Hwy 14 from Greybull to Dayton is amazing. A short distance from town we found ourselves at the bottom of a steep canyon, on a very twisty road beside a fast but shallow stream. Soon the hairpin curves began to lead us upward - ultimately 8500 ft upward, to the top of a large bluff or mesa, where we found ourselves on a vast plateau.The air was cold, although really only my fingers felt it. Heated grips were a help, but I can't wrap all my fingers around the grips while riding; I have to keep at least a couple on the clutch and break levers. (It might be time, soon, to think about hand guards, which block the wind, and other more painful objects.)
I don't know why they bothered going to Tunisia and Australia to shoot the Star Wars films. The landscape in Wyoming is otherworldly enough, with layers of colours so distinct that a trained eye (i.e., not mine) could likely tell you the geologic age and make-up of the cliffs, and of each layer, just from looking at them.
The ride down from the plateau was just as awe-inspiring. Wyoming has the strangest paving I've ever seen. In parts it is red, like a running track, and in others they use an asphalt mix that includes ground glass that sparkles in the sunlight like micah.
Colin managed to correct the settings on the Garmin, and today it did a good job of not leading us astray. We stopped for breakfast in Sheridan, at a 'country style' restaurant attached to an Exxon station where I very nearly dropped the bike with an awkward dismount. I managed to save it, though, and nothing but my pride was damaged.We made good time on the roads, and reached Devils Tower by 2:30 in the afternoon.We hiked around it for an hour, taking photos as we went. A group of women from somewhere in the South hear us talking about a climber we spotted on the side of the tower, and one of them what part of Canada we were from. I guess our accents stand out here more than we realized. (To be honest, it never occurs to me that I have an accent, unless I'm borrowing someone else's.)
Geological oddities seem to be the norm in Wyoming. Although I thoroughly hated Greybull, and would recommend anyone travelling here try to arrive at a time they won't be tempted to stop, so they can pass straight through, the state itself has some spectacular motorcycling roads, and even better scenery.
We arrived in Sturgis, SD - famous for its annual rally and its motorcycle museum, which we'll visit tomorrow - around 6 p.m., and promptly unpacked, showered (which we didn't do in Greybull), and went for a swim. There is a passable Mexican restaurant attached to the Best Western here, so dinner was enormously better than last night.
Really, we couldn't ask for a better day.
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For those of you who have been following this, and who were worried yesterday was an utter disaster: it wasn't. And Colin has put together an excellent video of some of our ride to prove it. Enjoy!
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