The highway is my home

This morning, I headed west from Chadron on US 20, listening to classic country and public service announcements on KILI 90.1 out of Rapid City, the voice of the Lakota Nation. It was a fitting choice, as this part of Nebraska is perhaps best known as the site of Crazy Horse's final days and his controversial death.

I drove in a large circle that included parts of Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, before finishing the day in the Oglala National Grassland at Toadstool Geologic Park. Toadstool is one of those places that you really have to want to get to, as it's well off the beaten path, only reachable via a long, poorly maintained gravel road that bounces across the grassland. A word of advice from my experience today: If Toadstool is wet - either wait until it dries out or wear a pair of waterproof mud boots. 

All in all, it was a very good day. Definitely much warmer than yesterday, although there was a lot more snow on the ground in Wyoming. Lusk had piles of snow placed just about everywhere, including a 10 foot tall mound in a grocery store parking lot.

Tomorrow brings a trek to Valentine!

Lusk, Wyoming from Oglala

Whitney Lake from Oglala

Oglala National Grassland from Oglala

Provo, South Dakota from Oglala

Visited: Chadron, Whitney, Whitney Lake, Crawford, Harrison, and Oglala National Grassland, Nebraska. Van Tassell, Lusk, Manville, Lance Creek, and Mule Creek Junction, Wyoming. Edgemont, Provo, Rumford, and Ardmore, South Dakota.

Post title: Merle Haggard - I'm a Lonesome Fugitive

I feel like in those hills I still belong

The morning began with a frost-covered windshield and a 27 degree temperature in Ogallala, a reminder that March in Nebraska isn't always spring-like. I spent the day bracing myself against a stiff north wind, attempting to stay somewhat warm while I explored. Fogged-over eyeglasses do not make for optimal photographs.

A man in Gurley, Nebraska saw me taking photographs of an old pickup truck and asked what I was up to. "Seeing what I can see," I said. He looked me over and laughed. "Not much to see here."

The day ended with a short hike through the remnants of this week's snow storm at Chadron State Park. It's a gorgeous, rocky place, and feels nothing at all like a person expects Nebraska to be. I'm excited to return to my Oglala project over the next two days in and around the Oglala National Grassland in Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota.

Chadron State Park from Oglala

near Big Springs, Nebraska

Julesburg, Colorado

Gurley, Nebraska

Visited: Brule, Big Springs, Lorenzo, Sidney, Gurley, Dalton, Angora, and Chadron State Park, Nebraska. Julesburg, Ovid, Sedgwick, Crook, Proctor, Illiff, Padroni, and Peetz, Colorado.

Post title: Woody Guthrie - Oklahoma Hills

Headed West

in

I'm taking an Easter weekend trip to the panhandle, meandering my way out to the Oglala National Grassland and back. Today was spent on I-80, wasting little time at 80 miles an hour through the Platte River valley to Ogallala. There was a blizzard out here just two days ago - yet only a few small piles of snow remain.

Northeast Colorado and US-385 to Chadron tomorrow.

Keystone, Nebraska

Ogallala, Nebraska

I face the horizon, everywhere I go

in ,

I spent an unseasonably warm February weekend exploring north-central Kansas and a few new places in Nebraska. It was a near-perfect two days of wandering, minus an obnoxiously persistent and forceful wind that followed me through Kansas' flint hills. Every time I got back in the car, I'd find myself chewing on wind-blown sand. In Ellsworth, I stood on main street next to a hand-painted sign for a western shop as a large tumbleweed rolled past at full speed. 

So it goes in the mythic west.

Next up, I'll be returning to the panhandle and the Oglala National Grasslands in a few weeks' time to finish work on a project I started a few years back. I'm looking forward to getting out to Wyoming again.

near Marysville, Kansas

Haddam, Kansas

Salina, Kansas

Ellsworth, Kansas

Riverton, Nebraska

Post title: Frank Turner - The Road