Crisp, cool (57) mountain air filled the quiet morning; the town still sleeping from it’s Friday night revelry. It did not take us long to get to the trail we would be on for the next couple of days. The Mickelson Trail is on the “bucket list” and the reason we came in this direction. This 108 mile trail is a re-use of an old railroad; the tracks still visible in areas.

Instantly, we were surrounded by magnificent mountains, rustling creek, the fresh smell of spruce and…..bunny tail! Just as quickly, we began our climbing; the cool morning, occasional waterfall and incredible scenery kept us (almost) distracted.  It took us an hour and a half and seven miles to climb 1000 feet. In places the hard packed road was soft and rutted with rain from last night, making it impossible to pedal. Pushing was not much easier, but the only option. It was a shortcut we had chosen; signed at the end of what we had already discovered – 20% grades. Once our lungs regained oxygen, we continued the beautiful climb for another seven miles reaching our first summit of 6238 feet (our continental divide crossing was 6131 feet) shortly after ten o’clock. We pedaled downhill to maintain good speed, as we had more climbing ahead, but not too fast to miss the view. The photos don’t show and words fall short to describe the beauty of this trail; ranks just below the “Ride to the Sun” in Glacier.
Jumped off course to grab a bite to eat, but the saloon was not open yet.  Rockford is a small town with a Big sense of humor.The sign on the building is University of Rochford.  As we enjoyed the shade and cold water, the wind started to swirl and the clouds build. We’d been promised an afternoon storm and we did not want to be on the trail when it hit. With less than a thirty minute rest, we got back on course, once again submersed in the beauty and quiet. Gone was the scream of trucks and the rubble of motorcycles from yesterday’s ride, only the sound of the creek we followed, remained. We crossed through a short tunnel and all of a sudden had to start gearing down.  We checked the water flow of the creek and confirmed, we had started our second climb. Having dropped 1400 feet from our first climb, we had a lot to regain. Thankfully, by 1:00, the trees once again cast shadow on our trail, offering wonderful shade for our frequent breaks.
Nine miles later, we reached the top (5649 feet) of our second climb. The scenery remained stellar, but the clouds were building fast. We hastened our pace for the downhill stretch into town.  Around a corner and for a brief moment we caught a glimpse of a spectacular mountain. We reached the edge of town at three o’clock.  With a scheduled tire change, we decided to take care of it now and allow the storm to pass. The hour + rest was great, with new tires we pedaled out of town to find where we are staying.  Past neighbors from the Brac had a wonderfully quiet place in the hills; it was a tough five mile stretch with a couple 20% grades but then we were done.  A quick run into town for supplies and dinner at the oldest hand-hewn log (commercial) building in South Dakota, built in 1885.

We’d spent just under seven hours on the bike seat to go only 54 miles, so we were ready to take our legs to bed.