Our time at the Sturgis Rally has come to an end, and this morning Dave and Mary decided to head down Nebraska way, while Evan and Maurie decided to join Tracee and I on a journey through Wyoming to Montana.
As Tracee and I had to stop by Sturgis to swap a T Shirt that was the wrong size, Evan and Maurie went on ahead. We would meet up with them at the end of the day in Sheridan. After Sturgis we rode up interstate 90 and branched off onto Highway 34. We stopped for a coffee in Bella Fourche and then followed the 34 across the state line into Wyoming where we merged with Highway 24.
Our reason for taking this route was to see Devils Tower National Monument. I had last seen Devils Tower in detail years ago on the old 1978 Sci-fi movie 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'. I wasn't expecting much to be honest - but once I saw it, I was suitably impressed, as it was larger than what I was expecting. The tower is actually the core of a volcano exposed after the effects of erosion caused by the Belle Fourche River and the weather. It is 865 feet high.
The Native Americans have a popular legend that the tower was formed when seven small girls were chased by a bear. They jumped on a rock and pleaded with the rock to save them. The rock grew higher and higher out of reach of the bear. The bear clawed and scratched at the rock trying to get the girls - thus forming the marks seen today on the sides of the tower.
After stopping for photo's we carried on to the town of Moorcroft for lunch. The landscape was noticibly changing to rolling hills of grassland. The roads were very smooth and excellent for riding on and not a lot of traffic apart from periodic groups of riders making their way home after Stugis and vehicles towing closed trailers (probably with bikes on board).
I saw a sign welcoming travellers to the 'High Plains Country' and I was instantly reminded of the Clint Eastwood movie 'High Plains Drifter'. You could easily visualise a time with no roads and men riding horses over this vast country. We also passed through Johnson County - location of the 1892 range war between settling ranchers and larger established ranches in the area.
We arrived in Sheridan and checked into our motel. A short time later Evan & Maurie came around on their bikes. Evan had lost the piece of paper with the motel address of where we were staying and they had arrived before us and found another motel. We all went to the local Walmart to buy something for tea and called it a day.
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