The snow began to fly even before I put on my hiking shoes, but wasn’t this still August? It was, but any mountain range worth its salt was going to have snowfall in August, and this seemed to be the norm for me backpacking in Wyoming. Besides, I’d rather have snow than rain any day, and these colder temps meant only one thing: the death to millions of mosquitoes!

Rugged terrain and a scenic waterfall in the Bighorn Mountains.

A Backpacking Loop in the Cloud Peak Wilderness

When I set out to backpack Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains Cloud Peak Wilderness, I settled on a 62-mile loop trail called the “Solitude Trail.” There are a number of different access points to this trail, but I decided on the Coffeen Trailhead since it only added a mile onto my loop hike. One problem with this access point is that it has a seven-mile, four-wheel-drive road that is not accessible to low-clearance vehicles. You’ll need to access the trail by a different point if low-clearance is an issue.

The Cloud Peak Wilderness is a vast area listing over 189,000 acres, and its central namesake is the 13,167-foot Cloud Peak. Much of the area has gentle talus slopes, but in the middle of the wilderness lays an imposing array of cliffs, spires, buttresses, and high peaks holding large glaciers. This is the home of the mountain climber and off-trail route finder. The Solitude Trail circles these mountainous lands and tops its high point of over 11,000 feet at Florence Pass to a low point of 8,500 feet in various places.

The trail is well-marked with numbered markers, but can be more difficult to follow in meadowed trail junctions. Here trail signs tend to fall down from wind or sign rot, and rock cairns sometimes drift different ways at trail junctions like the ones in Highland Park. Along the high plateau at Elk Lake I missed one of these meadowed trail junctions and veered in the wrong direction for about a mile until I corrected my error. Except for this slight confusion the route is fairly obvious. For a short time the Solitude Trail also follows a 4WD route outside of the wilderness boundary, so the Solitude Trail may have little here.

That said, I saw no vehicles and only passed 3 people during my entire 65 miles of hiking – so it lived up to its namesake. I completed the trail in just over 4 days; a nice pace with all my photo equipment. The guidebook suggests hikers take 8-14 days which seems excessive to me. In order to gradually acclimate to the trail’s elevation I walked a clockwise route from Coffeen Trailhead. Arriving here from sea-level, a clockwise route was the better choice for me (walking the route counter-clockwise gets you to the high country quicker, just FYI).

The trail (like ones in the Sierra Nevada Range) is always undulating. Water is not a problem along the route as it seems to be everywhere. The land is dotted by lakes large and small, and creek crossings are common. It’s a good idea to bring stream-crossing shoes for the three-a-day creek fords. A few of the high-volume stream crossings have bridges for safety.

The Solitude Trail isn’t the only route in the Bighorns; there are multiple trail loops (all of them shorter) throughout the area. Like all western wildernesses fire can be a problem later in the season; rangers would know current conditions. Nearby Sheridan is a growing town in Wyoming and provides outdoor gear shops and grocery stores for last-minute items. And not that I needed it, but I was able to get cell reception at many of the passes along the trail.

The Cloud Peak Wilderness holds the usual suspects of western fauna: mule deer, black bear, cougar, bobcat, elk, bighorn sheep, and more. I was told fishing is good along the route for rainbow, cutthroat, and other trout, but I didn’t try my hand. Next time you’re in the mood for some remote alpine scenery, some solitude, and maybe a little snow, try the Cloud Peak Wilderness of the Bighorn Mountains.

Need to Know

Information

Permits are necessary for hiking into the Bighorn’s Cloud Peak Wilderness and they can be found at all trailheads, or you can pick one up at an outside kiosk in front of the National Forest Service Building in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Best Time to Go

Mid-August to mid-September seems to be an ideal time for these mountains to experience the end of wildflower season and also bug season. Cooler temps mean easier hiking.

Getting There

From Sheridan, Wyoming there are a number of access points to trails, and the National Forest Service or the Visitor Center in Sheridan can offer advice.

Maps and Books

I used the National Geographic Trails Illustrated Cloud Peak Wilderness Map. Guidebooks include Hiking Wyoming’s Cloud Peak Wilderness by Erik Molvar. This doesn’t have the Solitude Trail in the book except for a mention near the back, but it can be pieced together from other suggested hikes included in the book.

All images in this article © David M. Cobb Photography.

Editor's Note: This article by contributor David Cobb originally appeared in Issue 19 of TrailGroove Magazine. You can read the original article here for additional photos and content. See more of David’s photography at dmcobbphoto.com.