Cody & South Dakota

The Buffalo Bill Historical Centre in Cody is the most wonderful place. It covers not only the history of the man himself but the Lakota Indians, a fine art display including some magnificent Remington bronzes and finally the biggest collection of firearms I have ever seen in one place. So anyone who grew up with the stories of the Wild West and a steady diet of John Wayne cowboy movies would also love this place. I managed to comprehensively cover the centre over two days. Unfortunately the weather turned a little inclement the first day I was there and walking the two miles from the motel into town didn’t seem such a good idea in the torrential downpour on the way home! At least the discovery of a liquor store not far from the motel on the way back brought some sort of small comfort once I had changed my soaked jeans. 

One of the posters advertising Buffalo Bill's show

An old stagecoach

Some of the original wagons

Buffalo Bill worked as a Pony Express rider for a short time.

Two of the guns used in the TV series Bonanza

This is the Moose I wanted to see, but not on a wall!!

On Tuesday I rode out of Cody and headed east towards the Bighorn Mountains with the intention of going along the scenic byway Hwy 14 which runs over the top of the mountains. Just after I made the left turn in Greybull the lights were flashing on the sign that indicated that the road was closed 30 miles ahead. I wasn’t about to put it to the test and do a 60 mile detour for nothing. So Mother Nature won again. Sooner or later I will get far enough away from the snow that it won’t keep causing me to change direction! I got to my destination of Buffalo far too early to check in anywhere, so I kept going. Once on the interstate (I90) the distance past very quickly, but the ride is oh so boring. Soon I was at the turn off for the Devils Tower, this was the final destination for all those who had been called in the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. As I approached this weird and wonderful Monolithic Igneous Intrusion (look it up) I wondered how many people under the age of 25 would even remember that film, not many I’m guessing. 

The Devils Tower

Up close it's even more impressive.

The back road from here to Spearfish was a great end to a long but satisfying day. The heavens opened again just as I unloaded my gear into the motel room, but only lasted ten minutes and then stopped. After a feed of the biggest plate of BBQ ribs and a couple of pints of dark beer to wash them down I wobbled back up the hill and crashed for the night.

The Black Hills of South Dakota is another of those biking heaven places. And the Harley’s were out and about in force to prove it. Down through to Custer and around into the Custer State Park where I ran into some more Bison which had just calved. The Mums are quite protective of the little ones and when you are sitting on a bike you are very venerable. 

Out of the way, dopy! Or whatever you want.

The calf's are cute though

Further round you come to Mount Rushmore and also Crazy Horse Mountain which in my opinion is the more impressive of the two, even though it’s a long way off being finished yet. I saw it ten years ago and it doesn’t seem to have progressed. Although I expect when I get home and compare the old photos with the new, it will have.

Crazy Horse Mountain

There is still a lot to do.

My lands are where my people are buried.......

An Indian of a different kind. This one was being raffled.

  

The following day I set off through Sturgis which wasn’t that much to talk about, but I can imagine what happens to it when thousands of bikers turn up in August for the annual rally there. It’s one of the largest in the world and must be mayhem.

Sturgis. Quiet now but in August, not so much!

I rode through Rapid City, and on to the Badlands National Park. There are parts of the park where the rock formations and colours remind me of the Bungle Bungles in Australia although on a smaller scale but it’s an impressive place all the same. As I exited the park there was a small town called Wall, and I decided that I had had enough for the day. The motel was good and the largest single store I have ever seen in a small town almost filled the one side of the main street and they sold everything. 

The Badlands National Park

One that we don't have in Australia

Very impressive, and in the middle of summer, very hot!

Wall main street

From Wall there is no escaping the interstate, unless you deviate by 50km and then you are on a secondary road that is just as straight and has smaller towns along the way. I did see signs for the Pioneer Auto Show in Murdo and as the day was going to be a very boring and long ride I thought that would break the monotony. I’m glad I stopped, there are some very nice and some very unusual cars and bikes in the museum along with thousands of pieces of memorabilia. Some do need some time and money spending on them in my opinion, but then it’s not my collection. If you want more info on what’s there, check out their website at www.pioneerautoshow.com/

The body on this is entirely made of wood!

The second General Lee this trip! One of the original five

Elvis's Harley, It's still registered to him (when he turns up!)

A 1968 Shelby GT500 Mustang. Nice......

