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It was a great trip; lots of beautiful views, some nice hikes, plenty of miles. Nice to be home though. Now we'll spend the next week cleaning everything, fixing all the problems that popped up with the equipment, and getting back into the rhythm of things.

Good thing John agreed to take over the ride leadership permanently, so I don't have to contend with that!!

Some highlights of the last few days of traveling-

Thanks for following along, we hope you enjoyed the trip. Till next time!

Driving West

We left Colter Bay Campground this morning. That's right at the base of the Grand Tetons. It's amazing to see all the fall colors popping out right now.

It started raining last night at midnight and continues still. The only break we had was when it was snowing. We went through a spectacular canyon in Utah called Beaver Creek that took a half hour to drive, with awesome views around every corner. Unfortunately, towing the trailer really limits where we can stop along the road and of course every time we stopped the view we were just inspired by was behind us.

We did see some wildlife we were able to photograph; mainly because they were right beside the road.

Or on it! I shot these pack animals through the front windshield.

Long drive today. Time for wine.

Cody, Wy.

Cody is known for two things-

1)  The Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum

2)  The Wind. The Bloody, bloody wind.

Bob told Susie we had to see the museum. Honestly, after almost a month of reading signs at every tourist stop, I figured I'd read enough about the Native Americans, the Europeans who slaughtered them, and the geology of the area. But he was right; we've never seen a museum like this before. It was so large and full of so much information no one (besides Mary perhaps) would ever be able to remember a tenth of the info.

We did learn however, Buffalo Bill was not a spectacular cowboy or lawman. He was a genius of self promotion. He was a shameless ham of epic proportion who was renowned around the world mostly for his touring show depicting the wild west.

The Wind. It's a living entity which dominates the region and sculpts the land.

You think this river cut through the mountains and carved this canyon? Not so. In fact,this was just recently one mountain and the wind blew so hard it separated into two halves. The water naturally found it's way through.

You can see here where the wind actually blew all the stars out of the sky. It also blew away half the moon.

Tomorrow, Coulter Bay and the Grand Tetons. I hear the wind left those mountains intact.

Devils Tower Plus

This is the nation's first National Monument, made so by none other than Teddy Roosevelt in 1906.

The tower rises 867 feet from its base, stands 1,267 feet above the river and 5,112 feet above sea level. The area of its teardrop-shaped top is 1.5 acres and the diameter of its base is 1000 feet. It looks very different from each elevation view.

There are over 220 climbing routes up this behemoth, and while we were hiking around it we saw 7 climbers. No pics of them though with my camera. We had a great view from our $10 campsite. I took Janet's advice and hung out in the lounge chair resting my foot.

The prairie dogs here are fat, happy, and plentiful.

On the drive to the Tower, we went through the town of Alladin.

This is the oldest building in Wyoming, now a general store.

It looks pretty good from the outside right? When we got inside and Sue saw this, she wanted to get out quick before an earthquake hit.

Before we got to Alladin, we stopped by Belle Fourche S. Dakota to see the geographical center of the U.S. Why so far north you ask? Read for yourself.

We are now outside the town of Cody Wy. Brian suggested we check out the area. He mentioned he caught some fish here with his bare hands. Not to be outdone, I intend to catch fish with my bare teeth!

Our last day in the Black Hills

Deadwood is a very historic and quaint little town that was the center of one of the largest gold rushes in American history. It also has the distinction of being the town where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried.  Today it is filled with gambling halls, bars, and gift shops.

It has a lot of great old architecture.

And a sense of humor-

We watched a re-enactment of the Hickock murder in Saloon #10. Here's Bill (on the right) and his murderer (Jack McCall) with Susie. McCall walked in and shot him point blank in the back of the head for unknown reasons.

I found Bickel's next bike there. I didn't see a price tag or I would've gotten it for him for an early Christmas present. He'll just have to swing by himself.

We also had time to swing through Spearfish Cyn. and see the waterfalls. This is called Roughlock Falls and was really spectacular. We saw many trout in the river.

