Glad someone added this peak, Idrove through the Bighorns in '94 and fell in lovewith Cloud Peak after gawking at its immensity for much of the dive... will return to climb it at a later date. Cheers.
** Needs a new maintainer... this one is clearly suffering from lack of attention.
Page continues to improve Jimmyjay, but still needs some additional information in the Roads and Trails section. Still a bit confusing which trails/trailheads lead you towards the summit approach.
"The most popular approach is from the trailhead at West Tensleep Lake. From Buffalo, Wyoming take Highway #16 west to Deer Haven Lodge, just past Meadowlark Lake. Turn right onto FS #27 and follow seven miles to road end. (Deer Haven Lodge can also be reached by following US #16 east from Tensleep).
The Mistymoon Trail is followed for 8.5 miles to the Paintrock drainage and base of SW Ridge."
I find that pretty explicit. It gives precise road numbers and trail distances to the most popular route, the SW Ridge which is a route page that I myself do not maintain.
But, more importantly, with the update to SP 2.0, the trailheads are now listed under the Big Horn Range page, rather than individual peak pages. There, anybody can add the information, not the necessarily the page owner. This is by design.
I passed the guy who did Cloud in 2:58:50 on the my and his way up and again on top of the ridge when he was coming down. He told us to pick up his business card off of the top and mail it to him, so I did. I think I had to do that so he could prove it. I can't believe he ran all the way up Cloud Peak!
It was an awesome time! I attribute a good portion of my solo ascent successful due to your nice page here on SP. I was slightly disappointed that someone who enjoys the outdoors would steal the survey marker from atop Cloud Peak. Also, disappointed there was no summit register as of August 25, 2010. Thanks for your page!
Summit register is there as of three ascents this year (2012). For those needing to know, when approaching from the West Tensleep trailhead, Mistymoon is the 4th lake. You'll encounter a wooden sign with the trail splitting east and west. Take the west direction toward the Paint Rock creek drainage. When you are descending into the next valley, about 1/3 way down, a faint trail will lead to the right down a steep grassy bank into a marshy valley with a waterfall on the opposite side. The route starts to the left side of the water fall and climbs a narrow valley with numerous plateaus and drainage ponds/waterfalls to the summit. Another alternate is when you get to the second plateau, if you climb the steep scree slope that makes up the southern(right side) wall of the gulley, you can climb up and over to a very wide sloping ridge to the summit that is much less blocky. There are multiple cairn paths that lead up, and even without the cairns, the direction needed is very obvious. Hope this helps.
I am looking for help. I attempted Cloud Peak two years ago in mid- July and ran into a frozen Misty Moon Lake. I camped just beyond the lake on a hillside to what looked like a big bowl with the creek running below me. I could not obviously see Paint Rock Falls. Is there anything I should know about finding the falls. Thanks in advance. Kurt
You can't see it from there. You have to follow the trail over the ridge and then west along the drainage. You'll see a faint trail that veers right down a steep grassy ledge into a large grassy drainage. Paint rock falls is on the opposite side. Misty Moon being frozen in mid july is awfully odd.....if the lake was frozen then the falls are frozen too. The falls are nothing more than a runoff / snowmelt drainage for the SW ridge. The falls are shown faintlly on the map.
mpbro - Mar 15, 2002 2:40 pm - Voted 10/10
Untitled CommentNice page, but looks like maintainer isn't with us anymore...
Would be nice to attach the photos to the main page.
pictioneer - Sep 8, 2002 6:44 pm - Hasn't voted
Untitled CommentI have added some photos.
Thanks
tlogan - Nov 20, 2003 11:24 am - Voted 8/10
Untitled CommentGlad someone added this peak, Idrove through the Bighorns in '94 and fell in lovewith Cloud Peak after gawking at its immensity for much of the dive... will return to climb it at a later date. Cheers.
** Needs a new maintainer... this one is clearly suffering from lack of attention.
Scott - Apr 11, 2004 7:36 pm - Voted 10/10
Untitled CommentNice page, but needs driving directions.
Popoff - Apr 15, 2004 4:03 pm - Voted 10/10
Untitled CommentGreat page.
Brice Neugebauer - Mar 17, 2005 9:15 am - Voted 10/10
Untitled CommentNot bad overall, but could use an update (hasn't been touched in over two years). A signature photo and driving directions would be great.
Also notice that several good bits of info need to be integrated into the page - such as the webcam info provided by tajji.
nebben - Dec 27, 2005 6:38 pm - Voted 9/10
Untitled CommentI'd love to go see it, but the information is a little sparse...
