Wyoming/South Dakota: Road Trip 2016

Pull-off along the Continental Divide. 3 years ago while hiking the CDT, there were two young grizzly bears foraging in the meadow to the left.

Wyoming canyon country

World's Largest Mineral Spring in the town of Thermopolis

Bike-race in the Bighorns

Big storms forming near Rapid City, SD

Crazy Horse Memorial

Mt. Rushmore

Wall Drug

Missouri River and Lewis and Clark historical sight. One of my favorite stories, the Lewis and Clark adventure follows you all over this country.

Lewis and Clark exhibit

My mother's grandfather once worked at the train depot in Mitchell. We stopped by to pick up a little dirt.

After leaving the Tetons behind, it wasn't long before my parents and I reached the Continental Divide and stopped briefly in Dubois and eventually to Riverton where we spent the night. I was in Dubois 3 years previous while hiking the Continental Divide Trail. At the time I was hiking briefly with a hiker named Raffle, and we saw a rodeo in town and were treated to some trail magic with a local who invited us to his house for bison and antelope steaks. Our drive the next day took us through the town of Thermopolis, and then into some beautiful Wyoming canyon country. Later we were in the Bighorns where a bike race was taking place. Eventually, our goal was to reach Mt. Rushmore. Some huge cumulus clouds were gathering on the horizon, and the emergency broadcast system announced big thunderstorms forming and rolling through the area. By the time we reached Rushmore, the skies were blackening, and it was obvious we had 20 minutes max to take in the place before all hell broke loose. Sure enough, by the time my parents and I reached the viewing platform, thunder was rolling and winds were picking up. We all agreed we had to get out of there. By the time we reached the car, the first big raindrops were falling. By the time we left the parking lot, thunder and lightning and then hail was falling from the sky. We had left just in time!

The next day's drive through South Dakota was a pleasant, but very hot one, temps were probably in the upper 90's by the time we crossed the Missouri River. No road trip would be complete without a visit to Wall Drug where we spent part of the morning picking up a few souvenirs...