Sweetwater County High Point Trip Report
Pine Mountain (9,550 ft)
Date: August 5, 2002
Author: Michael Schwartz
I drove south from Rock Springs on WY 430 to milepost 45 and found a road signed, about 100 feet in,
for Pine Mountain. Assuming this was the same road mentioned by other reporters, I followed it west, but soon
reached an abandoned farmstead that other forks not mentioned previously. I eyeballed my way back onto
the correct road and eventually found the fork mentioned by Dave Covill, again signed for Pine Mountain -
8 miles. That road, better than the one I used, should lead back to WY 430 in an easy four miles, instead of
the circuitous mess I followed. Moral: Take the next signed road south from the one at milepost 45,
which should also be signed for Pine Mountain, and then Dave's directions will make sense. I measured the low
saddle described by David Olson as 9.6 miles from the fork, and then at the 13.1 mile mark I bore left on a
two track road toward obvious high ground. Follow that road to the old tower footing and then beyond to
the 9550-foot spot elevation.
Andy Martin's cairn is still in place near spot elevation 9550 with a baggie register.
I felt that a 2WD car could have made it to the summit.
Exiting, I drove back to the fork four miles from WY 430, shown in Delorme where BLM 4413 runs into
BLM 4405. Few of these roads are signed. Using Delorme, I drove west on BLM 4405 to the multiple
junction at Alkali Creek, continued southwest, then north on RD 27/Mountain Road, then west on RD
34/Ramsey Ranch Road to US 191, a total of 19.7 miles from the fork. At the junction with US 191 is the
sign mentioned by Edward Earl advising that a bridge is out in Red Creek Basin and giving an alternate
route to the tri-state point. Using this approach from the west to Pine Mountain could save a lot of time,
but might require a bit of luck in picking the correct roads at the many junctions. Exiting west is easier,
as any road that gets to US 191 is OK.