Big Horns and all parts West
I'm way behing on site updates and can't recall all of this trip since it was nearly 2 years ago. Nathalie and I packed up and headed out to see a majority of the Western US in record time. Below is her recap along with some photos.
Day 1 - Trying to get out of town
We left here after traffic hoping to get out of the immediate area and cover
some ground but apparently there are no tent camp sites along Interstate 5
north of Sacramento. We stopped 4 times at RV Parks and a KOA and no tents
except for one that was literally 5' from the active train line so we kept
going until 3:30am when I couldn't take it anymore and pulled off on an offramp
with 4 other truckers. We set up the pillows and crashed for 3 hours and drove
to the nearest truck stop for breakfast before continuing to OR. Way to start
a vacation!
Day 2 - Ashland, OR
We arrived in Ashland and stopped at the first bike store we saw for some
directions to some trails. They turned us on to the Lithia trail section where
we climbed Lithia fireroad and then had the fun of coming down Catapillar
and Alice in Wonderland singltrack. Unfortunately the ST was too short and
Alice got the better of me on a rut as she threw me to the ground on my just
recently scabbed knee, bruises and elbows from 2 days ago. I cursed and walked
down for a bit while my bruises darkened. After the ride we continued our
drive up to Bellevue where we landed in open arms and a bottle of wine at
K's new pad.
Day 3 - Bellevue, WA
K took us for a ride in the Maple Valley/ Black Diamond area and I have to
say this was the funnest riding I've ever had. I've seen videos of places
like this but never thought in a million years I'd be riding strictly singletrack
surrounded by trees, weaving in and out of turns, scrambling over rocks and
roots and standingin awe at the teeter totters, bridges and jumps the locals
use. I felt like I was in another world and the guy was having a blast - kid
in a toystore! K took a nasty fall while trying to walk her bike down a steep
slope and she stood up and announced "woohoo! I just had my first fall!
Too bad I wasn't on the bike " Regardless, she troopered through the
rest of the day before finally standing her ground and admitting she was "done."
I was so proud of her for sticking out the day after her fall so we worked
our way back and ended up at a great mexican food place in downtown Seattle
although I can't remember the name.
Day 4 - Bellevue to Coeur D'Alene, ID & Helena, MT
Our hostess left for work early so we took off on an exploratory ride in Mercer
Park across the street from their condo before heading out ourselves to Idaho
for a ride in Coeur D'Alene overlooking the lake. Not a great ride, very rocky
and slippery fire road but the payoff was a wonderful view of the town below
and nice break from the drive to Helena.
Day 5 - Helena, MT
Up early and to the realtors office to see some properties we go. Saw some
positive prospects with acreage and some new areas on the outskirts of the
city. I don't know why, but Helena feels like home to us and we're both really
comfortable there. I just wish I could do the move sooner than later. Unfortunately
we didn't have a chance to ride here because we needed to be in Buffalo by
nighfall for last minute preparations for the backpacking trip the next day.
Day 6 - Helena to Buffalo, WY
Let me say right now that I like Buffalo. I know, I know. Small town, nothing
to do, grocery store doesn't open until noon on Sunday and no good restaurants
but I still like it - just don't know that I could live there without a job
and finding one might be harder than worth the effort so after daydreaming
of living in population 3900, we finalized our logistics, double checked the
maps and put in our final night of sleep in a bed for 6 nights...oh, boy.
