Sturgis, SD to Lander, WY
Ended up with a long riding day today. Not intentional but that’s how it worked out. I left Sturgis this morning with thoughts of an easy riding day with the Sitting Bull campground in the Big Horn Mountains as my goal. I hopped on I-90 out of Sturgis and was making such great time I decided to through in a quick side trip to one of those iconic geologic features – Devil’s Tower. I didn’t spend much time at the site – grabbed a couple of photos, stretched my legs, and chatted with a young lady riding an Indian from Virginia to Idaho.
Leaving the Devil’s Tower area, the young lady on the Indian caught up with me and rode with me as far as Gillette, WY. I was initially surprised since we had only spoken briefly but it made sense on further consideration. A young woman riding alone probably faces more dangers than an old white guy. Plus, she was flying a pride flag on the back of her bike in very red Wyoming. Everybody I’ve met here has been nice enough but…
Riding solo again, I stopped for lunch at the Main Street Diner in Buffalo, NY. Interesting, cash only establishment.
After lunch I headed west again into the Big Horn Mountains. I haven’t spent much time in these mountains but I love them. They have an old world, seedy feel to me. Not the rugged peaks of the Andes and not as worn down as the Appalachians. Kind of why I like Portugal more than Spain – a little more worn out, a little seedier.
Something that I hadn’t seen on previous trips through these mountains is that the names of the geologic units and their age is posted on signs along the highway. These signs I have no idea how this happened in very red, very evangelical Wyoming.
Well, I reached my target destination shortly after noon and decided that was way too early to call it a day so I headed on to Thermopolis, WY. Thermopolis is the home to the largest mineral hot springs in the USA and, according to the state map, has a state park adjacent to the hot springs. The idea of a dip was appealing and I headed on. Alas, there is a large state park adjacent to the hot springs but no camping. And I’m too cheap to pay for a hotel adjacent to a hot spring. So, a couple of quick photos and on the road again.
Outside of Thermopolis you quickly get into the Wind River Canyon which is stunning for several miles. I still remember this stretch of the road from one of my geology field trips as an undergraduate student. The course was Rocky Mountain Field Studies and was the course that convinced me to become a geologist.
Interestingly, I checked out a few campgrounds on the way down the canyon and they all required reservations but there was no cell service in the canyon. Anyhow, I kept rolling and ended up in Lander, WY at the same hotel that Bill and I had stayed at about three weeks earlier. Something like 420 miles on the bike today (good news is the new tires worked great).