Today’s ride started with a short connection to Sinclair, which is a very small town just down the road from Rawlins, and a large oil refinery. From Sinclair the route hops onto I-80, the only short section of the route that rides on an interstate. It was about 13 miles and there was a great shoulder, most of the traffic on a Saturday morning was trucks, and most of the trucks moved over to the second lane when they could. It only took about an hour and I was off and back onto state roads.

I was more focused on the road while riding the interstate and not really looking around, but half way through I crossed North Platte River which I would continue to loosely follow the rest of the day. The interstate and the first 20 miles of the next county road continued through desert plains with nothing much but sagebrush. As I got to Saratoga, the next town over, I started to enter foothills with green ribbons that followed the rivers.

From Saratoga the road follows the Platte Valley upstream, I wasn’t particularly close to the river but following and crossing small tributaries to the river. The rolling hills were still mostly covered by sagebrush, but the rivers and streams introduced greenery back into the landscape.

It was still hot today, although not as hot as yesterday, and for most of the day the roads still provided no shade opportunities. The end of the ride followed rolling hills of sagebrush, I saw some more pronghorn, tracking me nervously, and the campsite I’m staying at is a stone’s throw from the Platte River, which this section is protected by the Platte River Wilderness.

As a change from all the open sagebrush plains my campsite is nestled among an aspen grove, and it’s pleasant as I sit here listening to the leaves rustling in the wind, and dappled sun still radiating slightly more heat that I’d like. I’m sure it’ll cool down tonight, I climbed up a bit more elevation since last night. The campsite is about 6 miles from the Wyoming/Colorado border I think, so tonight will be my last night in Wyoming, tomorrow I’ll enter Colorado. Wyoming has been sagebrush plains to the end, although today I got glimpses of taller mountains with snow patched peaks, and the rolling foothills suggest the taller mountains to come.