June 7, 2016 - 3J Ranch to Hell’s Half Acre, Wyoming

After thanking our hosts at the 3J Ranch, the guys were on the road by 7:15 today. The first 10 miles the road and shoulder was pretty rough but got better once they turned onto Highway 220.
Fortunately, the scenery was beautiful!
They took a few short breaks on the way to Casper, but rolled in there between 9:30 and 10:00 am. We stopped at the very west end of town at Fire Station No. 6 and asked if we could fill with fresh water. They were very helpful and got us filled and on our way so we are good for a few more days!

From there, they took Robinson Road north to catch Highway 20/26 toward Shoshoni. After the turn onto Robinson Road, we consulted the maps to make sure everyone knew where we were heading and were on our way.
Road construction would be the name of the game for the next 26 miles, sometimes cutting traffic to one lane and horrible conditions on the shoulder! Fortunately, they all made it through with no harm to the guys or their bikes.

Their lunch break was at Natrona, which is basically a wide spot in the road! It was getting hot – 81 and very sunny. The rested until 1pm and decided to continue on to Hell’s Half Acre which was another 14 miles.

I drove on ahead and checked in Powder River for camping – of which there was none – then the last 5 miles to Hell’s Half Acre. There used to be a restaurant and overlook here, but the restaurant is long gone and the overlook has chain link fence all around it.

It is an interesting spot with unusual geology similar to the Black Hills, but not as colorful. There is a large parking area and grass for Bob to pitch his tent, so we are going to camp here anyway. Tobey made his final approach about 2:30 this afternoon!

After resting and showers, we sat outside on the shady side of the RVs relaxing.

Around 4pm, two young bikers stopped at here to check it out on their journey. We invited them to rest in the shade and share some snacks and a cool drink. Phoebe and her friend, Charlie, are from Boulder and are working their way north – hopefully to Anchorage, Alaska! It was fun for us and I think they appreciated the hospitality. They left about 5pm and were going to continue on for another 15 miles before stopping for the night. They were each carrying between 50-60 pounds of equipment. Our guys really appreciate not having to carry all their gear on the bikes with them and having a bathroom and water when they need them! Of course, these two are probably in their late 20s or early 30s, so there is that difference to consider!

After dinner we took one more walk around to view the canyon area of Hell’s Half Acre.

We also gave Penny an extra cookie tonight because today was her 9th birthday! Happy Birthday, Penny.


The guys rode 69 miles today under 81 degree temperatures, and had some strong head winds this afternoon. Tomorrow they are heading to Shoshoni then north toward Thermopolis. We will probably make a grocery stop in Shoshoni and see how far we get heading north.