Tomorrow- Devils Monument.

The Badlands Experience

We pulled a Steve today and took about a thousand pictures, so grab a six-pack, sit back and relax, and get ready for a 3 hour slideshow.

You can thank me later.

The day begins-

This entire area was once a vast plain. Due to erosion it has started to reveal it's secrets, with some areas just starting to erode. Not sure what kind of grasses these are. Mailee is the botanist; she might know.

Other areas have been eroding for 70 million years.

I remember being here once as a tot; Dad said I was 6 or so. I don't remember much, but with this scenery I must have been impressed.

We saw a lot of wildlife today, but most of it was too far away for decent pics. There were a lot of Prairie Dogs in one area, and they were not shy.

Sue saw a very rare Jackalope and was able to wrassle it to the ground, hop on, and go for the ride of her life! What an ordeal!! Lucky I had my camera out to prove to JSL they really do exist.

This is in the town of Wall, S. Dakota, which you couldn't miss as they have literally hundreds and hundreds of road signs (billboards) for Wall Drug Store as far away as Wyoming. We've been seeing them for the last week of traveling.

Their coffee costs a nickle per cup. But we're here for the Badlands.

There's a storm a-brewing, so we're going to hunker down for the night and head out to Deadwood in the morning.

Driving to the Badlands

It wasn't much of a drive really. We did go through Mary's old haunt.

Manny wouldn't like this trip so much I'm afraid. He hates new construction and thinks everything should stay the same as yesteryear. I can honestly saw that our government must be rolling in dough, because I have never seen so much construction before. Everywhere we go roads are being rebuilt, bridges are being replaced, buildings are being erected. We drove through an active construction zone in Colorado that was over 30 miles long of one lane driving on I 25. Unlike in California though, there are many people and machines working.

No one is rebuilding the Badlands though. It looks ancient. Poor lighting as we arrived around noon today, but we hope to get some nicer shots at sunset.

We plan on going for hikes tomorrow and see if I can really mess up my foot.

Black Elk Peak

We have internet access at our campsite! Yippee!!

So this is yesterday's post.

Black Elk Peak is the most popular hike in Custer State Park, which is odd, because it's longer than most people like to go, and it's listed in the guide as strenuous. We can attest to the strenuous description. When we were hiking the JMT we frequently came across very high steps which are normally referred to as Sierra Steps. 

Here's an example of what Sue dubbed Black Hills Steps. This step is literally higher than the bottom of her skort.

The hike was difficult, with over 1300 ft of elevation gain and about 8 miles. We haven't been hiking much on this trip because my foot is still swollen and very sore. I don't know how it happened, but I started limping about two weeks before we left home. This hike seemed worth it though. There is a little building at the top that's pretty cool. It was a fire lookout tower.

From this peak we could see four states- S. Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming. We were lucky because the day before the wind blew like crazy and it rained to boot, so the air was really clear. Plus, it's the highest peak in Black Hills at 7242 ft. Unfortunately, I'm not the photo bug Brian is and I don't have a camera except the one in my phone. As much as I would like to show you the view, it doesn't look like much with that wide angle lens I have.

This is the conclusion of the Mt. Rushmore part of the trip. Next stop will be further east at The Badlands!

The Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park

The Friendly Burros

These burros blocked the road and wouldn't let the cars by until we paid a toll of carrots! They were rather insistent.

We were afraid we wouldn't see any bison. Not to worry.

The Lakota name for bison is Tatanka. The Lakota tribe is the first known inhabitants of this area.

Here's some immature Bighorn Sheep.

Good viewing today.

Quick quiz- how did the Black Hills get it's name?

When the native Lakota tribe first came here hundreds of years ago, they saw hills covered with Ponderosa pines. The trunk of the ponderosa is black and the hills looked dark. The Lakotas called it Paha Sapa. ( Hills of Black)

We spotted some interesting stuff in town too.

There is a brewery here in the town of Custer called Mt. Rushmore.

They also have a restaurant.

We spotted this bar seating at a gift shop/watering hole.

Novel, Eh?