July 11 - Mesas, Buttes, and Plateaus — the Great Plains has them all.
You know you’re having a good riding day when the gas station declines your card because you’ve purchased gas from their chain too many times in too many different states in the same day! Today I headed south from Custer, South Dakota to pop down to Nebraska as I hadn’t hit that state on my own bike yet. Then I came back up to Custer for lunch and afterwards rode over to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. On my way back to Custer my card got declined in Wyoming because of “suspicious activity.” Fortunately, after I explained the circumstances and offered to purchase less gas, they let the charge go through.
Mesas, buttes, and plateaus — the Great Plains has them all! My first excursion for the day was to head south on highway 385 to the small town of Chadron, Nebraska. As is the case in much of the Great Plains, the roads are perfectly set up for bikers – smooth curves, high speed limits, and little traffic. As I swooped around one corner after another, I was able to appreciate the many fields and farmlands in northern Nebraska.
After coming back to Custer for lunch I headed to Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming. What a treat! I had seen the monument several years earlier but was awestruck again nonetheless. This striking rock formation is over 800 feet from its base to its summit and up to 800 feet wide. What is most significant to me about this structure is the many parallel vertical columns that run the full length of the Butte, some as wide as 10 feet. I enjoyed walking a portion of the Tower Trail, a pathway that completely circles the base of the butte.
Returning to Custer through the backroads of Wyoming and then South Dakota, I was treated to one panoramic view after another of orange hued buttes, mesas, and plateaus accented with vivid green grass and clumps of vegetation. The countryside itself is stunning in its remoteness. Of the hundreds of miles I traveled to and from the monument, signs of human habitation were rare. Instead of traffic, gas stations, and businesses, I saw farmlands, fields, and rock formations. I find it extremely therapeutic to immerse myself in beauty of the landscape around me and forget, even momentarily, about the responsibilities of everyday life.
