Day 25 - Sturgis, Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills

We slept in this morning - well, kind of - I got up at 3:30 to do my work and then went back to bed until 7:30am. We did a load of wash and then headed down I-90 to Rapid City to see Mt. Rushmore and ride through Custer State Park. Mt. Rushmore is what one would expect, a spectacular achievement turned into a tourist spectacle. We took the mandatory photo (pic), had an ice cream cone and headed out of the area.

From there we took US16a through the Black hills National Forest and encountered some of the best twisties ever. On two occasions we did a complete 360 degree turn to the right climbing to pass over a bridge over the road we had just traveled. The second time it was more like a 720 degree spiral to the right with two such bridges! Never in my life have I seen anything like that. It almost made you dizzy! Apart from that, there were many 10 and 15 mph switchbacks, true "peg scrapers," and a couple of one lane tunnels (pic)! While it is hard to make out in the photo, you can see the president's faces on Mt. Rushmore through the tunnel.

We continued on 16a through the Custer State Park. By the way, the park has nothing to do with the defeat of Gen. George Custer at the hands of the Sioux, as Little Big Horn in Wyoming. Whatever - the park is spectacular and its roads are as full of twisties as described above.

After Custer State park, we took the Needles Highway (SD 87) to Sylvan Lake. Once again, the road was full of twists and turns, and at the summit were the most spectacular rock formations (pics). I don't know how they were formed, nor how they remain standing! And while there were no 360 turns as in Black Hills National Forest ride, there were very tight twisties and one lane tunnels that were even narrower (pic). One particular 10 mph turn took a significant chunk of chrome off my left foot board. I definitely found the "limit of my lean angle" as Jerry Paladino would say. I was thrilled - Suzanne was, shall I say, "less than amused."

At Sylvan Lake we turned onto US16/385 toward Deadwood. The road was fast and scenic, but not as memorable as what we had just gone through. From Deadwood we took 14a back to Sturgis. We spent 6 hours on the loop and covered 160 miles. I now understand the real reason people come to Sturgis - the riding is phenomenal!

After arriving back at the motel, we took a tour of Sturgis, where we will spend all of tomorrow. There are more vendor tents than you can shake a stick at - plus some interesting looking saloons! It is now close to 5pm Mountain time and you know what that means!! Cheers!

Day 24 - Cody to Sturgis - Part 1

We had planned to leave Cody and take US 14a through the Bighorn National Forest to Ranchester and I-90, then follow the interstate to Sturgis. But during dinner, my friend Mick Barrus mentioned that a great ride could be had by going North up US 296, the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, then picking up US 212, the highway over Beartooth Pass.

I had not known that the Beartooth was so close, and long wanting to experience this great ride, Suzanne and I calculated how much longer our trip to Sturgis would be taking this new and exciting route. As it turned out, the added time was about 4 hours to add the 140 or so miles. Suzanne said she was game and that was all I needed.

The new route took us up WY 120 out of Cody, up the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway through the Shoshone National Forest. We left Cody at 8am. The ride was all that Mick had said it would be (pics). We rose from about 3,500 feet to well over 9,000 feet at the summit.

Day 24 - Cody to Sturgis - Part 2

Dropping down again to around 3,500 feet, we turned onto US 212 and headed up the Beartooth Pass. This road is legendary with bikers for its scenic beauty and challenging twisties. It was all I had heard it would be. We stopped at Top Of The Earth for pins and a break, before heading over the summit at 10,947 feet (pics)

Dropping down into Red Lodge, we stopped at the Harley shop for the mandatory t-shit and more Beartooth pins, then took MT 306 to Belfry; MT 72 to Bridger; and MT 310/WY 789 to Lovell, WY.

Day 24 - Cody to Sturgis - Part 3

(I added a photo here of Red Lodge). We arrived in Lovell at noon and had lunch. We then picked up US 14a through the Bighorn National Forest. I had not known what a spectacular ride this would be from the maps, but it turned out to be just as great as the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, but not as great as the Beartooth. We rose from 3,500 feet very rapidly to the summit at 9,430 feet. The scenery was breathtaking. (pics).

We finally hit I-90 around 3:30pm and pounded our way the final 220 odd miles to Sturgis. While the scenery was sometimes beautiful, there is not really a lot to say for interstate travel, especially after having ridden three of the most scenic and challenging roads a biker could imagine. Barring the long treck on I-90, this, along with the ride from Durango, CO to Ouray, CO, was my most memorable day of riding so far. It will be hard to beat it in the future, but you know I will try!

We arrived in Sturgis after 7:00pm after having been on the road for 11 hours. Suzanne was a trooper all the way and loved the scenery as much as I did. We now spend three nights in Sturgis and will report on the events.

Day 23 - Yelloswtone to Cody

We left West Yellowstone after breakfast at about 8:15am and headed back into the park. Since I was on the bike and Suzanne was in the car, and I had the "Senior Citizen Lifetime Parks Pass," Suzanne had to pay the $25 weekly pass rate. Oh well, the alternative was a 150 to 200 mile detour around the park.

