Day Two – Cozad NE to Pinedale WY
After breakfast at the downtown diner we were off. We arrived in Pinedale (map) as scheduled, in time to get some riding in. We had it planned to head east around some of the surrounding lakes. There are three fairly large lakes around Pinedale; Willow, Fremont, and Boulder (map). We started by heading up Skyline Drive toward Fremont Lake, but turned back after looking skyward and seeing rain. We then headed south toward Boulder to avoid the rain, and ran towards Boulder Lake. Before we reached the lake we noticed some trails and decided to do some exploring. We stopped by some rock formations to get our bearings. It was terribly windy, and downright cold. The temperature with the wind couldn’t have been much more than 45º. By the time we got back down to the dirt trail it began to rain. By the time we hit pavement we were drenched and had been pelted by hail. Not a great start. We beat it back to the motel where the rain had already stopped. A quick change of clothes and we were back riding up Skyline Drive toward Fremont Lake. We spotted a truck with an empty trailer near a trailhead and decided we would follow. The trail meanders around the small mountains in the area but didn’t seem to be going anywhere special. We turned around and headed back along the lake. We noticed a trail up a hill , took it and were rewarded by a perfect view of the lake (KMZ). After viewing for a while we headed back to the motel and readied ourselves for the next day. We were staying at the Half Moon Motel in downtown Pinedale (KMZ); an old CCC camp barracks. It is about one block off of the main street. We were placed on the backside of the motel, probably to keep the bikers away from the rest of the guests. It worked out ok for us though, as we had a nice place to park the truck and our bikes.