So eventually I arrived in Sioux Falls and decided to rest up for a couple of days and update the blog and fix the rack for the top box that has broken for the second time in the same place, the central securing bolt bracket has snapped in two. This could have happened a long time ago and I only just noticed it when the bracket jumped the washer holing it down. The other thing I need to do is plan the next few weeks. I’m about a month ahead of schedule and as a result can see more of the Midwest and South of the USA than I had planned. 

The Missouri River. It's in flood in North Dakota and pretty full here!

The Sioux Falls in the town of the same name.

The Rocky Mountains and Yellowstone

As I left Hinton I was full of anticipation for the day that was coming. The bike was clean and polished, it was early and the rain had held off. A couple of km down the road the sign said turn left for Jasper, and then began to wind easily through the hills. Then the tarmac ran out, no problem probably just some of the sprig road works in progress, but I’ll take it easy because I don’t want to get the bike dirty again. After 30km I realised this wasn’t going to stop, too late to turn back it would probably end soon. Past the coal mines the road just got worse then headed deep into the woods. At 90km I ran across some lads that had obviously been having fun on quads all weekend.

“How far does this go on”?

“Where are you going?”

“Jasper”

“Oh you’d be better off turning round and going back the way you’ve come”

“The hell with that! When will I reach tarmac?” “About 90km”

“Oh crap”

They offered fuel if I needed it, but I was good. They wished me luck and I set off again, then it started to rain. I reached the road again after 200km. I was covered in mud and so was the bike. Some b*stard had messed with the sign in Hinton. 

The road ran out just before the coal mines

Then it started to rain!

Deeper into the woods. 200km what a mistake!!

So I joined the icefields Parkway halfway down, but at least the second half was spectacular.

At last the Rockies and the Icefields Parkway

The bears are out here as well and not as frightened of traffic

It just gets better from here

The Crowsfoot Glacier

Just magnificent

After cleaning the bike again I spent two nights in Banff and took a ride up to a very cold and grey Lake Louise the next day.

A cold and grey Lake Louise

The stags are getting their horns

Moraine Lake

I had put out a message on the Horizons Unlimited website to the Calgary community to ask if anyone knew of a place I could do an oil and filter change, and a cheap motel nearby. It was a great response and in amongst all the offers of a garage Warren Balisky offered to put me up as well. It still surprises me how generous people can be. So a big thanks to Warren and his family for their hospitality for a couple of nights.  

Thanks Warren. His Harley is back in the Garage.

On Friday I left Calgary in the pouring rain, I mean torrential, and it lasted until almost the US border just south of Cardston. Just before I crossed the border I saw a sign for Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump (honest it’s a real place) so I took the 16km detour to visit. It’s a wonderful exhibit of how the Blackfeet Indians hunted the buffalo in an unusual way, and also the horrific destruction to near extinction of these magnificent animals by the white man.

It a real place!

The killing site where they would have placed sharp boulders

The village would have been nearby for processing

When I crossed the border I asked if it would be possible to get an extension to my visa for the United States. As I had crossed the border earlier than I had anticipated from Mexico it meant that I would have to leave before my intended time of the end of October. The guys at the border were very helpful and explained that if I had handed the paper in when I went into Canada they would have renewed it when I came back into the US. In the end they reset the clock and I now have until 15^th Dec if I want. So no hurry now, having to find a shipping agent in Boston.

As you cross the border you enter the Blackfeet Reserve

Montana, big sky country, well it would have been if it hadn’t been covered in cloud! Unfortunately Mother Nature gain spoiled my plans to ride through the Glacier national Park. The pass is still blocked with snow, so I could only ride the 13miles to where the gate was closed and then turn around.

Glacier showed so much promise

But Mother Nature and the gate said no.

Why do you ask two dogs? No? It tickled me.

But at least the rain had stopped and after a good nights rest in a nice little place called Choteau, I rode on south until I reached Livingston for an early night and one of the best steaks I have ever had. 16oz of prime Rib slow cooked all day and the fries came on a side plate! It just melted in your mouth, so if you find yourself in Livingston eat at the Stockman.

Yesterday I set off for Yellowstone National Park. I hadn’t even thought that it was Saturday and half of America would be there! But apart from the RV’s slowing everything down It was as magnificent as I remembered it. The weather stayed fine and even started causing me to overheat in my riding suit with all the liners in. But it would have been very cold on the bike if I hadn’t had them in. 

Yellowstone in spring

The cold sets the hot sulphur springs off even better

Old Faithful in full eruption

Warning Hot! do not touch!!

The Bison herds are everywhere in the park

Sometimes close enough to get some really good shots

So I’m now in Cody for a couple of days before I head east across Wyoming.