Day 6: Bonus States

 In which we chase a 15 year old dream...

On Wednesday morning, I woke up at 5am to the most glorious sunrise spilling through the cabin. We went back to sleep but the beauty wasn't lost on me. 

At some point, Mike and I realized that the week of our trip also happened to be the 15 year anniversary of Mike kissing me in the kitchen for the first time. That's not why we planned this trip, but it felt like as good a reason as any to celebrate. 

Back in those early days, Mike and I frequently day dreamed of running away to Montana. There was no reason we chose Montana specifically. It just seemed like the sort of wild and far away place where dreams could come true, where we could start with a blank slate. It was something to chase. Something we'd likely never see.

When we found ourselves a full day ahead of schedule, the wheels in my head started turning. I looked at the map and realized we weren't far from the Wyoming state line. In fact, we could be at Devils Tower in about an hour and a half. 

We agreed to add Wyoming to our list of new states. 

Then I started plotting. From Wyoming, it's not that much further to Montana. The southeast corner of Montana doesn't feature much of anything, but I found Medicine Rocks about two hours north of Devils Tower. It would make for a long day, but if we made a loop, we could hit Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota. The temptation was too great to resist. 

But first, we had a slow start with a few more hours in bed followed by coffee on the wraparound porch. This was becoming a staple in our routine out west.

The dog also wanted to sleep in.

She and Mike really bonded on this trip.

The view from the cabin never got old.

Around 10am, we hit the road. Before long we entered Wyoming.

Not sure why airplanes mounted on poles were a thing out west, but we saw several.

At my friend Kim's recommendation, we stopped at the Longhorn Saloon in Sundance for lunch. Not surprisingly, it was very quiet on a Wednesday morning. We watched rodeo on the saloon TV while I ate a fabulous steak tip sandwich. Yum! Figuring this was going to be the west-est state we'd reach, I bought a T-shirt and Mike picked out a beer koozie. 

In town, we observed that it was a lovely 78℉, that there was lower octane fuel available at the local gas stations, and that there were yield signs instead of stop signs at many intersections. This made sense given the general lack of traffic.

Somewhat accidentally, I had stumbled upon the Warren Peak Lookout Tower. This became our first stop of the day. It also ended up being one of Mike's favorite places of the entire trip.

Unlike the previous day's tower, this one featured a drive that was both picturesque and safe. The higher we drove up the Bear Lodge Mountains, the more my mouth gaped at the sheer beauty of our surroundings. 

The view stretched seemingly forever, with rolling green hills and pine-covered ridges spilling away toward the horizon. Open meadows broke up the dense forest below, while far in the distance the Black Hills gave way to broad, flat plains fading into blue. Above it all, an enormous sky was streaked with wispy clouds and scattered puffs of white, making the landscape feel even bigger. It suddenly became very clear just how much space there is out West.

Once parked at the top, we were surprised to find that visitors are welcome to climb the fire tower.

It's worth stopping here to note something nobody tells you about Wyoming. The wind out there is vicious and unrelenting. While we experienced some of this in Minnesota (where we lost six miles per gallon driving into the headwind) and South Dakota (where the wind whistling through the pines lulled me to sleep each night), the wind in Wyoming was unlike anything I've experienced. 

It wasn't a breeze or even an occasional gust. It was a constant physical presence, pushing against the truck, tugging at our clothes, and making it difficult to stand still at times. There was no waiting for it to die down because it simply didn't. Eventually, we stopped expecting it to. The wind was just part of Wyoming, as much a feature of the landscape as the mountains and endless sky.

A friend later told me that most non-natives who move to Wyoming don't make it five years before they leave due to the wind. I believe it.

Despite all that, I immediately fell in love with this state. While we only got a small taste, it quickly found a forever place in my heart. It is top of my states to revisit and spend much more time in. (See previous comments about needing to make more money.)

At first, the wind nearly deterred me from climbing the tower. Then I remembered that I would likely never get to see this spot again, and decided to suck it up. I am so glad I did! The view was absolutely spectacular. Words fail to do it justice. In fact, even photos don't capture the brilliance of this landscape.

By this point, Bonnie was concerned we would never head east again.

Mike and I agreed that we could have spent hours just soaking in this view, but we had more adventures to chase so we reluctantly tore ourselves away. 

Nearby Sheep Mountain promised some incredible views as well. From my research, it was a short hike easily accessible by road, so we updated our navigation and began to head that way.

The drive started off absolutely spectacular and I found myself wishing for a dashcam.

