I was fearful of coming home to a jungle yard, so I borrowed the push mower from my parents and took on the epic task of pushing the majority of our three acres right before departing. It took me most of the day, but I got it done. Lucky for me, it was a cooler day, even though I did get rained on for about an hour when I first started.
Long days at work right before the trip had me riding at night. I had a beautiful full moon two nights in a row!
Being tired for the trip was good because I actually slept in the car when Shannon was driving. We rolled out of Clarksville on a Thursday evening, driving all night. My parents decided to tag along for the trip this year. They left Thursday morning with their bikes loaded and towing a trailer to sleep in and store their motorcycle. My Dad has never been west before so this should be an interesting trip for him. They drove through rain nearly all the way to Wyoming, while we did not encounter rain for the first 10 hours until we hit Iowa. On Wednesday before we left, it was 93 degrees during the day. When we stopped in Iowa for gas it was a chilly 39 with rain. Burrr!
We caught up to my parents in Cheyenne, WY for a stop at the Sierra Trading Post Outlet. Then it was off to the west side of town to Curt Gowdy State Park, our home for the next three days. On every drive through Wyoming, I have wanted to stop in the rocky area between Cheyenne and Laramie. It just looks so awesome! I just knew there had to be trails in there somewhere. Well, turns out there are plenty of trails at Curt Gowdy. There was snow on the ground when we pulled in around noon, and it was barely 35 degrees with a 30-40 mph wind blowing across the Granite Reservoir on us as we sat up camp.
We may not have had much sleep, but that did not stop us from hitting the trails ASAP. It was a sunny afternoon, although the temp never crested 45. We rode the most popular trail in the park first, the Stone Temple Circuit. It is a short 3.5-mile loop with some climbing and fun rock sections. The rocks at Curt Gowdy are mostly sandstone and offer awesome grip. You can ride up almost anything. There are four designated Skills/Play Areas along the Stone Temple Circuit. Of course, I stopped to play in them all. Three of the four are full or rocks features with numerous lines to keep you entertained. The other play area also featured some wooden obstacles and dirt jumps.
Of course, I had to hit the Skills Area first thing.
View of the Granite Reservoir from the Stone Temple Circuit
Stone Temple Circuit trail
My Dad on Stone Temple
Shannon passing by the Stone Temple rock formation that gives the trail its name
After doing Stone Temple, we ventured further back into the park to see the Hidden Falls waterfall. It was a pain to get to. The trail going to it was very technical. I enjoyed it, but my Mom spent most of her time walking. The trail led us into a deep, shaded canyon that was even colder. The falls were a bit disappointing. I expected something bigger, but it was still cool and worth the trek back there.
Part of the trail going to Hidden Falls
Hidden Falls. You can see the waterfall way back in the crevice
"The Chameleon" rock formation sticking up in the afternoon sun
The first night saw the temp dip down to 28 degrees and the wind pick up to a steady 40 mph. Our poor tent took a beating, but it held up. The wind got warmer the next day and again we had a day full of sunshine. We explored more of the 30+ miles of trail for most of the day. I rode nearly five hours, finding some fun flow trails, rock features and more play areas. The Skin & Bones trail led to a very advanced-level skills area that I stayed in all morning. There were obstacles that pushed me beyond my limits and several lines that I would not attempt. Some of the trails were so gnarly that I have a hard time believing anyone could ride them at all.
View I had when I ate breakfast atop the El Alto trail
Nice banked rock turn
Rock pile in the Skin & Bones Skills Area
Broke Bike Mountain trail. This was one of those I would love to watch someone ride.
I discovered the very fun Mo' Rocka trail that is a fast, flow trail that passes by "The Chameleon" rock formation before gradually descending down to the Granite Reservoir. I then met up with the rest of the family and we rode some of the easier trails around the Granite Reservoir and down to the Crystal Lake Reservoir. We stopped to play in another skills area for a while where I got in a few big drops and dirt jumps.
Mo' Rocka trail passing by "The Chameleon"
Granite Reservoir from the Shoreline trail
The fam
Shannon and my Mom on Shoreline
Shannon
Middle Kingdom trail
Middle Kingdom Skills Area
Shannon
They took an easier way back while I hit up some of the Advanced trails in the back canyon. These trails were ridiculous at times. They were narrow on the edge of the lake at first, then rode the edge of a deep canyon behind the lake. No kidding, I feared for my life more than a few times on the Canyons trail. It was scary, but fun at the same time. I had to walk some of it because the hills were so steep that the rocks were basically stairs. It was more of a rock pile than a trail. The penalty for failure in several sections was a 200+ ft. fall off a cliff onto more rocks.
Deep canyon behind Crystal Lake Reservoir
Steep, rocky "trail" on Canyons
I had a few friends when I got done today
On the third day, I got in another long day of riding, this time staying on the Granite Reservoir end of the trails, riding Mo' Rocka in the morning with my Dad, then meeting Shannon and my Mom for another lap on Stone Temple. I flatted while filming in one of the play areas. It's funny how you suddenly get more speed when the camera is on. I rode a rock wall a bit too high and had to press eject from about six feet up the rock. I landed a bit hard and blew the rear tire, but at least I rode away from it. A sudden storm cloud appeared out of nowhere before we got out of the woods and brought us a little precipitation. The temp had been hovering around 70 degrees all day, but the storm brought sleet and pelted us for about 10 minutes before passing by. Mountain weather can be so weird sometimes.
Camp
On Mo' Rocka
Chipmunk
Dad going around the edge of The Chameleon
Crow Creek
Shannon
Mom
Wall ride in the Skills Area from the GoPro Chest Cam
We took shelter from what appeared to be another incoming storm, but it blew over. Everyone was tired except me, so I went back out to ride the only three trails in the park that I had not ridden yet. I climbed the difficult Slabz! trail, which goes up a very steep rock slab for about 100 yards. I was pumped to make it up without dabbing. Got to love the sandstone grip! The view from the Slabz overlook was amazing. You could see the entire campground and lake to one side and small mountains to the other. I made one last run down Mo' Rocka before going back to camp for dinner.
Start of Slabz!
Campground and Granite Reservoir from the Slabz overlook
Crow Creek from Slabz!
I wanted to see the sunset from the Slabz overlook, so we hiked a mile or so up to it after dinner. It was a great sight and got us warm before another cold 28-degree night.
Awesome view on the last rise on Slabz. Just needs a buzzard sitting on the limb.
My Mom and I atop Slabz on our evening hike
Sunset behind The Chameleon
We really didn't want to leave this place. It was great riding. You could really become a beast here. There is plenty of climbing at 7300-8500 ft. elevation and the technical areas will polish even the best riders' skills. Not to mention the convenience of the trails to the campground is hard to find anywhere else. But it was time to move on toward Utah. More plans and more fun times lay ahead. Below is a short video of our riding over the three days at Curt Gowdy.
Mountain biking at Curt Gowdy State Park
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