For being a small town, Deer Lodge is lucky to have two trails. I started at the Washington Street Trailhead. Almost 12 miles to Garrison. The trail surface: cinder, crushed stone, dirt, gravel. Not my favorite but I thought I’d see how far I could go.
A confusing sign. No bikes? The Grant-Kohrs Ranch is a National Historic Site, once the headquarters of a 10 million acre cattle empire, now commemorates the role of cattlemen in American history.
Those clouds to the west looked a bit dark. No worries. I still have 3 hours before the thunderstorms might arrive.
The property line of the G-K Ranch was just ahead. The trail became much more rutted and overgrown. Time to turn around. The scenery was beautiful. I hope this trail is improved soon.
A quarter mile later, time to turn around.
Uh .. is that thunder I hear? I rode a bit faster.
About one mile from Dave and Phyl’s house, I felt the first sprinkles. At 3/4 mile, I saw lightning strikes. Time to go turbo. I raced home at 27 mph. Later, Phyl told me the temperature dropped 20 degrees in 45 minutes as the brief storm approached.
arletelouise 