Scottsbluff road trip

I rode the motorcycle to Scottsbluff Nebraska to visit the National Monument there. I left Denver at 11am which was two hours later than I intended. I took I-76 east to Fort Morgan where I stopped for lunch. From Fort Morgan I took HW-52 north to HW-14, then HW-71 to Scottsbluff. I waited out a storm in Kimble Nebraska. The storm produced heavy rain, large hail and a tornado. Fortunately I got into Kimble before the storm arrived. The storm passed north of town and didn't cause any damage.

Wind turbine, HW-71, 24 miles south of Kimble, NE.

Scotts Bluff is an 800 foot tall sandstone out-crop on the west edge of the great planes in western Nebraska. It served as a prominent landmark for native americans, fur trappers, wagon trains and the poney express. The North Platte river flows along the north side directly beneath the bluff, and the Oregon Trail passed through Mitchell Pass directly beneath and south of the bluff. President Woodrow Wilson established the Scotts Bluff National Monument by proclamation on December 12, 1919. The Civilian Conservation Corps completed work on the tunnels and summit road in 1937.

Scotts Bluff

One of the tunnels on summit road

Scotts Bluff from summit

Dome Rock from summit of Scotts Bluff

Sentinel Rock with Oregon Trail below

From Scottsbluff I continued east to Torrington Wyoming where I joined US-85. I scarfed down a cheeseburger and fries in Cheyenne before joining the heavy traffic on I-25 back to Denver. In Denver I got rear-ended while waiting at a traffic light. Fortunately I didn't get hurt and there wasn't any damage so I accepted his apology and we went our separate ways. I think he was fully stopped and let up on the brake just enough to tap the rear of the bike.

It was 9:20pm when I got back to the apartment. The trip took 10 hours and covered 432 miles.

I'm a little disappointed in these photos. Maybe it's just me but I think the color sucks in most of them.