Day Two Riding - to Lander
Miles: 199 miles
I tried to be cute and make our route a little unique by starting out Fayette Pole Creek Rd but it ended with a gate across the road and we had to back track down to US 191 and to Boulder. It wasn’t long until we reached Big Sandy - Elkhorn Road, and we went from pavement to packed dirt then to gravel. We stopped at Buckskin Crossing, which was named after Buckskin Joe who lived nearby. The crossing was used by many trappers and travelers on the Lander Cutoff to ford the Big Sandy Creek. After the crossing, and further down Lander Cutoff Rd we rode up onto a bluff overlooking the road that leads to the Big Sandy trailhead. We took a similar stop in 2004 but we weren’t certain if this was the same one or not, but it was certainly in the same area. Anyway there were really nice views of the Cirque of Towers and just the wide open range. We continued to ride and eventually reached WY28 after some creative path finding, where we continued south and east. Once we crossed WY28 we decided to route to a poi called Sweetwater bridge. This was an old RR bridge over the Sweetwater River, but what we didn’t know was that it was on private property. The ranch owner saw us and came over to us and was very nice once he saw we were just lost. He offered some guidance but we just wanted to get back on route which is what we did. We came back out and got on the Emigrant Trail and proceeded east trying to find the Brunt Cabin Monument, but as we were almost there we reached another gate with a “no trespassing” sign. Unbelievable! So we started back tracking again looking for a way over the river but we could not find anything. It was actually some fun trying to find our way. Eventually we ended up back where we came in and just decided to continue on to Atlantic City. We reached Atlantic City a little after 2:00 and stopped for a burger and a beer. Pretty good food and a wide selection of beer. We had been to Atlantic City in the past, but this was the first time we had eaten or even had a beer. By the time we hit Louis Lake Road we were running out of time, so we by-passed going up to Christina Lake Rd knowing there were other roads we had our sights on. Louis Lake Rd was quite busy and we were passing cars and trucks as best we could. Finally we reached the curvy asphalt leading down to Sinks Canyon and then the entrance to Vanessa St. This trail was rather difficult and we got a good way up but calculating the time of day and not knowing for sure if we could get through we decided to turn around, which was no easy task and head up to Shoshoni Lake. The road to the lake was really nice with great views and plenty of switch-backs. We got to the top and realized we had another 10 miles so we continued but the going was rather slow. The trail was not that challenging but we were going a rather slow clip and realized we would arrive very late if we were to continue. So, we made one stop on the way down and just enjoyed the ride. Once in town we checked into the Pronghorn and went to dinner. There were several options but we chose the high end Cowfish. The atmosphere was nice and the food and beer selection were also first rate.
