From:  Chris Hoke <mineralrock@yahoo.com> 
Subject:  day ten, south da ko ta to sheridan,
wyoming
Date:  Wed, 18 Oct 2000


i've been away from my log for too long, because
recalling what we did is proving difficult.

we woke up and dad wanted to run, sure, great, run
your heart out, just don't bother me. so he ran, and
when he got back i was sort of getting up.  maybe.
but he told me to get on my bike and go to where he
ran, it was beautifull, etc. so i did. went up this
gravel road and there were waterfalls at the top of
it. the frost was still on the grass, and you kept
warm by moving your body. the ride back was much
better, it was all downhill and fun and stuff,
through woods and up and down and fun.

then we drove through this canyon, and it was
beautiful. drove through this little town, we were on
our way to devil's tower. it should really be called
bears lodge, b/c that's what the natives called it.
but, no, some interpreter screwed it up, thought that
the indian was saying "bad god's tower" when he was
really saying "bears tower" so bad god=devil.  they've
been trying to fix it, alot of people, but so far it
hasn't happenened. we drove untill we could see the
tower, and pulled off to the side of the road just
before the visitors center to have some grub. good
grub, it was.  eggy weggs and bacon and english
muffins.  as long as i'm hanging out with the dad,
being veggie just isn't gonna happen. i love meat too
much, i've decided.  i've read all that stuff moby
wrote, and i'm sure veggie is healthier, but i don't
care. i know it's not healthy to smoke cigs, but i do
it anyway.  so then we went to devil's tower, and
hiked 3.1 miles in one hour. it was a good hike,
really great views and such, i can't wait to develop
the film. the tower is very impressive, it's 750+ feet
up and looks like a giant tree trunk, like an old tree
that you see in the forest. alot of people climb up it,
it's a very difficult climb at some places and easier
at others. dad's new dream is to climb up devil's tower,
and i'm sure he could after a few years of training.

so we stayed around and hiked, and enjoyed seeing deer,
a river, and other interesting stuff. then it was back
in the saddle, and we drove to sheridan wyoming.
sheridan was ok, it had some charm, but it was just ok.
we decided to have a quiet night and not travel too
much, after all we were tired. i just remembered, dad
was so enamoured by the idea of climbing the tower that
he tried to climb some himself, just free climbing. it
was pretty dangerous but he knew what he was doing, and
he got up 20 feet at least before he came back down.
the run in the morning plus the hike plus the climb
all added up to one tired bunch of hombres. we ate at a
pretty nice restaraunt in sheridan, even though there
was some dufus that kept driving past with a million
watt stereo, that shook the place. it was annoying. we
had some pretty good italian food, and after we were
done we just about passed out, we almost didn't make it
back to bounder. but we did, and somehow made it back
to the KOA kampground (campground with a k....
original..not) god i'm bushed, i'm gonna pass out right
now so i'm gonna go.
grrrrrrr.
tired.
hey hey hey, in 2 days i'll be 20
***/***/****
mineralrock@yahoo.com

chris