W7Y/EW-017
Leg Benchmark
2760 m / 9055 ft
Aug 7, 2016

With N0TA

By KX0R

Leg Benchmark is a prominent peak in the Sherman Mountains of southeastern Wyoming.

Key Points:

• Medicine Bow National Forest – Pole Mountain Area
• Access part-way on a nice trail
• No marked trail up the ridge
• Route finding required
• Game trails and some bushwhacking
• Summit is rarely visited
• Fine HF/VHF/UHF site
• ~ 4.2 miles round-trip
• ~ 600 vertical feet

Driving Directions:

• Drive to Cheyenne, Wyoming
• From the junction with I-80, follow I-25 north about 1 mile to Happy Jack Road 210.
• Drive west on the paved Happy Jack Road for about 20 miles to the Laramie Mountains
• Climb west on 210 to a partly-forested plateau, and continue into the Medicine Bow National Forest
• About 4-1/2 miles past the forest boundary, turn left, west, on marked FR-707 – this is a bumpy 2WD dirt road.
• Drive about 1-1/2 miles west and southwest on FR-707.
• Look for a trailhead on the west side of the road, where the road is heading south
• Park at the trailhead for Trail 791– there is no charge
• Happy Jack Road 210 is also accessible from I-80 at the Sherman Summit.

The Hike:

• Google Maps show few of the hiking trails or trailheads in this area
• Some of the trails and trailheads are shown on the Medicine Bow National Forest visitor map

Here is a really good map of the area near Leg Benchmark.  Here’s another amazing map that zooms.

• GPS is very useful here
• Hike west on Trail 791. This trail is called Headquarters Trail on the USGS topo map.
• The trail has been re-routed and now ascends via a big switchback.
• Continue up to a gate leading into a large meadow – this is Browns Landing

• The trail soon splits – take the right fork north along the ridge, around the eastern side of the meadow.
• It’s possible to climb up to the south ridge of Leg and then head NNW up the summit ridge to the top – this is off-trail, and is best done with GPS.
• Avoid steep rocks and talus on both sides of the Leg BM ridge.
• Otherwise, for a slightly easier but longer route, continue on the trail as it leads NNW among some trees above the meadow.
• Leg BM ridge is immediately to the east here
• At the next fork, head NNE up a trail in a small draw; climb ¼ mile to a small saddle near 8920 feet.
• At the saddle, leave the trail, and follow a faint, unmarked path SE up and along the summit ridge.
• The route’s rocky and brushy; it leads 1/3 mile to the peak.
• The summit is the highest of several sub-peaks on the ridge-top.

• Several rocky points in the general area of Leg BM are almost as high, so it’s important to navigate to the actual SOTA peak.  Pole Mountain is just southeast of Leg BM – it’s almost as high at 9040 feet, so it could cause confusion:

• There are two primary benchmarks on the peak. The USCGS BM from 1948 says “LEG”. The USGS BM from 1947 says “Pole”. Pole Mountain is actually about 1/3 mile to the SE from Leg. Go figure….

Additional Details:

Trail 791 is somewhat popular. It’s well-built, maintained, and used in all seasons. The trailhead for the west end is just north of the statue of President Lincoln at the top of I-80. Access to Leg BM from the west end is probably as easy as the route detailed here, although it’s slightly longer.  Here’s a detailed account of that route.

Plenty of good spots are available for setting up radio gear along the summit ridge. The activation zone is very long north to south. There are many dead trees for supporting a wire or a pole.

Leg Benchmark is a near-perfect radio summit – it falls away in all directions.  With no development nearby, the noise level is very low.  KX0R made 32 CW contacts on 7-10-14-18 MHz, including 3 summit-to-summit (S2S) contacts.

This peak is likely a good VHF/UHF summit for parts of southeast Wyoming and northeastern Colorado, but it’s partly blocked to the west by the local terrain. The summit history shows some 2 meter contacts.

The summit ridge is a really nice place to be in good weather. It looks out over most of southeast Wyoming, and the views seem endless. Many of the trees are dead, so the ridge is wide open. This is the top of the Sherman Mountains, which are part of the much larger Laramie Range. Not many people visit the long ridge, probably because there’s no real trail.

The ridge is made of resistant orange igneous rock, probably granite or one of its relatives. There’s a path along the ridge, so it’s easy to move north or south.

The only bad thing about the Sherman Mountains, is that everywhere you look you think you see other possible SOTA peaks – there are numerous craggy summits – but apparently none of them have enough prominence!

73

George
KX0R

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!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and bold mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required - enjoy!