How incredible would it be to ride here?

A short while later, however, the road came to an intersection. Our GPS confidently told us to bear right. I was skeptical. A couple hundred feet later, my skepticism turned to panic. The road was narrowing quickly and we had many more miles to go. I was fairly certain we were actually on a trail, and was I sure it wasn't going to get better.

The last section that looked ok.

I'm all for an adventure, even if it's one of the "we'll laugh about this some day/ today is not that day" variety. However, getting stranded in the Wyoming wilderness was not something I was interested in experiencing. 

In the end, we threw in the towel on Sheep Mountain, and Mike used his excellent reverse driving skills to get us out of there and turned around. 

Now that I've had a chance to look at the map on a computer, I think we were supposed to follow the dirt road to the trail access on the other side of the ridge. Oh well! You win some, you lose some.

We resumed our original course towards Devils Tower. 

This photo...

...reminded me of this shot from many moons ago with a different, much braver adventure dog. Herbie and me in West Virginia more than a decade ago.

Has concerns.

Leaving Warren Peak, we wound our way down out of the Black Hills and toward Devils Tower. The dense pine forest gradually opened into rolling ranchland, with green pastures spreading across the hills and red rock peeking through in places. It was a quiet, beautiful drive, with long stretches of road and very little traffic. Then, almost without warning, Devils Tower appeared above the surrounding hills in the distance, looking every bit as strange and out of place as I had imagined.

While we drove, I browsed local real estate. That dream was short lived when I found that most listings were eight figures!! Sadly, I just don't have a spare fifteen million floating around. 

Of course, we took advantage of the first scenic pull off that was available.

Visiting Devils Tower was cool, but I was actually more impressed by seeing it rising out of the landscape from a distance.

Whoa.

That's one way to break in a new truck...

Before long, we arrived at Devils Tower. Apparently the wait times at the entrance can be quite extensive. There is even a traffic light built in that keeps people waiting in line until spots open up in the parking lot. Mike and I got lucky for the umpteenth time this trip and there was practically no wait. 

We also found a shady spot to park. This was good because Bonnie had to stay in the car again. Even though the temperature was high, the constant wind and low humidity made the conditions favorable for hanging out with the windows down. We set a timer for our visit, but when we returned, Bonnie was fast asleep in the back seat and not even panting.

There are plenty of places to hike within this park. Mike and I kept our visit to the main Tower Trail. We got several really good looks at the tower from all different angles. While I will spam you with a million photos, I recognize that they all look pretty similar to each other. 

There was only one unpleasant part of this visit, but even two and a half months later, it warrants mentioning. 

All week, we ran into different park rangers, guides, volunteers, etc. at our various stops. Everybody was helpful, polite, and clearly passionate about their work. The only exception was the group of rangers we ran into at the base of Devils Tower. They were young, men, and rowdy. They were shouting and rough housing and the language was crass at best. 

I am not easily offended and I ultimately decided not to say anything, but this is a sacred place to many people, and this felt so disrespectful. It would have been bad enough if it was a random group of teenage tourists. The fact that it was National Park employees made it ten times worse.

We moved along in a hurry. 

Along the way, we saw nesting peregrine falcons, many rock climbers, and a red squirrel who was stuffing his face on our way out, and in a food coma on our way back. 

One of my favorite parts of this visit was the prayer bundles tied to the trees along the trail. For many Indigenous people, Devils Tower is a sacred place, and the small bundles of cloth are left as offerings during prayer and ceremony. Visitors are asked not to touch or disturb them. There was something deeply moving about seeing these quiet, personal expressions of faith scattered among the trees. I found myself getting a little teary-eyed as we walked past them. It was a beautiful reminder that, while we were there to admire an incredible natural landmark, we were also visitors in a place that has held profound meaning for people for generations.

Rock climbers for scale.

My spirit animal.

Looking towards the Belle Fourche River.

A very easy and accessible hike.

Me too, bud.

Bonnie got to view the tower from one of the approved dog-friendly pull offs. I'm sure she cared deeply.

Love those red rocks!

One final glance at this iconic landmark!

Soon we found ourselves heading north through scenery that was both remote and beautiful. At 3:15pm, with our hands clasped together over the center console, we crossed into Montana, where we pulled over for a kiss on the state line. This felt like the culmination of a lifetime of dreams. 

The drive through Montana took my breath away. The landscape felt surreal compared to what we're used to. 

