Skyline Road back to Willow Creek campground

May 31, 2024

Downhill with a tailwind. Yahoo!

It was moderately windy overnight. And cool again. Maybe not quite freezing, but close.

We all had places to be later in the day, so we got up and got going pretty quickly. With another dry day, we chose the slightly longer of two route options.

The Skyline Road provided great views to both the east and west. Highway 22 was visible in the distance. We passed multiple nice wild camping spots, although we seem to have snagged the only one that had an outhouse.

We saw our first ATV riders of the trip - just two vehicles, and they weren't being obnoxious. I'll bet there are lots more of them in the summer.

Not a bad view to start our day. Highway 22 is visible as a straight line down in the valley.

Sue's bike was made for this kind of trip.

The prairie crocuses show which way the wind blows.

It's time to reap the benefits of our climbing.

Then we rode downhill back into the flat lands. We saw lots more cows and calves today, and also enjoyed observing activities at a ranch that had a pen of goats and another of sheep. The kid goats were playful and rambunctious, butting each other and their mothers too. The lambs were a lot more shy.

We had a lunch break on the bridge over Trout Creek, out of the wind. As long as we were heading east, we had a nice tailwind. We each removed a few layers, but it was still cold enough to need jackets and pants. Maybe 12 degrees C? Then we turned north and it was a crosswind. Not terrible though.

This area would have been very isolated not that long ago. Especially during a big winter storm.

This ranch had a mix of old and new structures.

Pretty much every ranch has a great gate.

The details in this gate are fun to spot.

There were lots of birds enjoying these trees and the creek. With all the cattle around, I'd be wary of drinking any of the surface water around here.

We saw more oil activity once we got close to the end of the day.

Three bulls just hanging out, facing away from the wind.

We're truly back in the flat lands now. Almost done!

We finished up by about 2 pm and scattered shortly afterwards. I headed home since I had guests arriving in the evening. I was back by 8 pm, only needing one 20 minute nap on the way home.

Despite the cool weather, this trip was every bit as good as we thought it would be. The lack of traffic was a delight. And the scenery was very special.

Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 222 km (138 miles)

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Scott AndersonThanks so much. Makes me wish I were there too.
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5 months ago

Rachael AndersonYou all are very tough! I use to be better at dealing with the cold but it’s definitely gotten worse.
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5 months ago

Kathleen JonesGreat ride. Such gorgeous scenery too.
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5 months ago

Janice BranhamWhat a beautiful ride. I couldn't handle the cold so cheerfully as you. Glad you had the van to take the edge off. Thanks for taking us along.
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5 months ago