Cody, Bighorns, Little Bighorn National Monument, Mocha Joe Breakdown and Broadus, Black Hills, Badlands, and into Nebraska (posted from Grounds to Go coffee shop in Grand Island, Nebraska)

(this post covers 11-15 September)

Friday, 15 September-
We awoke to 66-degree temperatures with gusty winds. Our neighbors started clearing out early but we stuck around to wash Labashi’s hair out here in the wild since the temperature was so pleasant.
We then drove back toward the hard road and about halfway back I saw a pair of coyotes off in the distance, crossing the short grass fields of the Buffalo National Grasslands.
We stopped and watched a bit until they disappeared into a coulee then drove ahead of them, parked along the road, and walked back through the fields to try to catch them coming up the coulee. This time we were successful. They came up the coulee, saw us and turned, then started off at a lope. Because the grasslands are so short, we saw them loping along for a mile...very cool.
Once we hit the hard road we drove through the main part of the Badlands, pulling off quite a few times to admire the peaks and valleys in morning light. We could see bison here and there and we saw one snake on the road; it had a rattlesnake-like pattern but the head didn’t seem triangular-enough to be a rattler. We’ll have to look that one up.
After 40 miles we came to the visitor’s center at the east entrance and took the opportunity to watch their very good orientation film. We had lunch in the parking lot then checked out a nearby pioneer sod-house, then headed south across the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, a Lakota Sioux reservation. After several hours of driving we crossed into the Rosebud Indian Reservation and then into Nebraska. We drove on down route 83 to Scenic Route 2 and on to a Victoria Springs State Park at Anselmo. Cost for the night was $13 and we’ve finally gone east far enough to find a public campground with showers.


Thursday, 14 September-
Well fortunately Steve provided a replacement tire for the stock truck and it moved on. We had a pleasant chat with LeAnn and the driver while Steve mounted a new tire. This morning we awoke at 0700 knowing Steve would probably be early for the 0800 opening time and sure enough he was. LeAnn showed up on her golf cart at 0800 and promptly offered Labashi a tour of the town—while she went to the auto-parts supply. Steve had diagnosed the problem as either a fuel filter or fuel pump and had called last night to be sure the auto-parts had the right parts. They had the filter and one of the two possible pumps so ordered the other one from their supply warehouse a hundred miles away—just in case. It was hilarious to see Labashi and LeAnn come back to the garage in the golf cart, Labashi with a lapful of auto parts boxes and a big smile. In the meantime Steve and his helper had pulled off the fuel filter. The helper tried to blow through it and easily blew through it on first try. But on the second try something was blocking it… most likely this was our culprit. They mounted the new filter and started up the van to test--- all ok. Then the helper took it up the street—once again OK. Then they turned it over to me and suggested I drive around town for a little while to test it. That too went fine. But what we couldn’t tell was whether the fuel pump would act up in the heat of the day. But once I learned that the fuel pump price was either $277 or $530 (depending on which option was needed), I decided to chance it… even though the next town is 94 miles away. We paid up and said our goodbyes to the wonderful LeAnn and Steve and crossed our fingers. The 94-mile trip to Belle Forche, SD went fine. By day’s end we had stressed out the fuel pump and new filter by the heat of a 90-degree day, a climb which ran the radiator temp well up, and we crossed a 7000-foot pass.
After lunch in Belle Forche we unsuccessfully looked for showers there and in Spearfish. We then entered the Black Hills and drove up Spearfish Canyon, a pretty little canyon where we started seeing a mix of eastern and western trees, the former down low, the latter as we gained altitude. We drove through Lead and into Deadwood, half-hoping to see Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, and Seth Bullock walking the streets. Lead is the real gold-mining town and looks it--- all built on a hill and obviously built around the mine operation. In Deadwood we climbed the hill to Mt Moriah cemetery where Calamity Jane, Hickok, and Bullock are buried. We checked out the visitor’s center which had some interesting films about Deadwood and decided we didn’t need to spend the ten bucks to go see the gravestones—we had already seen what we had come to see… the layout of Deadwood. True to expectations, Deadwood is a narrow little town in a gulch and the hillsides above it are all dead, perhaps from a smelting operation since they look very much like the dead mountainside above the zinc smelting town of Palmerton, PA.
Today Deadwood’s claim to fame is its gambling casinos. Every hotel has one and they are doing their best to look prosperous (a sign at the Holiday Inn: “$7000 Weekend!!!!!).
But with a bit closer look you see a lot of boarded-up businesses and the town has a sense of desperation about it.
After Deadwood we decided we were done with the Black Hills. We headed out through Sturgis and Rapid City via I-90 East. We soon started seeing the ubiquitous Wall Drug billboards (very similar to South of the Border back east) and did drop off the interstate for a drive through Wall, SD. But the obvious tourist-trap look of the place put us off and we didn’t stop for anything.
But just below Wall, SD are the South Dakota Badlands. And there we had fun. It was getting late by the time we made the entrance gate and we turned onto Sage Canyon road. At a roadside rest we had learned of a free campsite in the backcountry and we had at first thought 12 miles too far to drive out of our way for a campsite. But we saw the Sage Canyon road follows the rim of the Badlands. So you can look down into the eerie shapes of the Badlands on one side and on the other you can see herds of buffalo. We quickly decided the 24 miles (12 in and 12 out) would be no problem. We almost immediately came upon bighorn sheep but none with the large signature curled-horn rack. With the sun setting the shadows gave the Badlands a great 3-D look. At Mile 4 we came upon the Roberts Prairie-Dog Town and spent awhile giggling at those guys. At Mile 6 we came to a herd of bison split across our path. But we just took it slow and they didn’t get excited. We finally made it to the campground about a half-hour before dark. We had been warned that there’s no ranger protection out there and we would be on our own but it was just a nice big field with ten or so picnic tables and two pit toilet buildings. And we weren’t alone—by 2000 all the regular camping spots were taken. About an hour after sundown we stood outside and watched the Milky Way on this balmy, balmy night. We don’t know what was going on but we had had a strong wind all afternoon and here it was 2100 and the temperature was still 79 degrees. We had the best conditions for star-gazing I think we’ve ever had--- shirtsleeve temperatures, no bugs, ultra-clear skies. About 2230 the moon started coming up and wiped out our good seeing conditions but by then we were ready for bed anyway.
We loved being out there in the middle of nowhere. At dusk we heard coyotes yipping in the distance and we could also hear the occasional snickering of the horses in the campground corral— but otherwise not a light in sight all around the horizon.

