Nice, deep blue sky
From far away -- see the climber?
And finally -- an accomodating prairie dog!
I went through the small town of Deadwood, SD, which is famous for some of the old west's most recognizable names. I didn't bother to stop by the cemetery where Wild Bill Hickok is buried, but I could have.
I headed west and got to Devil's Tower in time for a slightly late lunch. I parked, ate a sandwich, then started on a 1.5 mile hike around Devil's Tower. Some things I learned: Devil's Tower is basically like an inside-out volcano. It was formed underground millions of years ago. An eruption happened underground and forced rock up, but not as far as the surface. As the surface has disappeared over millions of years, the rock inside the volcano was left.
You'll notice on the pictures that the surface is all made of these vertical pillars of rock. I was surprised to find that it's such a popular rock-climbing site. There must have been about 10 people climbing it today. Apparently once they reach the top, they can hang out on the football-field-sized grassy field with some interesting wildlife. In person, it's absolutely huge, much more awesome than the pictures would suggest.
As you can see, I took a number of pictures. If you look carefully, you can find some climbers on the side, and that will give you a feeling for just how huge this thing is. But that's about all of the pictures I took today, sorry.
I headed straight north from there, planning on heading into Montana, then skirting Montana's eastern border until I hit I-94 and could turn east. But just as I crossed into Montana, in the little town of Alzada, my routing software had be taking highway 323 north through the Custer National Forest. Well, guess what? Highway 323 is a dirt road! Right at the beginning of it, there's a sign that says "Ekalata 50 miles" or something like that, which was the next town I thought I'd hit. 50 miles on a dirt road, I don't think so.
Unfortunately, the road I was on (highway 112) ends in Alzada, and US-212, the road it intersects, heads either southeast back into South Dakota, or northwest towards Billings. I didn't really want to go either of those ways (I wanted to go north!) but it seemed I was out of options. Sure, I was actually *in* Wyoming, and I could just head back down to South Dakota then north into North Dakota to accomplish my goal of crossing states off the "never been visited" list, but I was born with this intense hatred of backtracking, and besides, this was cheating.
I thought about asking around at some Alzada business about the best way to get to I-94 eastbound on a paved road, but ... the only business I could find was the post office, and it had just closed, the one car leaving as I pulled in.
So, I started heading northwest. I went to Broadus, MT, then north and intersected I-94 much further west than I'd intended, in Miles City. Then I headed east.
So, that was the excitement for the day, other than Devil's Tower. I did travel as far as Dickinson, ND, where I am spending the night in a campsite right on the Heart River. It was dark when I pulled in, and it's getting windy, but it looks beautiful. I'll take some pictures before I leave in the morning.