On one hand, it was unbelievably flat in places, with long, straight stretches of road that only ended where the horizon cut them off. In other places, impressive geological formations rose from the land. At first, I tried to identify them on the map, but there was nothing to identify. It didn't take long to realize that this is just what the geography looks like out here. The locals don't bother to name any of these hills or rocks. They're just part of the background. 

To us, however, they were life changing. We kept taking turns whispering, "Wow."

In several places, the wind had sculpted the hills into perfect pyramid shapes. Those were very eerie.

Here, we saw lots of pronghorn and cattle. Then we saw beefalo, which we knew existed but had never seen before. They were massive. 

Around 4:30pm, we arrived at Medicine Rocks. As I mentioned above, I had picked this just because it was the only thing on the map. It was mostly a place to navigate to. Well! I'm really glad we stopped! This park was really cool. It also served as Bonnie's main walk for the day, and I was delighted this was something we were able to do for her throughout the trip. 

Aside from a pair of girls who were taking senior photos, we had the park entirely to ourselves on a random Wednesday in May. Despite doing quite a bit of walking, we only covered one tiny corner of the park. This was another place that would have been worth an entire day of exploring.

I enjoyed looking at the yucca plants and Beardtongue that dotted the park.

I did get a little scare five minutes into our hike. As we walked down the dusty path, a sudden movement in the brush caught my eye. It was a very large snake! At first, I thought it was a prairie rattler and I snatched Bonnie off the ground before she could register what was happening. It turned out to be a harmless bull snake, but I kept a sharp eye on our surroundings for the duration of our visit. 

Bonnie found herself on a shorter leash than usual! I don't even want to know how far we were from the nearest animal hospital.

More Bonnie yawning across America.

Proof of snake.

Ears flapping in the ceaseless wind.

Tired of posing.

Back on the road, we passed through Baker, Montana, home of the world's largest steer. You can visit his hide and his skeleton, though not necessarily together. We did not stop.

Soon we found ourselves in the land of oil drilling. This was also something we had never seen.

At 5:45pm, with Kip Moore's Lipstick playing on the radio, we entered North Dakota. (Side note: I want to visit all the states mentioned in that song. We knocked several of them out on this trip!)

After two and a half hours in Montana, I felt like we could check it off our list officially. With that said, we are dying to go back and visit western Montana. There is still a lot of state left to see, and I'm sure we could spend weeks there alone.

While we then spent another hour or so in North Dakota, I'm not sure we really got to visit. In that corner, there is nothing in the way of attractions. Still, I feel like we got a taste of the area. 

We passed through Marmarth, which is not officially a ghost town, but seems pretty close. There is a population of one hundred people. Despite that, it's the largest city in the county. I'm not kidding when I say we had reached the middle of nowhere. 

As we drove, I learned that this area is rich with fossils.

We saw many wind turbines and oil rigs. We also saw cows as far as the eye could see, including many calves. Some were so fresh the placenta was still attached! We also saw some pheasants, which were unexpected, and a man who had run out of gas (but did not need help). 

This was also the straightest road I've ever seen in my life. At one point, the GPS told us to make a "slight right" in 140 miles. Turns out it was just a squiggle around a lane that was under construction. Then straight for another hundred miles.

On today's episode of "What Do People Do For Fun?"

Oil drilling and wind power. That about sums it up.

Around 7pm we stopped for gas and found ourselves back in South Dakota. Here there were baby pronghorn everywhere, though I failed to get any pictures of them. We also saw some loose goats on the highway. I got excited thinking they were bighorn sheep, but they were just plain old dairy goats. 

The light was pretty magical that time of day as the mountains slowly came back into sight in the distance.

In a weird way, this felt like coming home.

We had one last stop for the day, the Geographic Center of the Nation. This popped up on the map when I was trying to figure out our loop for the day. It made for a fun tourist stop. Turns out we had excellent timing. As we pulled up to the marker, a freight train blocked the main road in town. We would have had to stop anyway!

A reminder of how far from home we were. This was an alarming realization at a certain point. Like... I can just get in my car and start driving west and nobody can stop me? I'm an adult? There are no rules? Ok.

I may not be the center of the world, but I was AT the center of the nation.

A pretty cool monument.

From there it was less than an hour back to our cabin. We were both ready to be done for the day so we just stopped at Packhorse for our daily provisions run and ate at the cabin when we got back. 

It had been a really long day, but it was well worth it to add three new states to our check list.

Thursday would be our last full day in South Dakota, and we had agreed to take it easy and just enjoy the time we had left. Of course, our version of taking it easy still involves a lot of adventure. Stay tuned for the next installment!