Day 13, Monday, July 21, 2008 - 102 miles
Today was only 102 miles but they were good ones. Connie one
of the motel owners, suggested a good bike route
for today. It was down to Needles Highway, into Custer State Park, through the
wildlife loop, up Iron Mountain
Road into Keystone and finally 323 (Old Hill City Road) back to Hill City.
Today the pictures tell most of the story.
This is today’s Cathy picture standing in front of Sylvan
Lake. It is near the start of Needles Highway. Known for it’s excellent
twisties and scenic beauty, the big draw is the tunnels and granite spires. It
can be a close fit for large vehicles.
We told these people they would be famous tonight if they
tried to make it. As you can see, after some tense moments they
popped out the other end. Actually, the front edge of the rain gutter suffered
a mishap but mostly none the worse for wear.
If it says 5 MPH, they probably mean it! We now take you to the Wildlife Loop Road. See some of the wildlife we saw.
Burro, mule or donkey? I don’t know. I’m just pretty sure it’s not a horse. Heavy equipment wildlife.
More heavy equipment wildlife. Actually, we got stuck in the
middle of a couple of hundred buffalo crossing the road on both
sides, coming off the hills, walking in the traffic, jumping out of trees or
whatever they do. We didn’t move very far or very
fast. If you want stories filled with terror and ravages of the brutal beasts,
you need to have Cathy tell it. I just made sure to
stay out of the way. In the rearview you can see a bunch trying to sneak up on
us. Also, see them on the hill coming down.
No zoom required for this one! Finally the road cleared
enough that myself and Cathy “Dances with Buffalos” were able to
head down the road. After a relaxing lunch in Keystone, we rode Hwy 323 back to
Hill City. It crosses the train tracks about
14 times so I had the idea that I would go back and get some pictures of the
train pulling up the grade.
Today it was engine #110 pulling 7 cars to Keystone. We had
dinner at the Alpine Inn. The menu is filet mignon. That’s it.
Choose 6 oz. or 9 oz. Delicious. Comes with baked potato, lettuce wedge, and
garlic toast. Great desserts! We saw some fellow
GoldWing riders come into the waiting area so we invited them to hang with us. Florida
couple Steven and Bev had just come
from the GWRRA WingDing in South Carolina and were heading toward Yellowstone and
then down near Vegas before
routing toward home. They are retired so were able to get two and a half months
on the road! How cool is that! After dinner,
there was a shootout in town at 7:00. This drunken cowboy was looking for a
pretty woman and grabbed this lady. The lady’s
child threw such a fit that he had to let her go and grabbed another woman.
(The kid’s Grandmother.)
In the end, the Marshal had to shoot him. Mike and Connie
are good hosts at the Harney Peak Motel. They are already
booked 8 years ahead for bike week! Our goodnight picture is their other family
member, Harley Davidson who Mike says
really runs the place! It’s time to turn in as we need to get up a little
earlier than we have been used to. Good night!