Barrel
Member
PART I
Good day
I had the chance to work in Calgary in the 80s and discovered the Rocky Mountains with my good old R80G/S. They have given me the taste for adventure. I have always dreamed to return one day and to show them to my wife Nancy.
Finally, this year was the year and it was about time to start using these accumulted overtime work days and cash in some of our Aeroplan/Air Miles to realize this dream.
We have decided to do our trip from the 15 June to the 08 July 13 to avoid the extreme hot weather, there are also fewer tourists and still plenty of snow on the mountains however there is always more chance for rain but luckily we only had 2 half days of it and we have avoided the Alberta's floods by a few days.
Our trip was divided into three stages:
1. I had a week to make it to Alberta alone across the Northern United States;
2. ride the Rocky Mountains with Nancy for 2 weeks - she will join me in Edmonton by plane; and
3. I had 4-5 days to ride back home while Nancy will return by plane from Calgary.
Here is the summary of our adventures with comments below each picture!
Here is our overall itinerary with some points of interest. Basically +-12,500 km/7,800 miles including +- 2,500 km/1,500 miles of gravel/dirt in 23 days for an average of +- 545 km/350 miles per day - we need to take it easy sometimes. We were on vacation afterall!
The legend on the top right is as follow:
- Red line is my solo itinerary;
- Green line is the gravel/dirt roads; and
- blue is with Nancy.
I arrived at the town of Pierre located in the heart of South Dakota along the Missouri River, it is from here that my adventure really began after crossing Ontario, Northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota in 2 days ...
Finally some gravel/dirt roads!!! I took the "Bad River Road" and "Capo Road" and rode through beautiful hills and plains, yes no traffic on these back roads!
In these plains there are plenty of bisons and horses which seem to be free!
These back roads brought me to the famous "Badlands" which you can see at the background.
The Badlands National Park located in South Dakota is situated on an eroded plateau which the formation is going back over 75 million years ago. It was formed over the ages by sedimentary deposits (sand, clay, silt) and solidified by cementation. The studies of the different layers has traced the history of this very unique area.
This land was inhabited by the Sioux who used the valleys as a hunting ground and with the arrival of the white settlers eventually resulted in a confrontation between the Sioux led by "Big Foot" and the Army, which unfortunately led to the massacre of Wounded Knee.
Some of these hills are impressive and offer unique landscapes!
After crossing the Park from East to West, I took the "Bombing Range Road" going South and then West towards "Custer Park".
Getting short of gas I arrived at a small Western style village which was pretty much abandoned, no services, just like in the movies for an eastern guy like me!
After spending the night in Rapid City, I got up very early as usual to ride the Custer Park and I arrived at Mount Rushmore at 7:00 hrs in the morning - ideal for photos because no traffic nor tourist yet!
Mount Rushmore Memorial (1,745 meters/5,800 feet in altitude) is a monumental granite sculpture. The 18 meters/60 feet high sculptures represent four of the most prominent of the American Presidents. From left to right of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The monument was built between 1927 and 1941 by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and over 400 workers.
View from the side of Mount Rushmore where we can still see George Washington.
Custer Park and the famous "Black Hills" offer a wide variety of awesome roads which should satisfy any type of riders.
Also there are all kinds of gravel/dirt roads which allow you to make all kinds of new discoveries. You could easily spend several days if not a week riding in this beautiful and well maintain park.
I arrived at the Crazy Horse Monument who was a Native American from the tribe of Lakhotas who fought the American expansion. This sculpture once completed would be the largest in the world with its 172 meters/565 feet high and 195 meters/640 feet long, crazy idea started by Korczak Ziolkowski in 1948 and could be completed around 2060...to follow...
I have continued to ride North West via the magnificent forest roads towards Wyoming to get to the Devil's Tower for my very important appointment of the 3rd type.
In the meantime, I think I'll let this long horns alone.
I finally arrived at the famous monolith of "Devils Tower" in Wyoming which is more than 386 meters/1,270 foot above the surrounding land!! It was one of the first national monuments named in 1906 by Roosevelt.
A Native American legend says that Sioux girls were chassed by bears, but a Great Spirit feeling pity for them, raised the ground beneath them, the bear fell down clawing the walls which created the long vertical marks..
This place has remained sacred to some tribes, they usually conduct ceremonies in June and it is ask from the visitors not to climb the rock which would be considered as a profanation!
For my part I settled in this field waiting for my special visitors!
Yes!! They came to meet me as planned and they have brought me luck for the rest of my adventure!
