The weird Wyoming weather finally caught up with us today. Sure, we’d been battling some disagreeable headwinds & crosswinds here & there, like Patrick Hugens told us we would be, but we’ve been able to avoid the downpours and blizzards everyone else told us were inevitable. Even yesterday, when we rolled into the general store at Devil’s Tower, the rainclouds rolled in right behind us, scattering downpours for the rest of the day. We woke up to cooler temperatures and blustery West-Northwest winds. Convenient, since we were headed Southeast today. Still, the inconsistent winds pushed us from side to side. Climbing the Black Hills, flurries began to drift past us, then began to drift past us in gusts. The higher we got,the colder it got and the more it started snowing. Soon, we were in the middle of a full-fledged snowstorm. Just like the one the crazy lady in Jeffrey City predicted. (I never, never should’ve called her out on being a terrible witch. Stupid! So Stupid!).

The roads slick, we eventually reached the summit and began to decline, winds battering us and snow biting at our faces. Maybe it was going to pass. “The weather can change at the drop of a dime out here. But stick around a few minutes. It’ll change back.” Someone somewhere said that, more or less. The good news was that it might pass. The bad news was that it was pushing us the whole way, so we were going to stay underneath it. The other good news was that it was pushing us, so we didn’t have to fight it. The other bad news was that that was really freezing, and we were starting to get numb.

By the time we reached Sundance, 26 miles from Devil’s Tower and 45 miles from our destination in Newcastle, we needed to warm up. We stopped for an early, lazy lunch to wait out the weather. The weather never passed. Each time we stepped outside to challenge it, it’d kick up harder and colder. These were not the types of conditions to ride in. We’re tough and awesome, but we’re not stupid. It was time to stop.

We don’t like to have to stay in motels all that often either, but it’s something like 38 degrees & snowing outside, so camping is out of the question. Big thanks go out to Andy’s Dad here, for putting us up in the Motel across the street. There’s cable & wifi, so we’re totally hooked up here.

from the campfire at devils tower

BROasted marshmallows from the campfire at devils tower