Saintgrizzly - Jan 30, 2006 6:48 pm - Voted 10/10
Untitled CommentThis is a nice area--too nice to not have a better page! Poor information content, many poor images; page needs to be torn apart and started over!
Looks abandoned to me, which is the reason for the low vote.
NavySeabee - Aug 17, 2006 8:36 pm - Voted 10/10
Roads and TrailsPage continues to improve Jimmyjay, but still needs some additional information in the Roads and Trails section. Still a bit confusing which trails/trailheads lead you towards the summit approach.
jimmyjay - Aug 24, 2006 11:50 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Roads and TrailsAre you sure u r reading the right section?
it currently says:
"The most popular approach is from the trailhead at West Tensleep Lake. From Buffalo, Wyoming take Highway #16 west to Deer Haven Lodge, just past Meadowlark Lake. Turn right onto FS #27 and follow seven miles to road end. (Deer Haven Lodge can also be reached by following US #16 east from Tensleep).
The Mistymoon Trail is followed for 8.5 miles to the Paintrock drainage and base of SW Ridge."
I find that pretty explicit. It gives precise road numbers and trail distances to the most popular route, the SW Ridge which is a route page that I myself do not maintain.
But, more importantly, with the update to SP 2.0, the trailheads are now listed under the Big Horn Range page, rather than individual peak pages. There, anybody can add the information, not the necessarily the page owner. This is by design.
Cheers (let's climb sometime!)
Rocker Paully - Oct 7, 2006 1:18 am - Voted 10/10
Lucas got the recordI passed the guy who did Cloud in 2:58:50 on the my and his way up and again on top of the ridge when he was coming down. He told us to pick up his business card off of the top and mail it to him, so I did. I think I had to do that so he could prove it. I can't believe he ran all the way up Cloud Peak!
storlyt - Sep 3, 2010 1:40 pm - Voted 10/10
Stolen Survey MarkerIt was an awesome time! I attribute a good portion of my solo ascent successful due to your nice page here on SP. I was slightly disappointed that someone who enjoys the outdoors would steal the survey marker from atop Cloud Peak. Also, disappointed there was no summit register as of August 25, 2010. Thanks for your page!
WyomingSummits - Sep 10, 2012 2:21 am - Voted 9/10
Summit RegisterSummit register is there as of three ascents this year (2012). For those needing to know, when approaching from the West Tensleep trailhead, Mistymoon is the 4th lake. You'll encounter a wooden sign with the trail splitting east and west. Take the west direction toward the Paint Rock creek drainage. When you are descending into the next valley, about 1/3 way down, a faint trail will lead to the right down a steep grassy bank into a marshy valley with a waterfall on the opposite side. The route starts to the left side of the water fall and climbs a narrow valley with numerous plateaus and drainage ponds/waterfalls to the summit. Another alternate is when you get to the second plateau, if you climb the steep scree slope that makes up the southern(right side) wall of the gulley, you can climb up and over to a very wide sloping ridge to the summit that is much less blocky. There are multiple cairn paths that lead up, and even without the cairns, the direction needed is very obvious. Hope this helps.
Matt
trofeo - Jul 22, 2013 2:50 pm - Hasn't voted
HelpI am looking for help. I attempted Cloud Peak two years ago in mid- July and ran into a frozen Misty Moon Lake. I camped just beyond the lake on a hillside to what looked like a big bowl with the creek running below me. I could not obviously see Paint Rock Falls. Is there anything I should know about finding the falls. Thanks in advance. Kurt
Scott - Jul 22, 2013 3:02 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: HelpIf I remember right, you have to climb over the hill to the north and descend into the valley in order to see it.
WyomingSummits - Dec 29, 2013 4:53 pm - Voted 9/10
Re: HelpYou can't see it from there. You have to follow the trail over the ridge and then west along the drainage. You'll see a faint trail that veers right down a steep grassy ledge into a large grassy drainage. Paint rock falls is on the opposite side. Misty Moon being frozen in mid july is awfully odd.....if the lake was frozen then the falls are frozen too. The falls are nothing more than a runoff / snowmelt drainage for the SW ridge. The falls are shown faintlly on the map.
Ryan Borzea - Aug 13, 2015 3:29 pm - Voted 10/10
Road to Tensleep TrailheadDoes anyone know if the trailhead at West Tensleep Lake is accessible by normal passenger car? Or do you need a higher clearance vehicle?
Thanks,
Ryan
Bob Sihler - Aug 13, 2015 8:33 pm - Voted 10/10
Re: Road to Tensleep TrailheadYou can get there with a regular car.