Sunday, August 31, 2025 More Mickelson Eye Candy

 

Sunday, August 31, 2025 More Mickelson Eye Candy

MEOWT!  MEOWT!  There are birdies I need to watch.  I really like it here.

We decided to do another leg of the Mickelson Trail today.  The other day, we stopped at Mystic, today we decided to start at Mystic and head up to Dumont.  It will be about 19 miles each way.  The weather looks threatening, but supposedly, no rain is in the forecast.  We bring all sorts of rain gear just in case.

The ride to Mystic takes us through Hill City.  We then catch a road that parallels the bike trail.  The last 10 miles or so of the road is unpaved, but it is nicely graded so it is an easy drive.  And it is gorgeous.

We unload the bikes at the trailhead and head north.  The trail cuts through a narrow valley.  On one side are rocky walls with Christmas trees.  On the other side is a stream, bordered by more Christmas trees.  The Christmas trees are small to ginormous with all sizes in between.  Douglas firs, noble firs, and all sorts of aspen line the trail.  Most of the aspens are still green, but we do see a few that are starting to yellow, signaling the coming of autumn.

The stream winds its way around the landscape, cascading over rocks.  The trail crosses the stream several times.  The sky is blue with big puffy clouds.  If you are still, it is warm, but moving on the bikes, it is cool.  Perfect for bike riding. We cross through a couple of tunnels along the way. After we pass the Rochford Trailhead entrance (about 8 miles from our starting point), the valley widens.  Beautiful alpine meadows, and large ranches with grazing cattle surround us. And of course, the stream is there too, as are ponds here and there.  It is green… just so green.  And crisp.  And cool.  And total eye candy.  For a holiday weekend, we expected to see a lot more people on the trail.  But it isn’t crowded at all.  We do see a garter snake.  It posed for me.  Other garter snakes need to learn that sunning themselves on the trail may not be a good idea…

At 19 miles, we are in Dumont.  The trailhead here has an actual cabin with two picnic tables inside, with a heat stove, and room to throw down a sleeping bag if you are so inclined.  We did meet a girl that was walking the entire 109 miles of the trail (not in one day!), so this might appeal to her.  Each trail head has water, and a bike repair station with various tools you may need to make a repair.  There is also a pit toilet. 

In the winter, the area outside the trail is used for snowmobiling.  The actual trail in winter is used for cross country skiing.

Time to turn back and view the scenery from the other side.  Amazing.  It is more downhill going back.  I used very little pedal assist going back, while Spouse is pedaling and pedaling.  I am coasting and trying not to run in to him.  I can’t figure out how he can be pedaling so much and not going any faster.  Finally, at about mile 35, he decided to crank it up a notch.  At 35 miles, whether YOU are done or not… your crotch is done!

We were looking forward to going to our German restaurant again.  But alas, it was closed on Sunday.  With utter disappointment, we headed back to Artie to finish off some leftovers.

No matter how good we are… there is always at least one little bastard fly that makes it inside Artie, AND the truck. 

We head into Wyoming tomorrow.