the museum is testament to the amount of snow the area receives and the name of the mountain range to the west.