Deal's Gap - Sept.4-5th 2007, Mid America

Day 4 - Cody, WY to Keystone, SD
Time & distance: 10 hrs. 16 mins, 691 kms
States crossed: Wyoming

Wyoming has been a pleasant surprise; we never expected it to have so many nice roads. This morning was another example of it. From Cody, we hooked onto I-90 via Hwy 14 which brought us through Big Horn Canyon National Park.

I have never ridden into anywhere with a more dramatic entrance. The road into Big Horn starts in a valley between canyons of precambrian rock slides. The red canyon walls tower above you on both sides as you enter. As you make the first corner, the red sedimentary walls close in even more, making for a very dramatic appearance; almost like riding through a gateway to hell. It then opens up to a vast mountain range. The ride was very picturesque and has a mixture wide and tighter sweepers; perfect for an early morning run.

We learnt from the park signs that 500 million years, the sea covered all of Wyoming. Then 70 million years ago, the earth's plates started to move. It buckled and heaved above sea level and thus created the Big Horn Mountain ranges in additional to many other mountains in the surrounding areas. This history is still visible in the many angled rock stratas on the sides of the mountains and canyons.
We continued on I-90 to Mt. Rushmore but decided to detour to see the Devil's Tower first since it was not too out of the way. This was the first national monument of the states. For those who aren't familiar, it's basically a stump-shaped granite formation that extends 865 ft. from the tree lines. It's 1000 ft. in diameter at the base and 275 ft. in diameter at the top. It looks rather alien because it's the only formation of any sort surrounded by low plains all around. Apparently, it's the premier rock climbing challenge in the Black Hills. When we were there, we saw a few groups from Colorado at the same time getting ready for the climb.
At 37 degrees, the heat was unbearable. We took our mandatory water break at the local souvenir store, where we chatted with some harley bikers. They recommended us to stay at Keystone for the night since it was literally right beside Mt. Rushmore. We weren't aware of this, but there's supposed to be some really nice roads right around Keystone so it makes for a great base.
We decided to check out Sturgis as it was also on the way and the Harley Rally just finished. This rally has been the biggest bike rally since 1958, bar none. There wasn't much bikers left in the town, just some shops clearing out their left over souvenirs. The fact that the Rally was just last week explains why we saw so many Harleys on the road. Every Harley biker we've met have been very friendly. Everyone we've seen on the road waves to us, even if they are way on the other side of the Interstate highway.

We checked in to Keystone later than we had hoped (as always) and rode "squid" to check out Mt. Rushmore. The monument is beautifully lit at night and very calming to watch. Only the faces are lit with everything else around dark. With no street lights and stray lights the stars above make for a beautiful backdrop to the dramatic mountain scene.

Keystone is an interesting little town with all the building in a western cowboy style. It reminds me alot of Winthrop in Washington. Almost all of the business is from the Mt. Rushmore tourists. A local store keeper shared with us an insider's tip. Apparently, one of the security gates at the Mt. Rushmore tourist center is kept open all night until 7:00am. We planned for an early start anyways, so it made sense for us to get there before 7:00 for a possible free admission.

Day 5 - Keystone, SD to Albert Lea, MI

Time & distance: 11 hrs. 45 mins, 972 kms
States crossed: South Dakota

The early morning start paid off. We were able to get into the paid area of Mt. Rushmore before the staff actually showed up to charge admission. This mountain was carved by Gutzon Borglum and a team of 400 people in 1927. It took them 14 years to complete. He actually didn't finish it and his son continued on. To this day, the monument is not as complete as had planned. The intent was to also finish the details of the shoulders down to the waist. Federal funding was pulled and we are left with what we see today. Thank God they started from the head down!

We checked out the highly recommended roads around the area before heading back to the interstate. Highway 16A takes us around the Needles highway and Custer State Park. It's an amazing ride with the tightest twisties I've every seen. Too tight in fact. Some of these hairpins were only 5 and 10 miles. At that speed you can't even lean. This part of the road was also very narrow with no lane markers and lots of wild animals. On our ride through, we saw squirrels, donkeys, and even wild turkeys that crossed the road. Yes, wild turkeys! We took it easy because most of the curves were blind corners and we never know what wild life is waiting for us. Also the early morning sun was right in our eyes most of the time. Further along, highway 16A takes us through Custer State Park. It had a bit more open road and was a lot more fun. There were 6 tunnels on this loop and all of them are only wide enough for a single. It was quite a sight to pass through this tiny hole in the side of a tall skinny mountain. It almost like threading through the eye of a needle. Hmm, I wonder if that's why they call it the Needles highway.

We had to make up time for all the fun detours, so we super slabbed it the rest of the way. It was uneventful and not worth mentioning except for the crazy prairie cross winds. It was so bad that we had to lean into it just so we don't get blown away. What's worst was the tail wind of the big semi-trailers on the road would suck us in towards them and once we pass, the highway cross wind would blow us in the exact opposite direction. The first few times was a scary surprise, but after awhile we learnt to adapt.

We managed to cross South Dakota without getting blown off the side of the road and checked into Albert Lea in Minnesota for the night.