Good day
I had the chance to work in Calgary in the 80s and discovered the Rocky Mountains with my good old R80G/S. They have given me the taste for adventure. I have always dreamed to return one day and to show them to my wife Nancy.
Finally, this year was the year and it was about time to start using these accumulted overtime work days and cash in some of our Aeroplan/Air Miles to realize this dream.
We have decided to do our trip from the 15 June to the 08 July 13 to avoid the extreme hot weather, there are also fewer tourists and still plenty of snow on the mountains however there is always more chance for rain but luckily we only had 2 half days of it and we have avoided the Alberta's floods by a few days.
Our trip was divided into three stages:
1. I had a week to make it to Alberta alone across the Northern United States;
2. ride the Rocky Mountains with Nancy for 2 weeks - she will join me in Edmonton by plane; and
3. I had 4-5 days to ride back home while Nancy will return by plane from Calgary.
Here is the summary of our adventures with comments below each picture!
Here is our overall itinerary with some points of interest. Basically +-12,500 km/7,800 miles including +- 2,500 km/1,500 miles of gravel/dirt in 23 days for an average of +- 545 km/350 miles per day - we need to take it easy sometimes. We were on vacation afterall!
The legend on the top right is as follow:
- Red line is my solo itinerary;
- Green line is the gravel/dirt roads; and
- blue is with Nancy.
I arrived at the town of Pierre located in the heart of South Dakota along the Missouri River, it is from here that my adventure really began after crossing Ontario, Northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota in 2 days ...
Finally some gravel/dirt roads!!! I took the "Bad River Road" and "Capo Road" and rode through beautiful hills and plains, yes no traffic on these back roads!
In these plains there are plenty of bisons and horses which seem to be free!
These back roads brought me to the famous "Badlands" which you can see at the background.
The Badlands National Park located in South Dakota is situated on an eroded plateau which the formation is going back over 75 million years ago. It was formed over the ages by sedimentary deposits (sand, clay, silt) and solidified by cementation. The studies of the different layers has traced the history of this very unique area.
This land was inhabited by the Sioux who used the valleys as a hunting ground and with the arrival of the white settlers eventually resulted in a confrontation between the Sioux led by "Big Foot" and the Army, which unfortunately led to the massacre of Wounded Knee.
Some of these hills are impressive and offer unique landscapes!
After crossing the Park from East to West, I took the "Bombing Range Road" going South and then West towards "Custer Park".
Getting short of gas I arrived at a small Western style village which was pretty much abandoned, no services, just like in the movies for an eastern guy like me!
After spending the night in Rapid City, I got up very early as usual to ride the Custer Park and I arrived at Mount Rushmore at 7:00 hrs in the morning - ideal for photos because no traffic nor tourist yet!
Mount Rushmore Memorial (1,745 meters/5,800 feet in altitude) is a monumental granite sculpture. The 18 meters/60 feet high sculptures represent four of the most prominent of the American Presidents. From left to right of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The monument was built between 1927 and 1941 by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and over 400 workers.
View from the side of Mount Rushmore where we can still see George Washington.
Custer Park and the famous "Black Hills" offer a wide variety of awesome roads which should satisfy any type of riders.
Also there are all kinds of gravel/dirt roads which allow you to make all kinds of new discoveries. You could easily spend several days if not a week riding in this beautiful and well maintain park.
I arrived at the Crazy Horse Monument who was a Native American from the tribe of Lakhotas who fought the American expansion. This sculpture once completed would be the largest in the world with its 172 meters/565 feet high and 195 meters/640 feet long, crazy idea started by Korczak Ziolkowski in 1948 and could be completed around 2060...to follow...
I have continued to ride North West via the magnificent forest roads towards Wyoming to get to the Devil's Tower for my very important appointment of the 3rd type.
In the meantime, I think I'll let this long horns alone.
I finally arrived at the famous monolith of "Devils Tower" in Wyoming which is more than 386 meters/1,270 foot above the surrounding land!! It was one of the first national monuments named in 1906 by Roosevelt.
A Native American legend says that Sioux girls were chassed by bears, but a Great Spirit feeling pity for them, raised the ground beneath them, the bear fell down clawing the walls which created the long vertical marks..
This place has remained sacred to some tribes, they usually conduct ceremonies in June and it is ask from the visitors not to climb the rock which would be considered as a profanation!
For my part I settled in this field waiting for my special visitors!
Yes!! They came to meet me as planned and they have brought me luck for the rest of my adventure!