Day 7 - Cloud Peak Wilderness, Big Horn Mountains, WY: Soldier Park
What a breathtaking area! We parked at the Hunter Trail Head and armed with
my 40 lb pack - ugh! we made our way up and west through the canyon to Soldier
Park where camped the first night. We pitched the tent, made camp and promptly
took a nap. When I woke, the sun was starting to go down and it was a perfect
time to have a cowboy dinner of campfire rib eye and potatoes as our last
hurrah before the freeze dried food and it was yummy! Sitting on rocks, eating
off a rock table on the ground, listening to the birds and the wind in the
trees...it was almost perfect but for the mosquitos. His friend makes custom
knives and let him borrow one to cut wood and try out for the trip. I got
a hold of it and WOW - it was like firing a gun for the first time. I was
cutting firewood all over the place *ha ha*
Day 8 - We continued our trek through aspen and pine forest with the
creek continuously winding in and out of our view past Medicine Cabin meadow
- and then we had to cross a stream. A very cold stream that was knee deep
and I have to say, it wasn't fun. The guy had to carry my pack across because
the water was moving so fast I was afraid to fall in and that would be very
bad. Oh, my gosh, it was soooo freekin cold my legs felt like they were falling
off at the shins and walking on rocks with icy feet ain't such a grand feeling,
either, but I survived and sighed relief when I got to put my sweaty warm
socks back on :-P.
On we went and I believe my next words were "are you f'en kidding me?
another one?" (insert his laugh here) This one wasn't as deep or fast,
but it was just a cold and almost as painful. Just outside the meadow, we
saw a bull moose carousing the stream. He looked at us, we looked at him and
he ducked away before we had time to take a picture but he was very majestic
with his velvet in full grandeur and the first time I've seen one so I was
pretty excited.
We made camp (finally) in Crazy Horse Meadow at the bottom of a hill overlooking
the valley and stream below. It was perfect. Almost. Apparently all of the
mosquitos of Wyoming decided to camp there as well and keep us company and
I couldn't find the bug spray I know works the best so I had a knock off POS
that wasn't working. We crawled into the tent for another midday nap and reprieve
and when we woke, they were still there, of course so we did what good mosquito
fearing people do: we took the stove and food and cooked on the stream on
the rocks and sat and ate dinner on the water while the sun went down. Soooo
cool. With snow peaks towering above us, a rock talus field to our right with
spires straight to the sky, wildflowers blooming in every color, the stream
quietly rippling past, aspen and pine leading the way up canyon and no people
anywhere in sight, I was in perfect peace and harmony. That night we both
woke at the same time to the smell of forest fire. WTF? We couldn't see any
glow on either end of the canyon but we planned an escape route across the
river to the rock field, just in case (turns out it was a small fire blowing
in from eastern Montana). A cool breeze was blowing and the temps were down
so the bugs took a vacation and we watching shooting stars like I've never
seen. We could see the Milky Way and I swear, there were more stars in the
sky than I ever knew existed so close!
Day 9 - The next day we left camp and did a day hike
up through Florence Pass to Florence Lake. The singletrack trail would its
way through the pass on the exposed upper edge of the stream overlooking snow
caves, up and over tree line and through a talus rock field to another beautiful
meadow in full bloom of nature. We made our way back and forth across the
stream to the top of the trail and the view before us was absolutely breathtaking.
When we crested the top, we came out overlooking Florence Lake, a glacial
lake who's size marveled the canyon we just came from. Snow above on the peaks
reflected in the perfectly still water, birds flittering around in protest
of our arrival and the rest of the mosquito population in swarmed abundance
- ack!!! We took a quick picture and made our way back down the canyon instead
of continuing on to Misty Moon Lake on the other side as we had originally
planned to do.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in the stream doing camp laundry, watching
the water flow by, talking, took another nap and just being. A handful of
people came through the canyon but all left us in our solitude and the day
was perfect. We again brought dinner to the water and ate while the stars
came out and the wind whispered.
Day 10 - The next morning I woke with one eye (got bit
on the eyelid) and decided I'd had enough. He gave me the choice to hike back
down to Medicine Cabin and camp one more night or hike out the 12 miles and
stay another couple days and do some day hikes so I chose to push through.
