NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/498175
24 NEBRASKAland • MAY 2015 man on the trail looking for asparagus with his young granddaughter, too. When we finally arrived in O'Neill, we met up with the others and rode into town to have lunch at the Blarney Stone. Guinness was on tap and it tasted so good. Bob, Jamie and I set up camp at Carney Park, which also had showers, flushing toilets and full hook-ups for Carine and Larry's camper. We had dinner that night at Tia Zia, a Mexican restaurant in town. Verna and Jim bunked at the Super 8. It would be Nancy's last stop with us, and I was sad to see her go. Our group was now down to six. Light rain came down that night, and I remember waking up to a loud, eerie chattering of birds in the trees above my tent. It was as if the tent was surrounded by jungle, and the time was 3 a.m. Monday, May 19: O'Neill to Stuart (28 miles) Carine was on the trail before anyone else. Jamie, Bob and I woke up to the delicious smell of coffee and cinnamon, courtesy of Larry. A light breakfast of granola and energy bars on the trail had to suffice, as we left O'Neill early that morning to beat another wind. We called Verna and Jim to let them know that we would meet in Atkinson to find something decent to eat. Jamie and I fell back again. We chatted casually as we rode, not in any hurry. When our eyes fell on something growing by the side of the trail, we brought our bikes to a screeching halt and screamed in unison, "Morels!" They were the biggest morel mushrooms we have ever seen, and we found more and more the harder we looked. Needless to say, that made us late for breakfast again. Jamie and I pulled into the Atkinson Livestock Auction to meet with the rest of the crew. There's a little restaurant in the sale barn, and they cooked up a mean breakfast, which tasted amazing after riding all morning without a decent meal. We showed everyone our morel mushrooms and said that we would cook them in Stuart that night. Before getting back on the trail, I advised Carine to ease up and enjoy the scenery, because she was riding like she had a death wish. Carine would be the only person in our group to ride the entire Cowboy Trail without cheating on the highway. When Jamie and I caught up with the group before Stuart, Carine had a surprise for us – she had found more morel mushrooms while Bachmann made peach cobbler in a Dutch oven while we camped at Keller Park State Recreation Area. We stopped at Long Pine State Recreation Area to camp for two nights. Tents were pitched by Long Pine Creek, bicycles scattered all about, and smelly bike shorts hung on a makeshift clothesline. tr e a d c c A g b to le th a c to th Bachmann made peach cobbler in a Dutch oven while we