Wednesday, 13 September-
This morning we woke to a pleasant 43-degree temperature and rising with the morning sun. We drove to the nearby Little Bighorn National Monument by 0845 and were just in time for a showing of the very good orientation film. We were very glad to have read the brochures and books about the battle last night so we could better understand the wealth of material in the orientation. After the orientation we toured the visitor’s center museum and bought tickets for the tour bus. The bus is operated by Little Bighorn College on the Crow reservation and their tour is billed as a native American description of the battle. Our tourguide was a Crow/Northern Cheyenne woman who did a pretty good job with the tour and it was interesting to hear a different perspective. For example, our guide believes it was ridiculous for General Grant to have a message sent to the non-treaty Indians that they must report to a reservation by 31 January 1876. The ‘roamer’ or non-treaty Indians ignored the message, she says, because no Indian would travel in winter.
The bus tour was very good at giving us an idea of the size of the battlefield. The Reno battlefield is almost five miles away from Last Stand Hill and standing in each of the important places there and in between allowed us to see how spread-out the bate was. It was terrific to be able to see The Crow’s Nest very faint in the distance and the Indian encampment the other direction. No wonder Major Reno didn’t know Custer was in trouble — he was too far away and had his own problems staying alive. Our tour also helped us understand the size of the Indian encampment. It’s said to have been a mile and a half long but when our guide showed us where the encampment started with the lodges of the Northern and Southern Cheyenne and then ended with the Hunkpapa and Lakota Sioux lodges, we could better visualize the 6000 or more individuals encamped there.
After our bus tour we had a quick lunch in the van, then walked the national cemetery, the Indian Memorial, and Last Stand Hill. We finished just in time to catch a ranger presentation which was one of the best we’ve ever heard--- a very striking and balanced explanation of the reasons for the battle, the battle maneuvers by multiple leaders on both sides of the battle, and the fateful conclusion and aftermath.
Afterwards we drove the five mile ridge road to Reno’s battle and back, this time just taking in the placement of the white stones marking where a soldier fell and a few red stones marking where Indians fell.
We left about 1400 and drove route 212 further into the Crow Reservation, then across the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, and into the Custer National Forest. It was there we started having problems with Mocha Joe. We were miles and miles from the nearest town when the van started slowing down and shut off, just like it had yesterday as we attained Granite Pass in the Bighorns. I again simply left it sit for a few minutes and it restarted ok. But five miles later it shut off again. Another cycle of this and this time it ran ok for maybe three miles. And thus started a series of attempts to limp into our only hope—the town of Broadus, MT, some 14 miles away. We were finally down to being able to drive only about a half mile at a time then it finally became impossible to go on. And luck intervened. On our third-from-last try we drifted off the road into a ranch lane just after a school bus had dropped off two high-school age boys. We hadn’t seen a person in the last hundred miles up to this point but here they were. One asked us if we were having problems and we learned that Broadus did indeed have a gas station and repair shop… J and S Tire Service and he told us we were six miles from Broadus. After our two additional tries at making it ourselves, now about 100 yards at a time, I finally gave up and had Labashi look up anything in Broadus so we could get the telephone Area Code and I used the cell to call 555-1212 to get a number for J and S. It turned out they don’t have a tow truck but they gave me a number for another shop, Powder River Tire and Lube. I was soon talking to LeAnn Rhodes who sent hubby Steve to our rescue. Steve brought out his big roll-back and loaded us up and hauled us to his shop in Broadus. It happened very quickly. I started making phone calls at 1550 and by 1630 we were unloading the van at the shop. As I write this the van is sitting in front of Steve’s shop, we’ve walked to supper at nearby Homestead Restaurant, and then taken a walking tour of the town. It’s actually a pretty interesting little place. People are friendly. The town motto is “The Wavingest Town in Montana” (accompanied by a cartoon cowboy waving at us with his over-sized hand). We’re spending the night just a block from the square in the old gas-station-turned-tire-shop lot. A few minutes ago a cattle truck pulled in and I can hardly write for the noise (and smell!) of the steers. It seems he needs a tire repair and Steve is on his way….


