We drove through the night and arrived at our new Wyoming desitination on Wednesday afternoon. Our target for the first leg of the trip was Glendo State Park, a park that promotes itself as a trail and camping destination much like Curt Gowdy State Park. Glendo is actually mentioned on the Curt Gowdy trail map. That is where I first heard of it and decided to look it up. We were ready to ride somewhere new and this seemed like a good place to start. Glendo is about 100 miles north of Cheyenne.
Our first day was mainly driving the campgrounds and looking for a place. There were very few people camping so we had our pick of many good campsites. There are 21 different campgrounds within the park circling around the Glendo Reservoir, offering 568 total campsites. You can camp on the beach or up on a high bluff overlooking the reservoir. We chose the bluff. Not only did we like the view, but the mountain bike trails ran right through the Two Moon Campground which sits at the edge of the bluff. We had a great view overlooking the reservoir just 20 yards from our tent and between the tent and the bluff ran one of the mountain bike trails. Perfect!
View from our spot on the bluff
Overlooking the Glendo Reservoir from Two Moon Campground
We had enough time to get in a few miles on the trail just before dark. We stayed up on top of the hill to explore what was labeled as the easier trails. There are several miles of trails in this area, most being very rocky. The rocks at Glendo are low and square. They almost look like tiles in places. There are lots of square edges to dodge and lots of bounce to be felt as you pedal. None of the rocks are big like at Curt Gowdy, but what they lack in size they make up for with roughness and number. Shannon wasn't too fond of some of the trails, but she really enjoyed the smoother trails as they all had good flow and were fun to ride. We also played on a pump track that was built within the Two Moon Campground.
Our Glendo campsite
After only a couple of minutes we had a rabbit friend hanging out as we got our bikes ready to ride. he came to visit every afternoon.
View from the Two Moon trail that winds along the bluff within the Two Moon Campground.
Shannon on the Broken Bow trail
Overlooking the Glendo Hydroelectric Power Plant from the Buffalo Run trail
Pelicans in the North Platte River near the power plant
These rocks on Buffalo Run look like some some piles of buffalo poop.
Another overlook of the North Platte River from Buffalo Run
North Platte River from just below the Glendo Dam. At first sight that road was added to the list of things to ride while here!
Another Glendo Reservoir view from the trail
The evening sun made for some nice colors over the North Platte River.
Getting dark on me, but still great views.
I finished riding just before dark and we spent the last minutes of daylight taking pictures with a new camera. We have wanted a DSLR camera for a long time as both of us love taking pictures and we go to some awesome places that need to be photographed properly. The DSLR cameras are expensive so they have been out of our price range for a while, but we found another way to get one. We have been saving up rewards points and dollars from all kinds of programs for the past few years, finally getting up enough to buy us a Pentax K-S2 kit, which included two lenses. We also were able to get an extra battery, a nice memory card and a collapsible tripod with the points, so we got a full set-up without a single dollar coming out of our pockets. We got it right before Montgomery Bell, but didn't have time to learn how to use it, so this was day one of actually using the thing. What better way to test it out than try it on an awesome western sunset?!!
Shannon nabbed this shot as the sun met the horizon.
Day 2 started at first light. We warmed up some hot chocolate and watched the sun rise up from our spot on the bluff. It was warm during the day, in the 70s on the sunny days, but dropped into the upper-30s at night so hot chocolate was good in the morning. Those night temperatures felt really cold on us since it was still in the 90s when we left home. Once I got a little food in me and the temperature was a little warmer, I hit the trails to explore more of the southern end of the park near the power plant.
Looking west toward Laramie Peak as the sun starts to rise up behind us.
Taking the gravel road across the North Platte River near the power plant.
North Platte River
Animal tracks all over the trails on this side of the park.
Riding next to the wetlands of the North Platte River just below the Glendo Dam.
Long climb up from the river for this view at the dam.
After reaching Glendo Dam, I followed the shoreline of the reservoir north to the end of the mountain bike trails at Sandy Beach, which is the most popular part of the park where visitors come to swim. The trail options decrease as you move north with only one trail going all the way to Sandy Beach. It was about five miles out after I passed the last side trail to reach the beach. It was a remote trail with lots of rocks and even stairs at one point.
Overlooking the dam
Laramie Peak in the distance from the dam. It is the highest peak in eastern Wyoming at 10,276 feet.
More reservoir from the Twenty 15 trail.
The Twenty 15 trail was directly across from our campsite. Shannon was watching me as I rode along the hillside. I'm actually on the trail in this picture. You will have to zoom in a lot to find me.
I'm the yellow speck on the trail.
Going around the point .
Stone stairs on the Narrows Bluff trail.
Long floating bridge for when the reservoir is full.
Sandy Beach. The reservoir is a bit low since it is the end of the summer. You will have to walk a bit further to go for a swim today.
Another view of Laramie Peak
Shannon and I had lunch at Sandy Beach, then I started the trek back, this time taking the side trails once I got back to them. I took Toadstool, which featured a huge climb up to a great view overlooking the reservoir. I then made my way to Slide Hill to play on some obstacles including some skinnies and a big metal teeter. After that, I rode the technical trail out to Sunset Point before heading back to the power plant to meet up with Shannon.
Some of the skinnies on Slide Hill
Teeter
Video: Glendo teeter
Glendo Dam, built from 1954-1957.
Sunset Point Overlook
I had found some trails earlier in the day that I thought Shannon would enjoy more than what we rode the prior day. We rode across the river and climbed the backside of the main hill on the south side of the park. Then we descended to the Wetlands for a flat ride along the river. We saw turtles and fish as we stopped at the piers along the trail. We made our way to the dam, where Shannon had a flat. I changed it for her and then we started back for the car. She didn't even make it a full minute before her other tire began to go flat. We only had one 26" tube with us. I told her to ride as long as she could before it went completely flat and I would start sprinting toward the car for another tube. As I rode back, I saw goathead thorns all over the dirt road we had taken out. I had sealant in my tires, but still lost some air just trying to get to the car and then back to Shannon. The thorns were everywhere! It was no surprise she had two flats. Without sealant I knew she would never make it back to the car, so I was going to tell her just to walk back to the car to save our tubes. She was walking when I found her, now with another flat on the first tire I fixed at the dam. So, we ended up walking the end of the ride and losing three tubes. Then I spent an hour digging thorns out of both of our tires. Stupid goatheads.
Prickly Pear trail
In the wetlands
Turtles
Beautiful gravel road along the wetlands, but there are goathead thorns lurking in those gravels.
We ended our day on the bluff again, capturing another bright sunset with both of our cameras. I found a nice crevice that was perfect to sit in and enjoy the view. Besides the flats, it was a perfect day. Beautiful weather, spectacular views, and 35 miles of challenging trails. And we still had more time in Glendo to come!
Shannon taking pictures at sunset with the new camera
Golden land
Golden hills in the distance
Sitting in my nook enjoying the view
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