Hell's Half Acre

Hell's Half Acre provides some much needed relief.  This county park is of a canyon complete with colored canyon walls and hoodoo structures.  It's also home to Neal and his family.  They run the motel, camp ground, restaurant, and bar.

In order to reach the relative comfort of Hell's Half Acre, I had to travel through a hell of my own making.  My first full day of biking on the high plains of Wyoming started wonderfully.  The high plains provide some long views and eroded hillsides.  They are also the home of playing antelope.  Just out of Lusk,  four young Pronghorn Antelope were doing a playful dance while an adult looked on from a short distance.

Upon reaching Douglas, I decided to take my planned route to Glenrock which avoids sixteen miles of Interstate.  It also adds 18 miles to the day on a hot afternoon.  My original plan was to stop in Douglas and bike this stretch in the morning.  I could have stuck to that plan or taken the frontage road and the Interstate the 21 miles into Glenrock.

Fort Fetterman is along the 39 mile route and today they are celebrating their history.  When I reach the fort most of the day's activities are completed or waiting until evening.  The exhibits tell the tale of life at this 19th century fort.  It served as communication and relay post for most of it's existence but was involved in several campaigns against the native people.  The first of which went so badly that the commander was put on trial.

The road from Fort Fetterman nearly all of the way to Glenrock is desolate.  Nearly an hour went by before I was passed by a vehicle in either direction.  There are no trees and no cattle were seen grazing.  You won't find buildings either.  It's just the scrub and grass of the high plains range land as far as the eye can see.

After a few long hot climb one comes to the town of Rolling Hills where Wayne runs the general store by the highway.  His cat, a stray that just decided to make this shop home, sleeps in the window next to the cash register.  He moved here from Oregon, bought a ranch, and took over the store.  He's building this business one customer at a time and from the looks of things, he's doing a good job of it.

I limped into Glenrock as exhausted and hot as I've been all trip.  I booked a room in the Higgins Hotel and settled in.  This old historic hotel provides comfortable rooms as well as gourmet meals.  Camping is also available in Glenrock at the city park.

The ride from Lusk to Glenrock took its toll on me so I decided to go to hell.  Fortunately, I met a few cyclists that were heading east who told me that one can stay at Hell's Half Acre.  It was wonderfully refreshing as the air was cooler and dyer.  The canyon is wonderful to look at and I spend an hour sitting on the edge watching the swallows buzz around me and the sun set in the west.  As I started to head back to my room I could hear the coyotes howl in the distance.

Neal and his family took good care of me.  His son, having just graduated college, is looking forward to a real job.  His daughter prepared my room and meals and his wife made the pie I would have for breakfast.  A high school teacher in Glenrock, Neal knows the road I just traveled extremely well.  That road was good to me that day as a tail wind helped me along.

 Night fall at Hell's Half Acre was punctuated by the setting of a large crescent moon.  Shortly thereafter, a strong wind whipped through the place.  Still I slept soundly and enjoyed making coffee as the sun rose on the canyon.  An easy day of pedaling past more rock formations to Shoshoni lay ahead.