Tuesday, 12 September-
This morning we shopped for groceries at Wal-mart and did some planning for the remainder of the trip. We then headed east for the Big Horn mountains and on to the Little Big Horn river back in Montana. We enjoyed the drive across the sagebrush plains and stopped not far from Bridger Butte, where you can still see the tracks of the wagon trains which Jim Bridger led to the Virginia City mines in 1864. The Big Horns themselves were wonderful, taking us up and up via switchbacks. At the top, on Granite Pass, I pulled off to look at an historical marker and Mocha Joe’s engine died. We immediately checked the cell phone for connectivity and of course were out of luck. But after just waiting a few minutes, Mocha Joe started up--- apparently he had been a victim of vapor lock from the climb to the top and the 10,000-foot altitude.
A few miles later we came to Burlington Junction and were surprised to see a sign for a dump station in the middle of nowhere. We drove in and there was a four-lane dump-station with water towers… hallelujah!... just in time. After taking care of things we drove on to happen upon a nice little visitor’s center for the area and learned that the dump station serves six national forest service campgrounds in the general area. The other interesting thing about this area were the pulloffs for unloading snowmobiles—they were everywhere. I bet snowmobiling these forests and high meadows is really fun.
Down the other side of the Big Horns we finally hit I-90 and took it west to the Little Big Horn National Monument. We arrived about an hour before closing so stopped in the visitor center for some books and brochures to read for our tour tomorrow. We then drove to a nearby Crow Reservation campground for the night ($12). We are the only campers in the campground and are within sight of Last Stand Hill, where Custer fell. We are camped just west of where the massive Indian encampment was in June of 1876 prior to the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Monday, 11 September-
This morning we arose at 0630 and were on the road by 0645, again in search of wildlife. We quickly came upon four mule deer, including a nice buck. We drove toward the east entrance of the park and stopped at a meadow where we believe a grizzly was seen yesterday (according to rangers at Bridge Bay). We had no luck there and moved on, stopping at several roadside pulloffs and driving into Pelican trailhead. There we saw a sign testifying to grizz in this area: no overnight camping, no hiking before 9 a.m., minimum group size four people, avoid any encounters with bears. But we saw nothing.
We continued east, timing our drive with the opening of the east gate at 0800. We stopped at an overlook for Yellowstone Lake and had a spectacular morning-light view. In the distance we heard elk bugling.
Continuing to the east, we stopped and Labashi took some pictures at Sylvan Lake and Eleanor picnic area. Later that day we learned a grizzly sow and cub had chased a family away from its picnic lunch there just this past weekend.
Continuing through Sylvan Pass we soon came to a construction zone and that turned into a 30-minute wait while we waited for the pilot car to bring traffic through and turn around for us. We then had a long but beautiful escorted trip down the mountain and were able to watch workmen building the stone retaining walls for the highway. Labashi surprised one group of them by yelling out the window: ‘Good work, guys!” and they thanked her for the compliment.
At the bottom of the mountain we finally came to the eastern gateway. There we entered Shoshone National Forest and a section of highway which Teddy Roosevelt called the most beautiful 52 miles in America. And it was indeed pretty. We followed the Shoshone River in among high stone cliffs. Early on we passed Buffalo Bill Cody’s hunting camp at Pahanka Teepee and then a series of modern-day lodges tucked back into the deep ravines. Finally, we reached Cody, Wyoming and a welcome sight it was.
We stopped at the visitor’s center and asked where to get a good burger and they suggested Peter’s Café downtown. We found it quickly and each had a good bison burger. Then we drove to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, our reason for coming out of Yellowstone this direction. We spent some five hours there, marveling at the extensive collections. The center includes an historical firearms section which defies description. After spending an hour just glancing at row after row of gun display cases of all the major manufacturers we saw a sign that said: “Had enough? You’ve just viewed 1400 pieces. Take the elevator downstairs for another 1200.” But we still had four major sections of the center to do. We then did an excellent section on western art. Then a section about Buffalo Bill and his Wild West show. Then a section on Plains Indians, then a natural history section. All were first-rate and we’re very glad we ran into Paula and Ben and Dick, our cowboy friends at the NFS campground near Gardiner who so highly recommended it to us.
After the museum we drove downtown and ate out for a change, this at La Comida. We shared a fajitas plate and had plenty. And I had an excellent almond-encrusted flan for dessert.
We then retreated to the Cody Wal-mart for the night.