The garden is keeping us busy as we are getting a late burst in harvest thanks to our late planting and increased amount of rain we have had this year. We finally have eggplants and the new sweet escamillo peppers we are trying this year. We have peppers running out our ears, but luckily I have been able to sell some of them. We also finally got our garlic dried and prepped, which grew over the winter. It turned out really well and Shannon has been cooking with it often. Now it's time for pumpkins and potatoes. Once we get back from our trip we will be planting broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, carrots and more garlic.
Picking from this week
Garlic
The logging at my neighbor's house has finally begun. This neighbor is the one that owns most of the land our trail is on. It has been horrible to sit in my house and hear the chainsaws and bulldozers running. We have been building trails and riding back there for 17 years. I have not went back there to see how they are doing as I am afraid of the damage I might find. It is a good time to get away from here so I don't have to think about all my work going down the drain. Hopefully they will be done when we get back and we can assess the damage and see where to go from there.
Packing for our trip seemed much easier this time. I think we are finally learning how to pack for longer trips. We cut back to the minimum necessary gear this year so we could drive the car rather than borrow the truck again from my parents. We made it all fit even with three bikes. I brought my road bike and mountain bike so I could ride both and do the Snowbird Ultra Hill Climb race in Utah while we were there. That race was one of my target races for this season. Shannon opted for just a mountain bike. I had to choose one mountain bike so I obviously chose the Epic as I would need that for the race. The Remedy is in sad shape and has not been ridden since last year's trip.
The original trip plan was to start in Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Off Road Series (WORS) Cup race in Lake Geneva. Then we would head west through South Dakota and Montana before dropping south into Wyoming and finally Utah. I have been wanting to do a WORS Cup race for some time now. That series draws a lot of Pros for every race. You are guaranteed a big, quality group for any of the ten rounds of the series. I have been feeling tired and off my game in recent weeks, so we decided to not race and focus more on seeing things out west. During planning, we realized we had bit off more than we can chew and decided to reduce the trip to just Wyoming and Utah, with a focus on western Wyoming where we have not spent much time yet. South Dakota and Montana need their own trip to be properly explored so that will have to wait for another year.
We went to bed early Friday afternoon so we could hit the road at midnight. We wanted an early start so we could get to our first stop of the trip with enough daylight to get in a quick ride. Our drive was very smooth with no traffic issues and only one spot of rain through Illinois and Missouri. After 19 hours we were sitting in Cheyenne, WY at Curt Gowdy State Park. It was our third year in a row to stop by this park. The trails are so great that we just keep coming back.
Wetlands in Iowa just across the Missouri River from Nebraska City, NE
Odd scarecrows at a random gas station in the middle of Nebraska
It was rather windy when we arrived and it made for a tough tent set-up. There were very few campsites available with it being Saturday evening on a beautiful weekend. We ended up just taking what we could get which was on top of an exposed ridge. It provided a great view of the Granite Reservoir, but no shelter at all from the wind. The dome part of the tent kept collapsing while we were trying to raise the main body. We ended up having two poles come loose and rip holes in the seam along the bottom of the tent. We finally got the tent up and staked down and I squeezed in a quick 50-minute ride in the last minutes of daylight and slightly beyond.
Brought my hot rod for this trip
Granite Reservoir
Mule deer along the Stone Temple trail
Stone Temple trail
Sun setting toward the Vedauwoo area
Looking down on the Granite Reservoir from Stone Temple
More sunset toward Vedauwoo
Stone Temple
Granite Reservoir at dusk from the Shoreline trail
Colorful sunset
The next morning we were up at dawn to catch the sun popping over the hills above the Granite Reservoir. We packed up the tent while the wind was calm and then climbed onto our bikes for a lap on Stone Temple. Shannon did well riding the technical trails, but the elevation of between 7,200 ft and 7,500 ft took its toll on her.
Shannon on a sunny Stone Temple trail
The Stone Temple rock formation that gives this trail its name
I went for a second lap on Stone Temple to try to better my lap time from last year. The trail was busy and I got held up several times, but I still bettered my time from last year. The Epic was a blast to ride on this trail. I softened the Brain platform on the rear shock and it ate up the rocks. Most of the technical sections here offer opportunities to jump the rocks, usually with some sort of a ramped backside that makes for a smooth landing if you hit them right. You can really get into a good rhythm on this loop and go very fast through some technical terrain. That's probably why I like this place so much.
After my fast lap, I went back to the car for some food and water, then climbed Granite Ridge and Slabz to the best overlook in the park. It was a tough climb up the rock face, but my tires hooked up and I had the power in the legs to clean the whole thing. I checked out my favorite views from the top, which are a mandatory stop for me on any Curt Gowdy trip.
Atop the Slabz Overlook above Granite Reservoir
I really am obsessed with this dead tree
Cacti at the overlook
Crow Creek below
I did another hour of riding in the Stone Temple area, which included a ride back to Hidden Falls. It actually had water in it this year. It really is the year of the waterfall for us. After over three hours of carving Wyoming singletrack, we grabbed showers at the visitor's center and then hit the road toward the western side of Wyoming. This year Curt Gowdy was merely a good stopping point on our way to our main destination, which was Jackson Hole, WY.
The Chameleon rock formation in the distance
Hidden Falls
A closer look at this waterfall in the crevice
Up close to The Chameleon on the Mo' Rocka trail
View from the Rock n' Rolla trail
Here is a little handlebar cam video from our day of riding at Curt Gowdy. It includes several of the trails including Granite Ridge, Slabz, the technical descent off El Alto, Albert's Alley and Mo' Rocka.
Video: GoPro footage of riding at Curt Gowdy State Park
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