I hated myself for leaving early since we were supposed to be out for 5 nights
and six days but I just couldn't take the mosquitos anymore. I looked like
a dinner plate half eaten and now that my eye was swollen half shut, I just
broke. If only I'd had the bug spray I wanted, I could've stayed the rest
of my life out there. We stopped for lunch half way out and I was sad when
we passed the gate. 3 nights, 4 days, a couple blisters on the feet, sore
shoulders and hips, 56 bites, nasty hair, one eye and 29 miles later we were
eating the best pizza I've ever had and planning some day hikes for the next
day. Also, we saw a female moose on the way out so it wasn't all bad :-).
Day 11 - We decided to stay in Buffalo for 2 nights so we did some geocaching and explored around the West Tensleep area where we did a short hike to Tensleep Falls and then to Tensleep Lake (saw another moose!) before checking out the county fair and talk about small town. Nothing like I've ever seen, free parking in one small lot, no admittance fee, a cigarette smoking sheep shaving farmer, a free concert that turned out to be a religious gathering - exit stage left!
Day 12 - Laramie, WY
I liked Laramie, could see myself living there, too. We rode the Happy Jack
area trails and had some serious fun. A little bit of everything for all levels
with all sorts of types of trails that loop and link around in cluster of
fun, especially through The Haunted Forest :-).
Day 13 - Laramie to Denver, CO
We rode the Vedauwoo area of trails connected to the south of Happy Jack before
leaving and I have nothing good to say about this ride. We couldn't find the
trails on the map, ended up 5 miles up the damned road and rode through so
much cow poop and swamp it was disgusting. Visit Happy Jack if you're in town,
you won't be disappointed. We check in at L's, cleaned up the mess from Vedauwoo
and headed back out to Loveland for a PBR Rodeo. Saw some get smacked, some
make their .08 and I will admit, I like the smell of horses and cowboy hats
drive me nuts.
Yes, this is actually the trail below:
Day 14 - Golden, CO
We rode the Apex trail with some difficulty, did a lot of hike-a-bike starting
at elevation that varied between 7 & 15% grades right away and plenty
of rocks. From there took Pick-and-Sledge up some more rocks and roots and
then Grubstake as it wound up through some trees. Down Sluicebox that had
some very tight switchbacks and more rocks and drops and up Enchanted Forest
that was another climb through the trees. Took a fall going up Enchanted and
hard fall on the rocks coming back down Apex that hurt like hell. I fell on
my lower back/ tailbone area and landed on a flat rock - good thing I had
the Camelback on or it couldn've been worse, I couldn't move my legs for a
few minutes and thought I was going to black out, couldn't stand for about
10 minutes, either. Back was sore but too sore to make dinner downtown with
some old friends.
Day 15 - Denver to Moab, UT
I never even though of making a reservation for Moab for a Thursday night
but apparently I was wrong. There literally was no hotel vacancy in the entire
town and with my sore back I wasn't in the mood to tent it. We ate at McStiffies
and headed out of town since I couldn't ride anyways and the guy didn't want
to go without me (I felt so bad for ruining his ride out here!) and found
a room 60 miles away in Green River.
Day 16 - Brian Head, UT
We decided to not go back to Moab and instead explore the back roads off the
highway to the Brian Head, stopping at Cedar Breaks on the way. Turns out
this is a little gem in the mountains that I could really get used to. We
check in with the local bike shop, Georg's Bike and Ski, who hooked us up
with a room for the night and a mechanic to plug the flat we ended up with
when we pulled in, and another mechanic in Parowan, down the mountain who
stayed late waiting for us to drive down. The folks up there were great hosts
and if you go by there, stop by Georg's for a bike, ski or quad ride depending
on the season.
Day 17 - Lugging home
Next day they shuttled us up to the peak for a flowing ride through the forest
to the burger shack - woohoo! Killer ride, not too technical, but enough to
keep the guy busy and help me forget my back for 12 miles. The views were
incredible and the cow bells in the trees in the valley below at one point
was almost surreal as was the view point overlooking the red rocks and lake
below. We finished our ride and drove straight through home with surprisingly
no traffic and in record time.
