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| Long, lonely stretches of highway in eastern Wyoming |
We left Yellowstone National Park 8 days ago and made our way across the state of Wyoming and into the Black Hills of western South Dakota. The past few days we have been around and near thunderstorms during the day, but luckily we haven't been rained on while we are riding. We have had rain a couple of nights. Once in Gillette,WY where I opted to share a room with Chuck and again in Spearfish, SD where the 3 Amigas had rented a cabin in the KOA and had a spare top bunk that they graciously shared with me. In general, if it looks like rain, the group starts looking for other options than the tent. Even though we are all getting faster at setting up and tearing down camp, after 4 weeks, it is getting a little old.
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| Riding into the fog between Gillette and Devils Tower |
The other thing with the thunderstorms in the area, the temperature can drop 15-20 degrees in just a few miles. Several days now we have started off with just a few clouds in the sky and 60 degrees, only to be freezing by lunch. And our greatest fear now that we are heading into the mid-west is winds and hot, muggy weather.
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| Coming up on Devil's Tower... it looks like there could be an alien spaceship hiding in that cloud |
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| Devil's Tower... I did not Photoshop or AI generate the buffalo I have been asked that question. I had to keep moving up the hill to keep them in the photo. |
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| We did have some nice weather as we rode up Spearfish Canyon into the Black Hills. 2 hours later we were all freezing! |
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| Myles and Susan dressed for winter 3 hours later on the Michelson Trail |
Several of us rode about 30 miles of the Mickelson Trail after riding up Spearfish Canyon and we only hit some minor road construction. Another group wanted to start the trail in Deadwood at the trail head. However, they hit road construction and a detour which delayed them at least an hour. I was really glad the I did the Spearfish Canyon route. It was really scenic. Beth and I had ridden from Deadwood to Custer several years ago on the Mickelson Trail and didn't feel the need to do that section again.
So now we are off into the Badlands and corn country of South Dakota. The rainy weather is still in the for cast for tomorrow with a scheduled short ride of 38 miles into Rapid City. The possibility of rain is in the forecast for the next several days. We'll just deal with it. Myles and I are considering going off route tomorrow to see the Needles Eye Tunnel. It looks pretty interesting, but will add about 15 miles to our ride.
The group of riders is doing well and has jelled into a really good group to be with. We continue to make it from point A to point B every day and get fed on a regular basis, but the amount of work it takes for the tour operators is overly high. It is a self inflicted problem and any suggestion to try to minimize the effort goes without recognition. So we are pretty much doing our own thing when we feel like it. Most of the group has little concern about cost, so that makes it a whole lot easier when we decide to opt for lunch or dinner on our own or booking a hotel when we want.
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| Progress so far |
Location: Hill City, SD
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