From Yellowstone the next few days would be spent travelling East to see the touristy things that I had planned to see on our way to Denver. For the last couple of days we had seen an increasing number of Harley riders heading to Sturgis in South Dakota for the annual motorcycle rally. The rally is world famous and is the largest gathering of bikers in one place anywhere in the world, this years figures are estimated to be up on last years 400,00 plus and when you consider the normal population is around 6,700 you wonder where they put everyone. We took the road out of Yellowstone by the North entrance and our first stop would be a visit to the Little Big Horn battlefield, but on the way we would ride the Beartooth Pass Highway which is another of the 'must do' rides in North America. In good conditions the ride over the Beartooth Pass affords some of the most spectacular views over the Beartooth Range and tops out at 10,970 feet, unfortunately for us today was not going to be one of those good days. Everything was going well until about 1,000 feet from the summit we were hit by a wall of mist which knocked the temperature down to close on freezing, no problem though, we'll ride through it and down the other side before we get chance to cool down.
Oh Fog!
What we also didn't count on was hitting road works at the top of the pass and when they stop traffic over here it's not just for a couple of minutes, by the time we got of the bike the mist had turned to drizzle and ten minutes later it began to snow! I offered the couple in the RV behind us $50 to let us in the back, he just smiled and wound up the window..... Are we having fun or what!
Isn't she pretty....cold, wet, peed off, but still smiling!
We decided to stop early and spent the night in Billings, Montana which is probably famous for something but we just wanted a bed for the night, whilst at the motel we were convinced by some bikers that as we were going to be so close to Sturgis it would be a shame to not at least pay a visit, even on a BMW.
I suppose most people of my generation have a facination with the old West. As a child Iwas raised on western movies, the heros of the day tended to be clean shaven and could hit a silver dollar with one eye closed and someone from the wagon train would always scare the crap out of the women by shouting "INJUNS"! at the top of his voice. Nowadays heros are computer generated and to be politically correct the guy on the wagon train has to cry "INDIGENOUS NATIVE AMERICANS"!......shame really
The Little Big Horn Battlefield Monument contains the usual visitors centre and a road which runs along the Greasy Grass Ridge from where you can see individual markers dotted on the slopes on both sides indicating where the Officers and troopers of the doomed 7th Cavalry fell. The obvious centre of attraction is Last Stand Hill where Custer and the remainder of the 7th were massacred by the combined forces of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, for me it was incredibly poignant to see individual markers locating the place where each man died. Normally an idividual monument is erected to honour those that fell but to see headstones scattered over the miles of battlefield gave a insight into what it must have been like to face overwhelming odds, some estimate those odds as great as 9 to 1.
Last Stand Hill
Under the monument is the final resting place of the remains of most of the Officers and Troopers, Custer's body was later relocated to West Point Academy which to me smacks of elitism. Personally I would have thought he should have been laid to rest alongside those men who died under his command
With the exception of Custer and a few individuals, most of the bodies were unable to be individually identified due to mutilation and the markers simply state 'A Trooper of the 7th Cavalry fell here'
Overlooking Last Stand Hill (I expected more headstones)
The monument honouring the dead from all the tribes that fought in the battle
The road along Greasy Grass Ridge. Markers can be seen dotted along both sides of the ridge some individual and some in small groups. Historians claim most were slain in an attempt to reach Custer on Last Stand Hill
From Little Big Horn we headed East again towards Devil's Tower in Wyoming, I have to admit to seeing the film Close Encouters Of The Third Kind more than once, and was interested in seeing the tower first hand. On the way we passed through Hulett and encoutered our first real gathering of riders up for Sturgis week. During Sturgis week Hulett is the location of 'No Panties Wednesday' (you work it out).
"Excuse me would you mind moving so I can park my BMW".....Ouch!
BOB thought his American counterparts loud, brash and too shiny!
G, A, F, (octave lower) F, C
This sequence of musical notes only makes sense to those who have seen the movie.
No aliens here, just bloody tourists.
OK it's official the film's a fake, Sue and I spent the best part of an hour walking round the base of the tower and there's nowhere to park a spaceship! even the car park was full, we felt so cheated. Devil's Tower was actually North Americas first National Monument, it stands 1267 feet tall and the peak is 5,112 feet above sea level.
The Tower was first climbed as early as 1893 by means of a wooden ladden driven into the rockface, remains of the ladder can still be seen (click the photo to enlarge).
Today it's a popular spot for sports climbers who can normally ascend the Tower in around three hours, you can even sign up for a two day climbing course and climb it on the second day assisted by a guide. I was going to do it but we didn't have time......yeah right!
OK, put your left foot here.
Looks like this guy is trying it barefoot.
Rock chick!
Rock head!
It fell off, honest. I didn't touch it
Prairie dog? Gopher? Groundhog? whatever, he's a fat little devil.
Right let's get one thing straight. We don't get the Harley thing, the chrome, the noise, the riding around with what looks like a soup bowl on your head for protection. All the Harley riders we have met have been really class people, but it's a culture thing and the fact that Harleys are suited to the roads over here but why make them sound like a tractor with a blown exhaust! We cringe at riders in T-shirts and shorts but they must figure that they're not going to fall off, either way it's not for us. Oh and why would you put your bike in a pickup truck and drive it across the country, ride around for a week then put it back on the truck and ride home?
To all the Harley riders we met, it was fun........ Ride Safe, any fool can ride fast!
When we got to Sturgis we were just one of thousands of bikes making their way through the town, The road into Sturgis is lined with display tents and exhibitors selling all sorts of biker stuff, we saw the odd non Harley but you had to look really hard. Having said that, one way to stand out at Sturgis is either to have the baddest, tricked up paint job Harley....or a grubby fully loaded GS Adventure. We did find more people wanted to talk to us than the guy in all leather on the 1990 softail FLSTF Fat Boy (that's a bike).
One end of Main Street, Sturgis
The other end.
Right kind of drink, wrong kind of bike.
Raffle prize.
If you have no interest in motorcycles you can skip the next set of photos, we took these at the World Championship Custom Bike Build Off. I'm not sure if these things actually run but they were impressive none the less.
After spending the night in Keystone we had an early start, we were hoping to visit Mount Rushmore and the Crazy horse Monument before the long drive to Denver to Joe and Lynns.
First view of Mount Rushmore, impressive.
It would have been more impressive if they had cleaned up after they finished!
If Mount Rushmore was impressive the Crazy Horse Monument was mind blowing in terms of scale. To give you an idea of size the four heads on Mount rushmore will fit inside the space created for the head of Crazy Horse, on the ledge at the bottom of the picture are some earth moving machines for comparison. the project is privately funded and was started by one man back in 1948. Take the time and follow the link below to find out all about the project.
A still from the pr0motional DVD to give an idea of scale
This will be the finished sculpture, but you and I will not be around to see it!
The ride to Joe and Lynn's place in Fort Morgan was tortuous, once we were out of the South Dakota Black Hills most of the ride was through the plains or prairies of Nebraska and Northern Colorado. We had spent most of the last week riding in winds but the journey south was a constant fight to keep the bike in a straight line, the wind was either pushing us off the road or into oncoming traffic
Pronghorn antelope.
Leaving the Black Hills of Dakota, next stop Denver.
Nice meeting you both a Bryce. Following you along and wishing you both the best. We just missed you in Vegas by about five days.
ReplyDeleteIt looks pretty wet over there just now. You didn't have to travel thousands of miles for loads of rain, we have a ton of it in Yorkshire!
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