Getting out of Outlaw Campground was a piece of cake. Just had to take it real slow for the first two miles. And that hill that almost turned us around? It looks a lot scarier from the top than it does from the bottom.
The way out was as spectacular as the way in.
We made a few stops in Buffalo. First to a city park where we topped off on fresh water, then to the local grocery store where we were dismayed at the prices of things. We have it real good in West Michigan. Groceries are plentiful and they are cheap compared to many other areas we’ve traveled through.
We stopped by the BLM regional office to pick up brochures and to ask about favorite things to do. The woman there told us the bike trail along Clear Creek was really nice. We asked if a mountain bike was required. “Oh, no,” she replied. “It’s great for regular bikes also.”
She also told us it has been very dry here and the expectation was for continued dry conditions.
On her advice, we parked next to the city park, unloaded the bikes, and started off down the trail. The first mile was great. Right along the river, heading out of town, hard-packed gravel, very pleasant riding. We then had to go through a fence. It turns out the trail follows the river through a cow pasture for a mile or so. Since the trail hugs the riverbank, and there are some nice trees there, the cows like to hang out in the shade. So we were dodging cow pies and even the cows themselves, who stood in the middle of the trail and looked at us balefully. It took quite a bit of noise to make them move. The gravel was also quite loose where the cows hung out, making riding difficult.
Once beyond the pasture, the trail followed US-16 out of Buffalo for several miles. It seemed surprisingly tiring and two miles seemed like more work than we were used to, even with electric assist. The trail left the side of the highway and became a single-track with lots of stones, forcing us to turn around. Ms. BLM either didn’t ride the trail or had a different idea of what a “regular” bike can do.
Coming back, we figured out why the trail was so tiring. We coasted into town for the entire three miles without pedaling at all. The trail was steeper than it looked.
We packed up the bikes and headed up US-16 into the mountains.
25 years ago, we headed up this same road in a 1978 Winnebago. It didn’t make it. I wrote this in my journal that evening:
Day 12; Mile 1433; July 13, 1999
The Bighorn Mountains start right on the edge of Buffalo, and just out of town the road started climbing steeply up a steady grade. It was about 5:00 in the afternoon, still hot outside, and after a mile or so of climbing, the transmission temperature gauge planted itself firmly on “H”. We found a small side road and decided to turn around and spend the night in Buffalo. I managed to get it turned around (not easy for a 25 foot motorhome on a narrow gravel road on the side of a mountain) and pointed back down towards Buffalo.
We found a campground right at the foot of the mountain. The owner there said that, on a hot day, he sees about 10 rigs a day being pulled off the mountain for various problems, usually transmissions overheating. We decided we made a wise move.
I’m happy to say that, 25 years later, we finally made it. About halfway up the slope, I had to turn on the heater full blast to help cool the engine as things were starting to heat up, but I have much better equipment now than I had 25 years ago.
We drove to Circle Park, about 18 miles out of Buffalo, to do a hike to Sherd Lake, a 1.8 mile hike. Very rocky trail, steady climb upward. Not like yesterday, but still was an exertion. Despite what Ms. BLM told us the weather did not stay dry. We heard thunder in the distance and started getting pelted with rain drops. Not a lot, but enough to cool us down quite a bit and make me start to regret wearing short sleeves.
We arrived at a lake which we found out later was not our destination. We had another 0.3 miles to go. Still, the ripples in the lake from the rain and the cool plooping noises it made when it fell were enjoyable.
Shortly after turning around, it started to hail. Little ice balls smacking us on the head and shoulders. That really took the temperature down.
We found a dispersed camping site on the road out of Circle Park. This apparently is a popular place as there are campers scattered all over the area. We had cased this one out on the way in, so we knew exactly where to go when coming out.
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