One More Autumn Afternoon Ride 11/03/23

Kind of a late posting, but gotta post up the last ride we had before colder weather set in. It was just a short afternoon jaunt along the Flaming Gorge reservoir back in November.

We had our first little snow squall a couple of weeks ago, but then the weather warmed back up....a far cry from last year for sure. I spent a lot of that time out at Flaming Gorge, fishing for trout at the Firehole recreation area. But Friday night, Kim gave me a call and said "hey, it seems like quite a while since we went for a ride. We ought to go again before winter weather sets in". We discussed it a bit, but didn't really come up with a solid idea, so we chatted again in the morning. After a late start actually for both of us, it was decided that we would explore some of the trails and shoreline around the Flaming Gorge reservoir. Kim was to arrive around 11, but got hung up with something out at the ranch, so we ended up launching our endeavor by about a half an hour later before the old trailer rig rolled into the parking lot. We had to pick up my bike from the storage shed, and then head down the 191.
We staged out of the boat launch parking lot at Flaming Gorge. A madhouse in the summer months, it was practically deserted on a fall day, as was the "beach" area, and most of the gorge, for that matter. The weather started out sunny around midday, but with a slight bite to the air, as we rode along dirt highway routes, ducking down two tracks from time to time that would, with any luck lead us to the water's edge. We really didn't have an itinerary. We were just poking around, talking to stray anglers we chanced upon here and there, and enjoying the scenery.
As the afternoon wore on, some clouds began to move in, and the air got a little more nippy. We were looking to get to some cliffs that Kim remembered from days past, but we couldn't seem to find the trail that led there. Around 3:30, we realized that the trailhead for that venue was further down the 33 than we had anticipated, so we turned around and moseyed back towards the staging area, with a detour to a flat on the water, with some brush along the south side of the trail. There was about two dozen muley deer bedded down there. They were hidden from sight until Kim rode past. Then big ears began to pop up in the brush as the deer began to stand up and have a look at the two motorcycles passing through. We also had seen some antelope earlier in the day, further west on the hills. All in all, it had been a pretty casual day on the trail, and I spotted some nice looking fishing spots as well.

I've been in Wyoming for a year and a half now. 90 percent of the roads in the state are unpaved, there are a zillion miles of jeep trails, and some single track. Somehow though, I miss the dirt and the trails of my home range in California. I especially miss the San Bernardino mountains and the high desert brushland of McCain Valley.

Looks nice!