I chose to go clockwise since I already knew what the summit road was like. The climbing was gentle and easy from Walton Lake. One OHV passed us on his way to the sheep camp we had discovered yesterday. We rode East Ward, the gravel road generally in the shade.Vowell trail headed off to the left and downhill. The gravel road Leis just south of the summit of Slide mountain. There are numerous paths off either side, which look like Moto trails. Passing Thompson Spring, the forest is a bit more dense and a bolete poked through the forest duff. All of a sudden fritillary butterflies were coming from the south, heading north in droves. This seeming migration persisted for the next 10 km, all heading in the same direction, perhaps millions of them. After passing Mount Pisgah summit road our gentle descent began. It went slower than expected with the chunky gravel. We needed to exercise caution in a number of sections. We found a nice lunch. Stop in an open meadow. This region is filled with Meadows, although even the understory of the forest is quite open. However, upon joining the forest service road around Big Summit Prairie, the gravel was smooth, and we picked up speed. In fact, the east side of the loop was a gentle descent for the entire southward leg. Then we were really surprised when the south side of the loop was paved and we could really pick up speed. It was relatively level. We stopped for a snack at a cattle loading station inside under a tremendously ancient Larch tree. i’m going to guess that it was in the 500-year-old range. On the west side of the loop, we hopped off the smooth gravel and climbed up a bit of round mountain. That might’ve been a mistake as there were some 10 to 15% grades that required walking and that slow us down quite a bit. However, at the end that allowed us to drop down the round mountain trail back to Walton Lake just in time to see the lightning, hop in our tent before the downpour. It’s monsoon season here in the Ochoco Mountains.,