Se saw more wildlife, bull Elk (for the first time - pic) and more buffalo (pic). The park is truly beautiful with massive stands of Lodgepole Pine so thick it makes walking difficult. Lodgepole are interesting in that they reseed themselves with an incredibly thick cover of new trees after the forest is destroyed by fire. Forest fires are the regenerating force of the forest.

We crossed over the "Fishing Bridge," from which there is no longer any fishing permitted (since 1973) due to the near decimation of the Cutthroat Trout population by fishermen. As we reached the summit of Sylvan Pass (8530 feet), we ran across the "Road Work" sign (pic). The East Entrance to the park has been under repair for over two years now due to a massive slide. Supposedly, it will be completed this year, but in the meantime, travelers are required to follow a lead vehicle down the very steep descent over a largely gravel road into the Shoshone River valley on the way to Cody. The speed rarely exceeded 15 mph and the dust was abundant! Needless to say, the car and Goldie both got baths when we arrived in Cody.

Once out the East Gate, we traveled through some beautiful landscape with very interesting features (pic). Once in Cody, we checked into the Best Western, washed the vehicles, had lunch at the historic Irma Hotel (Buffalo Bills hotel), visited the Beartooth Harley Davidson shop for the mandatory T-shirt, and then took in the marvelous Buffalo Bill Cody Museum (pic). There are five museums in the center, covering all aspects of life in the West from arms, to wildlife, to Buffalo Bill's life, to western art and history. A truly remarkable museum.

We are now about to meet Mick Barrus, a very old friend with whom I went to undergraduate school and lived with in Elwood Manor, our cooperative living group. Mick lives in Cody and I haven't seen him in 43 or so years, so the visit is long overdue.

Tomorrow it's on to Sturgis!

Day 22 - Yellowstone (South Loop)

We headed back into the park around 10:00am, this time to see the much more popular South Loop. We saw more Elk early on, then stopped at Fountain Paint Pot (pic). Lots of colorful geysers. Next was the Firehole Lake Drive and more active and colorful geysers (pic). Finally, we stopped at the grandaddy of them all - Old Faithful - and after a quick lunch, the geyser erupted right on schedule at 12:44pm (pic).

We then drove over Craig Pass (8262 ft.), crossing the Continental Divide twice, and stopped at the West Thumb geyser basin for a quick look. We drove along Yellowstone Lake and stopped at the beautiful Lake Yellowstone Hotel for a look. The lake is beautiful and someone was actually swimming (it's COLD). Then we headed down the Yellowston River and stopped at the Upper Falls for a (pic). Heading to Canyon Village, we ran across a couple of herd of Buffalo (pic).

The rest of the journey was effectively retracing the last part of yesterday's route, however, we did spot a Coyote alongside the road. Suzanne was happy with all the animal siteings!

Tomorrow we head back through the park for the third time on the way to Cody. A short day of about 131 miles. More later.

Day 21 - Butte to Yellowstone

We left Butte on I-90 at 8:15am. After a few miles we reached the continental divide at 6,900 plus feet. From here on, all the water flowe=s to the Gulf of Mexico. Twenty odd miles later, we switched onto US 287 and headed up the Madison River Valley. What a beautiful ride. It goes through cattle country and the fields are mainly devoted to growing hay. As one acquaintance in a bar told me: "Montana and the other western states have banned the use of square hay bales in favor of round ones." I naively asked why, he said because the square ones constipate the cattle. One on me!

We passed through Ennis, a great little town completely restored to the 1800s. Further on, we stopped at Cameron, where we me four fellow bikers from Kansas City, Missouri (pic). Monte, Shannon, George and Sharron were riding softails (Loaded with chrome) and were a delight to talk to. Monte informed me that if you bought your bike in Montana, and you owned a piece of property in Montana, there was no sales tax and you could license the bike for about $125 for the life of the bike! Montana loves bikers!

Further up the Madison River Valley we saw many fly fishermen in the river and in boats with guides, fishing for trout. The river is absolutely beautiful and I was full of envy.

We arrived in West Yellowstone at 11:30 and checked into the Holiday Inn. We had lunch ane headed into the park (I have a seniors lifetime pass!). Our route was the North circuit to see some geysers and the Mammoth Hot Springs. If we had it to do over again, we would skip the North circuit. The roads are narrow and there are many places where the speed is less than 20 mph. We did see a few herds of elk, but no other wildlife. Some of the scenic sites were quite nice (pics).

We arrived back in West Yellowstone at 5:30pm and had a walk up Yellowstone Ave. Several nice shops, including a biker shop! We then returned to the Best Western and had a beer or two and dinner. Any typos are the fault of the bar in the hotel.

Talk to you tomorrow after we see Old Faithful and the other sites on the South Loop.

Cheers