We left Spearfish, South Dakota on the 28th of June heading for a week long stay in Sheridan, Wyoming. As we were driving down the interstate we got a good look at the Crow Peak forest fire that had been plaguing us for the last week or so. We had to drive through the smoke for a ways but as we got down the road a bit and passed through Sundance, Wyoming the smoke cleared and it was a good day to be on the road.
We had heard about Sheridan, Wyoming from lots of our friends but had never spent any time there. It is worth the visit! Tucked into the east slope of the Big Horn Mountains, it is an interesting little town with lots of flare. The downtown is littered with groups of bronze statues (with price tags up to $15,000) anchored to the sidewalks. Nestled among touristy shops and restaurants, and more antique shops than I have ever seen in one place. There was one shop that I had to classify as the “Big Bang” shop because it had all the comic book/super hero stuff you could imagine. Sheldon Cooper would have loved it.
After walking and ogling all the various shops and artwork we needed to get lunch, so we stopped into a local place called “Sanford’s Grub and Pub”. For those of you who have never had the opportunity to visit a Sanford’s in the upper mountain states – it is worth while! There is more to look at on the walls and ceilings than we had ever seen in any pub before. And even better – the food and local beer were absolutely outstanding! We will be going back!
After a day downtown and eating way too much we knew that exercise was in our future. So the next morning we headed off to a mountain bike trail system called Soldier Ridge Trail. Quite the trail system (single track, steep down and up hills) but most of it was in the open and direct sun. So it got quite hot and just after a few miles we had to turn around and seek shade and the comfort of air conditioning.
Over the years of traveling we had never taken the time to stop and visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana. We were not going to let that happen again.
The stories of Custer's Last Stand has been imbedded in our memories as a massacre of untold proportions through books and movies. There is a bit more to that story - a story told from both sides. It is worth a visit and some time to read and comprehend what happened those two days in June of 1876.
It really surprised me that the battle encompassed such a huge area, with groups of fallen soldiers and Indians scattered over many miles. The one photo at the beginning is only of where Custer and the remaining men had their last stand, the others were scattered over quite the distance as they tried to get to high ground. Even the horses were honored as they were shot to provide barriers for the soldiers to hide behind and shoot from.
A Painted Pony with a small rider. There are quite a few Indian ponies on or near the Monument grounds as the Monument is on the Crow Reservation in Montana.
The morning that we decided to head up into the Big Horn Mountains started with a walk in Tongue River Canyon. We had heard of this canyon and wanted to check it out for a possible bike ride in the future. It is quite the canyon and I would put it in the top ten this country has to offer. Why it isn’t a national park or monument I do not know.
One of the monoliths along the trail through the canyon. I believe this one is called “eye of the needle”. (That is what I would name it!)
We wandered through the canyon for a short time, but only long enough to figure out that we really wanted to come back and ride it with the bikes.
So we wandered up and through the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming later that day to reacquaint ourselves with the twisty roads and viewpoints that we remember from quite a few years ago. The first time through (in the 70’s) scared us a bit with the steep twisty climbs and 180 degree turns with no guard rails. It has changed a bit – they have guard rails now. I even drove up without having (many) height issues – one viewpoint is about 6,000 feet above the valley floor. We (Linda) drove up to the Medicine Wheel Monument on top of Bald Mountain. At 10,000 feet plus, the air gets kind of thin and once we hit the parking lot we still had over a mile to walk to get to the Medicine Wheel. We did it! Sucking wind, but we did it.
There are thousands of stone circles scattered over the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains but only about 100 are known as Medicine Wheels. The one we visited is the best known and is sacred to most Native American Peoples. It is approximately 80 feet in diameter with 28 lines or spokes radiating from the center to the outer rim. I found it rather fascinating that more than 80 tribes still utilize this site to practice their traditional ceremonies – some practice for a year or more before hand.
The term “Medicine Wheel” came from the white man but to the Native American Indians it is known as “The Place Where the Eagle Lands” - to them it is a sacred place.
I am glad we saw this, it’s not a spectacular site, it is rocky and barren, windy, with bits of rags and offerings tied to the surrounding barriers, but quiet - quiet enough to hear a bit of the past.
Here we are in our ultra bright riding gear back in the Tongue River Canyon. We returned to ride it and after the dirt road turned to a single track trail with rather large rocks, steep climbs and interesting drop offs, Linda informed me that she had read that it was a “Black Diamond” trail. We did end up hiking the bikes on some sections that were on the difficult side, but she hung in there with me until I said “no more!”
It was a pleasant downhill back to the truck with some incredible scenery along the way.
After our bike ride didn’t develop as hoped, ‘we’ decided (it was highly recommended that I attend!) to go to a local Polo Match. This is something that I had never watched or really wanted to see. But one of the young volunteers I worked with at Jackson last year played Polo and even invited Linda and I to attend. I was able to escape that one (I didn’t tell Linda until after I declined.) - but not this one. I was pleasantly surprised – it really is quite interesting, but that may be because it was new to me. (Maybe Linda does know best!)
It’s kind of like a cross between soccer, croquet and golf. It has its own “Polo” language with its Chukkers (periods), Bowl Ins (throwing the ball back in after a penalty) and a few other terms that seem out of place anywhere else. The riders were a combination of men and women and all were excellent on horseback as you can tell from the pictures. No one fell off during the match which kind of surprised me because of the speed they were riding at and some of the collisions they had. We watched until the traditional “Stomping of the Divots” was underway and then slowly made our way back to the RV park. Always new things to learn! (Whether I want to or not!)
So with another short period of our traveling gone by we leave you with a sight of a sunset and alien looking cloud coming over the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming.
Home is we park it!
Lee & Linda
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