Posted By TwoWheelsTebo on May 24, 2009

Got up at 5:00am in Cody, WY and headed for more adventures…this time in SD.  So, we left Cody on Hwy 14 and headed East to the Little Bighorn Mountains.

It turned out to be pretty cold and nasty, and rained most of day. But not to worry, I had already ridden through snow, rain and cold on this trip and I was ready for it.  I remembered driving through them somewhere when I was a kid, but it had been so long that I really didn’t remember much.  So when we finally started into the mountains, I was in for a good surprise.  It was more beautiful than I had remembered.  That’s always better than the other way around.  And I’ve been there and done that too!

Just before we started into the Little Bighorns on Hwy 14, the landscape became very lush and green, with mountains looming ahead of us in the distance.  I knew we had to ride through the mountains at some point.  So, as I rode along, I tried to see if I could see any tell tail signs of where the road might go into the mountains.  At first it seemed like it was a futile attempt.  But then, way out ahead of me and to my left, I started to see what looked like a canyon cutting into the mountains.  Aha!  That had to be it.  I kept my eye on that canyon as I rode along.

Well, as it turns out, I was right.  In spite of the fact that it was raining and cold enough that it could almost have been snow instead of rain, and the clouds were low, it was absolutely beautiful.  As we headed into the canyon the view became almost breath taking.  The canyon walls were beautiful colored and rose almost straight up for hundreds of feet above us.  The clouds were actually low enough that I could not see the top of the canyon wall.

There was a small river rushing to the left of the windy Hwy 14. As we continued to climb through the canyon, and up higher into the mountains, the temperature began to drop.  I was warm enough in my riding suit, but I was a little concerned about slick roads if it began to freeze with all the rain on the road, and the possibility of it snowing.

About 80 miles up Hwy 14 from Cody, and into the Bighorn National Forrest, we came upon a lookout point for the Shell Falls water fall. By now we were just under the cloud level and it was still getting colder.  We stopped at the Falls for a potty break and a beautiful view.  Getting my mom to walk out on a cat walk that went out to a platform about 60 ft. above the raging river at the bottom of the falls, was another story.    Mom and heights don’t seem to get along that well.  But we did get her out there. Lol

After taking pics of everyone with Shell Falls in the background, we headed on East towards Mt. Rushmore.  By the time we got to the summit, it was snowing lightly.  I was still warm, but was wishing that I had some heated gloves.

It was about that time that I realized I was doing a lot better than I thought I was.  As we cam around a corner and headed down a straight stretch, I saw about 5 single headlights in the distance!  It’s always good to see other bikers when I’m out riding.  And on a day like today, I was proud of them.  But as they got closer, my pride soon turned to pitty.  They were not on a nice comfy Goldwing like I was.  And they weren’t dressed as warm as I was!  Now believe me, I’m not prejudice when it comes to motorcycle brands.  If it’s got two wheels, it’s ok in my books.  But these poor guys were riding choppers with ape hangers, in the sleet and snow.  They were soaked to the skin and with the ape hangers, I know the rain, snow and sleet had to be rushing up their sleeves!  But I figured, hey, they’re bikers…they can handle it.  But I was sure glad that I was on my wing for that day. 

As we started dropping down the other side of the mountain, all at once you could see a vast and green valley floor below and a beautiful winding road down to it.  It was kind of a bitter sweet thing.  On one hand I couldn’t wait to ride down that twisty road to the valley floor…and yet, the view was so beautiful from up there that I didn’t really want to start down.  We did find a view point pull out where we stopped to take some pics.

The next point of interest was Sturgis, SD.  I often get asked if I have even ridden my bike to Sturgis.  Until this trip I had to tell them no.  Well, now I have.  But unfortunately, it was not during the rally.    But hey, I did ride my bike there as apposed to the majority of the bikes that get towed there.  So, I didn’t feel quite as bad at the fact that I had missed the rally.

Our next stop was Mt. Rushmore.  You know how you have childhood memories of things, and then when you see them again as an adult, they just don’t hold up to your memories?  Well, that was Mt. Rushmore for me.  It was a spectacular sight, and learning how the sculpting was planned and carried out was quite fascinating.  And probably the highlight of being there on that particular day was the fact that I got to meet the last living worker that helped with the sculpting of Mt. Rushmore, Mr. Nick Clifford.

After leaving Keystone and Mt. Rushmore, we once again headed East again and went as far as Rapid City, SD where we stopped for the night.  As we pulled off the freeway an into town the thunderstorm that had been looming ahead, finally cut loose its torrents or rain.  By the time we got into town, there was about a foot of water on the sides of the street and I had to ride in the left lane of the 4 lane street to keep my feet out of the water!  Almost 500 miles from where we started this morning, I had ridden through valleys, canyons, mountains, rain, sleet, snow and ended the day with getting poured on by a thunderstorm.  Oh, and I even saw my first live moose in the wild today.  Maybe tomorrow will be a nicer day. 

Categories: NA Biker, Pics, Recommeded, Routes, South Dakota, Wyoming
Tags: