Weeping Wall

9.5 Miles
40 Degrees
Wind - 20 mph

So after a miserable Monday riding on slushy roads to and from work, I decided to take advantage of the brief break in the storm during lunch today. Its supposed to rain or snow for the rest of the week and just get dang cold. I ventured out towards Two Moon Park again. I got there with about half an hour to explore the park. The riding was slower today because the trails are muddy and, at some points, icy. I took a different trail today that we did on Friday. This trail took me over several wooden bridges that were still icy. At one point I started sliding all over the bridge until I finally hit the mud on the other side and was able to right myself. I brushed out several deer as I rode through the park. This side of the park is pretty dense foliage and the trails were somewhat over grown. I had to continually hug my bike frame to clear some of the lower branches and fallen trees.

As I was cruising along, I noticed a sign marking a trail. I immediately hit the breaks to turn onto the trail called The Weeping Wall. After flushing up a couple more deer, I finally rode out of the thicket and was able to see the weeping wall. It was absolutely incredible, something that probably few people actually know about. The rims were sloped enough that green vegetation just cascaded down the wall appearing like a green waterfall. It really was something to see. In fact, I was probably watching the wall too closely. As I followed the weeping wall, I suddenly had to hit the brakes. I wasn't watching what was in front of me very closely. What was in front of me was a huge fallen tree, nut just the trunk but the whole plumage. Wanting to continue the trail, I scrambled around the fallen tree through the thicket with my bike on my shoulder. Not an easy task. I finally made it through the mess and looked down at my legs. My shorts, leggings, socks and shoes were all covered with cockle burrs. I spent a few minutes picking off the burrs and then hit the trail again.

As I continued on, the scenery started to appear more familiar. The thicket broke and I exited right where the creek dumps into the Yellowstone River. Straight in front of me was a small doe whitetail holding its ground cautiously as it watched me. Thinking this was sort of bizarre since all the other deer have taken off as soon as they saw me, I continued to ride toward her. She didn't budge. I finally stopped about 20 feet from her. We sat and watched each other for a few seconds before she calming walked off and jumped the creek.

It was time to turn around and head back to work. I climbed the hill and finally noticed the 20 mph headwind that I was going to have to fight all the way back to the office. All said and done, it was a pretty invigorating ride.