Day Three Riding - from Lander
Miles: 281 miles
We started with breakfast at the restaurant associated with the motel. We ordered the basic breakfast, and it was very average but the really poor service made it even worse. Not a great start by we had some good riding in front of us. After gassing up across the street we were on our way. WY131 took us up to the base of Fossil Hill through some nice twistys that would have been far more fun on the RT. Once at the top we headed off onto Wolf Trail also designated WY352. The dirt trail drops about 800 feet down to a creek crossing and an area we were familiar with from 2004. Back then the water seemed much higher and we decided not to cross, but this year we knew we needed to cross. The Wolf Trail continues on around this crossing and we rode it for a little more than a mile, but it quickly went form a small single track path to a really small single track where we had a difficult time turning around with the deep, almost canal like creek on one side and a steep drop-off on the other. By the time we came back to the crossing we thought this couldn’t be any worse than what we just did. We knew we had to cross otherwise we would be riding back on Louis Lake Rd which we had done yesterday. After a deep breath we crossed and with no issue at all. Once on the other side we were riding back in the open and we stayed on WY352 but it was called Indian Trail. We had options but we were really liking the trail we were on so we stayed on it. We passed through some wooded areas where the riding became more technical and more fun. We had to cross the Popo Agie but we never really gave this any thought since we knew we had no option but to cross. Not a big deal even as we had some spectators watching us cross. We were quickly back up and riding enjoying the wide openness of the WY range. This is what I like so much about riding in WY as compared to CO. We stopped for a rest and had another rider on a KLM who was out knocking around stop and talk with us. Soon enough we were back on WY28 and headed down towards Oregon Buttes. The dead end the day before made us a little gun-shy on following our original route which was in the same basic area. So, we decided to take the sure bet and get down south of South Pass City before veering off. We rode and rode and our first stop below SPC was the Pinnacles Overlook. Not all that much to look at but the immensity of the area was worth it. As we rode south we stayed on Bar-X Rd and 9 Mile Rd, and just before reaching Bitter Creek Rd we spotted a herd(?) of wild horses and we stopped to take a pic. My family later said they thought the pics were fake, but there they were crossing right in front of us. Next we passed Black Rock Mesa before climbing up Steamboat Mountain from Freighter Gap Rd where we stopped in 2004 overlooking the Jack Morrow Hills. We could see the Bridger Power Plant 20 miles off in the distance and even well beyond it. We stopped again at Tri-Territory Monument for a pic before continuing on toward our famous pic on Bar-X Rd. We continued the ride and came out on WY28 where we needed to ride down to Farson to gas before taking the ride back up Big Sandy-Elkhorn Rd. It was dark by the time we got back but I think this was the best day of the trip. Some fairly challenging trails, great scenery, and no dead ends.
