We drove to an area near the community of Wycliffe (on the highway towards Kimberley) and after finding Perry Creek Forest Service Road...and a spot to off-load our quads...we were off towards St. Mary‘s Lake.
Here is a picture of some hoodoos way over on the other side of the river valley (zooming in didn't turn out too bad)...
St. Mary's River...
We made it to St. Mary's Lake...
There are signs posted that this is private property and to be a day-use area only...but it sure looks like there have been campers here...or maybe just a "party place"...
We then returned to the bridge over St. Mary’s River so Steve could try a little fishing. After a dozen casts he returned ... skunked again.
I was standing on the bridge when I took this picture of Steve down below...
Time to go but Steve had to pee first. While doing his business he heard strange grunts coming from the bush and then all of a sudden a doe ran by. Seconds later a young buck with velvet covered antlers came charging through hot on her heels not realizing Steve was there. He finally stopped about 20’ from Steve then sauntered off up the trail. The doe eventually came back out and cautiously walked passed us before darting away across the road. The buck was still after her so he cautiously walked towards Steve then darted off in her direction. Very cool!
We were back at the truck at about 1:30, so after fuelling up, decided to try and find some of the ATV trails in the area that were marked on the map. The first road we tried that the GPS showed as connecting to the trail we wanted was gated with a sign saying private ranch property ...hmm...not a good start. There was another trail on the opposite side of the main road so away we went. So far so good the GPS was tracking true to the shown trail. We came to a Y in the trail (not shown on the GPS) so Steve went right but after a short distance Steve said that the trail on the GPS was moving away from trail we were on. There weren’t any other trails. So we went back to the Y in the trail and went left....same thing. What the hell!? This trial did a short loop to an old cabin.
We decided to continue on the other trail to see where it ended up taking us. The trail had quite a few deep ruts and mud holes from 4 wheel drive vehicles. Steve came on the radio saying he just saw 4 coyotes but it all happened so fast he didn`t have time to take pictures.
Unfortunately this trail system didn`t seem to match any on the map or GPS but we did a little exploring around and next thing we knew we were back at a main gravel road...and discovered it was the road that the truck was parked on. It was very hot,,,low 30S and dusty (especially for me following Steve) so we decided to head back. It was shortly after 2:30 when we arrived back at the truck...we‘d had a good days ride.
The first thing we did once we got home was to change out of our jeans, socks and shoes and into shorts and sandals. After washing the dust off me...I was ready to join Steve outside. We sat in the shade enjoying a cold drink and chatting about our day. We really enjoyed the ride...it’s nice to get out and see new areas...but we both agreed that it would have been even better had we been able to connect with a local ATV club and gone out for ride with them. It’s always better to go out with people who know the area.
After dinner, we went for a walk around the campground and then after fighting off the mosquitoes, decided to head inside and watch a little TV.
