The Charge of the Great Beasts

Today was good. It was long and at times hard but in the end it was really good. I started out in Gordon, Nebraska. It wasn't as far as I had hoped to get to yesterday but it wasn't too bad. I headed north into the Black Hills and South Dakota. The ride was awesome, lots of nice scenery and hills to ride around. I was hoping I'd be able to see some buffalo and before long my wish was answered. At first it was one buffalo off in the distance and then more and then even more closer up. Check out the video.

And now for the main attraction. This was an area where there were buffalo hanging out right by the road. At first everything seemed ok but then two of the great beasts tried to cross the road and found me and my motorcycle in their way. They charged and me, in my immense wisdom, got the hell out of there.

OK, so they didn't actually charge but they might have, you never know. They are wild animals after all.

So I continued north and passed through Hot Springs, SD. It was a very cool town and I kind of wish I had spent more time there. It was one of those old towns but it did't have that annoying, "we keep the town like this for the tourists" looks to it. It was pretty cool. I don't think they get many tourists through there. Most of the Mt. Rushmore crowd come down from the north (from I90) so this place was less affected by the hordes of tourists. It was nice.

From Hot Springs north along highway 385 to Custer was one of the nicest roads I've been on so far. It wound around and through a bunch of canyons and gave some really nice views.

My first real stop was the Crazy Horse Monument. Very cool place. They are carving the mountain (Mt. Rushmore style) into a monument of Crazy Horse, the one time leader of the Lokata tribe. The thing is huge, way bigger than Rushmore. In fact, they said that all of the heads on Mt. Rushmore could fit inside the head of Crazy Horse. The monument has been in the works for 40 years or so. The guy who started it died but his wife and kids are continuing the project. One of the cool things about it is that they're not taking any government money. Every dime is raised from private donations and the proceeds from the visitors. Below is what the monument will look like when it's done in the foreground and the actual mountain in the background.









Pretty cool, eh? Inside they have a museum and some Lokata guys selling artwork and jewelry etc. That's where I met Harry Burke who was selling some necklaces. I'm normally not much of a necklace kind of guy but this one caught my eye. The long black parts are made of buffalo bone. Harry and his wife, Lula Red Cloud made these necklaces until Lula died a couple years ago so now it's just Harry making and selling these.





The next stop was Mt. Rushmore. It was very disappointing. The whole thing felt like a tourist trap. The mountain itself was very cool and amazing but everything around it was packed with families from all over. It felt more claustrophobic than anything else. I didn't stay long. I hope that doesn't make me too un-American.






I came out of the Black Hills and into Sturgis, SD. Every year Sturgis hosts the biggest biker rally in the country. That rally ended a week or so ago. I could easily see how the town markets itself to bikers. Mostly with bars. Now that the rally is over it's pretty much just a small town. I did get a tee shirt though and stopped for lunch to have a buffalo burger. It was my way of celebrating my near death experience when the herd of wild buffalo tried to kill me.

I wanted to end the day in Cody, Wy which is right outside the eastern edge of Yellowstone. Like the last couple days, I didn't make it quite that far. I'm in Buffalo, Wy. It's not too far from Cody. Yet again, I ended the day heading west with the sun blazing away right into my face. I got pretty hot. Also, from Gillette to Buffalo there is nothing at all along I90. I found that out when I noticed I was running low on fuel. I started looking for gas stations and found absolutely nothing. When I got into Buffalo the fuel gauge was below "E" and the gas light was on. I was a little worried there for a while but I made it. I didn't really want to go on I90 or any interstate today but it was really the only real option.

So I decided to change my plan. After Yellowstone I was planning on going north to Glacier National Park. But with me not making it quite as far as I hoped for the last few days I think I need to cut something out. Glacier I've been too before several times. I was looking forward to going through there on the bike but that's life. Now I'm planning on leaving Yellowstone and heading west through Idaho to Spokane. Hopefully this will save me some time and I'll get to Spokane a little sooner. I'm not really sure what route I'll take. There aren't may roads through that area and it's pretty rural all throughout there. I'll figure it out. In the meantime, I'm going to bed.


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Location:S Bypass Rd,Buffalo,United States