Day 77 - Sheridan to Hardin - Two Far 2021 - Sooo... Far

June 24, 2021

Day 77 - Sheridan to Hardin

Sooo...far again

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It was another long day. There are a couple of major summer events going on in the area -and not many places with motels - so a 90 mile day became our only option. We are very tired, but otherwise feel fine. I think we are as tired from getting up at 4:30AM! as we are from the ride.

We rode through downtown on the way out of Sheridan. Not much was happening at 6:00AM, but it looked like a thriving business district.

The facade of the theater promises an well restored interior.

We had five miles on I-90, then were routed on local roads the rest of the day. It was an excellent cycling road.

There was a roadside display about the history of coal mining in the area. Our Citrus County readers are more familiar with another kind of Black Diamond.

A few last beautiful Wyoming views.

Soon we were in Montana - state number eleven for this trip

This is the first time this summer we recall seeing the bee hives for pollinating crops.

We had a significant decrease in elevation today. Our highest point in Wyoming was about 4300 feet. We ended at just over 3000 feet. As we descended below 4000 feet in Montana, we noticed a significant change in the countryside. We started seeing much more vegetation, including large trees. It was a big change from the higher elevations on Wyoming.

For miles before we reached Hardin, we rode alongside by the Little Big Horn River.

A classic railroad trestle on an active line.

Just outside Hardin we saw rail work in progress. The photos are in the order that we encountered the work - Kerry will add the detail.

A BNSF crew watching the action, with "watching" being the operative word. Of the six guys in the photo, only one had a shovel and he was leaning on it :-)

This machine was pulling old ties out, but we did not see it insert any new ties. Perhaps a different machine did that.

I dont know what this machine was doing. The bridge obtructs the view, but it appears it was pushing another machine on a long boom.

A quick search in the internet found a better photo of the machine. Does anybody know what it is?? I'm guessing it's inspecting the track / verifying the gauge, but I don't know - (Help me out here Stan or Mike).

We think the crew was also adding a siding. The crane was lifting prefabbed sections of rail and laying it down on the far side

Tomorrow we have lower mileage, lower cumulative ascent, lower temperatures and high hopes for a pleasant ride.

Kerry here... We knew that today would be a long ride, but I had planned to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument near Crow Agency. However, when I made the turn to visit the site, I saw how much of a climb it would be, and that my Garmin was reading 104F (full disclosure - it does read a little high). Having visited this site several years ago, I quickly decided that having lunch in an air conditioned restaurant and sipping an ice-cold Diet Coke trumped a refresher course in Western American history.

Today's ride: 90 miles (145 km)
Total: 2,962 miles (4,767 km)

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Rachel and Patrick HugensWhere do you go from Hardin? We are now in Chinook, heading for Malta then Glasgow....
Racpat
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2 years ago

Jeanna & Kerry SmithTo Rachel and Patrick HugensWe are going northeast from Hardin to Glendive, then east into North Dakota to Bismarck. It looks as if you will be north of us.
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2 years ago