85.91 mi / 5:46:52 time / 14.8 mph avg. / 42.0 mph max. / 2870 ft. climbing
Staying at Devils Tower National Monument Campground (3829 ft.)

The campground host was thinking we might get the first frost of the summer. We didn’t, but it was probably pretty close: my thermometer in the morning read 37 degrees! But inside the tent I’d apparently kept it warmed it up to the upper 50s, and I actually slept quite well. I wasn’t even wearing socks or my hat, so it’s nice to know that I have some margin left in there for when it gets really cold. I’m thinking I should get some diapers though, or maybe a catheter, because the inevitable need to urinate in the middle of the night sure is a pain when it’s that cold!

Unlike yesterday morning that started with a giant uphill, today started with a giant downhill. Well, giant in length, not grade. In fact, it was almost the reverse of the long uphill grade yesterday. I always say that if you’re following a river or a railroad, you’ve found yourself a pretty good route. Yesterday I was on a railroad that was following a river most of the way, so it couldn’t get much better than that. Then this morning, I was following another river as it wound its way down Spearfish Canyon. For 20 miles I rolled down the 1-2% grade, which is perfect because you can mostly coast, but you aren’t wasting any energy with unnecessary speed (and the braking that comes with it). Oh yeah, and the canyon is awesome, with the cliffs rising up hundreds of feet on either side of the river/road. All through the last couple days I’ve been passing really nice summer homes and thinking “now that would be a nice place to live”. And Spearfish Canyon had some of the nicest places, including one that had a big sign at the entrance that read “A Little Piece of Heaven”. Perhaps a bit presumptuous, but it was true.

Then I hit the town of Spearfish, which sits at the northwest corner of the Hills. Spent a while in the library, and then since it had gotten 40 degrees warmer, I used their bathroom to change out of my winter clothes (I sure needed the Windstopper gloves and pants for that descent!) The line at Subway was too long, so I just got lunch at Safeway, along with a boatload of groceries. I’m into the part of the trip where I’m really craving bread-like things, so I got a big bag of bagels.

From Spearfish, it was another 10 mostly-downhill miles north, then a left turn where I boarded the East Wind Express. That blew me uphill in no time, and then I reached Wyoming! Woo! The region is sort of a mix of the Black Hills and what I saw in South Dakota: basically the SD rolling grasslands, but this time with trees, and more rocky bits. And actually there were still the Bearlodge Mountains (I guess still a segment of The Black Hills) that I had to get over. It wasn’t very nice that they were doing road construction near the top of a 7% grade (you feel like kind of a jerk holding up traffic waiting to come the other way when you’re moving at 6mph), but coming down the other side was the best downhill so far: 30-40mph for a couple miles.

Then after cresting another rise, I could suddenly see the black shadow of Devils Tower rising out of the plains like a fist, even though I was still 17 miles away from it. I got into the campground a bit too late to explore, so I figure I’ll do that tomorrow morning. Still, sitting here at my picnic table writing this, I can look up and see it between the trees, and there is certainly something otherworldly (and almost frightening!) about it.

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