Yesterday, we had three Craig Johnson events or encounters. One, we booked a hotel in Buffalo, Wyoming, which is the setting for his fictional town of Durant, where Walt Longmire is the sheriff. Two, we encountered the 83rd Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which was a plot line in his book entitled "The Obvious Fact." Three, after arriving in Buffalo, we decided to attend the last night of the Longmire Rodeo and the author, his wife and daughter (we think) were there. He acknowledged the gratitude for sponsoring the rodeo series. Note, Craig Johnson is the author of 16 Walt Longmire novels; he lives on a ranch in Ucross, MT which is near Buffalo. We are finding his audiobooks a joy to listen to while driving.
We knew that the Sturgis rally occurred in August, but did not know it took place the week we were passing through. It was phenomenal -- hordes of cyclists, mostly male, middle-aged or older, reasonably polite to cars, and wearing few helmets or spandex. The rally features vast gear tents, multiple beer tents, and at least two bikini motorcycle washing services. The Harleys and their cousins dominated all Sturgis parking areas, and much of the surrounding countryside. On the roads they traveled in packs and roar rather loudly. We passed through Sturgis because we wanted to drive the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, which is accessed by way of Deadwood, Lead, and Cheyenne Crossing. A beer tent or pavilion had been set up t at each of these crossroads and several more in-between.

Oahe Dam and Reservoir on the Missouri River, just a few miles north of Pierre, SD. The reservoir is the longest man-made lake in the world, stretching to Bismarck, ND. The dam is an earthen structure and contained 90,000,000,000 cubic yards of material.
Some photos taken from the car as we drove down Main Street of Sturgis.
The Spearfish Canyon was lovely, with great rock cliffs, tall pines, and the clear Spearfish Creek. But all wildlife had headed for the hills -- the motor cycle rumble was incessant. The Byway drops about 2,000 feet, before reaching Spearfish. We were able to pull off at one pullout for some photos. We realized as we were in the canyon that we were back in the land of intense blue skies, not the hazy, white-yellow, pale skies of the mid-west.
Spearfish Creek, with a fisherman in the distance.
And, what the fisherman was trying to catch.
The canyon rocks.
In Spearfish, we stopped for smoothies before moving on to Buffalo, MT. We did a short walk along the Buffalo greenway after landing in our motel.
Our accommodation in Buffalo - the Z-Bar Cabins.
Mural in downtown Buffalo.
Ditto.
Ditto.
A young woman in a horse cart told us about the rodeo, so we shifted gears, put on some warmer clothing, and headed for the Fair Grounds, where we grabbed a light supper. We didn't really know what to expect and the very first contestant was worrisome. He was a very young boy - no older than 6 and maybe only 4 - on a full-sized horse, being led around the barrel racing course by his mother on a second horse. Happily, the other contestants were older and more experienced. We had the sense that this particular rodeo was more of a training opportunity for youngsters and a chance to show off some local talent than a full-fledged show. The program included barrel racing, bucking contests on both horses and bulls, and roping events. One was new to us - goat roping. This poor white goat was tethered in the middle of the arena while riders raced up to it, got off the horse, and whipped ropes around its feet. The same goat faced all the ropers and looked visibly unhappy by the end.

Barrel Racing at the Longmire Rodeo.
Ditto.
Calf roping first step.
Calf roping second step. It is a timed event, fastest to complete wins.
Bare bronc riding -- must stay on for 8 seconds to get a score.
Sunset over the rodeo grounds
The Occidental Hotel, another place in Longmire books.
We breakfasted at The Busy Bee Cafe, another Longmire place.
Omelet and coffee -- note the mug "Longmire Country."
A bronze memorial in Buffalo to early Basque settlers who employed sheep dogs in the herding of sheep.
Today's drive went from Buffalo, MT to West Yellowstone, MT, via the back roads. Our most nteresting stop was at Shell Falls. It is a waterfall that flows over 2.5 billion year -old bedrock that has faulted, with one side dropping and forming a great canyon. The falls is at about 7,000 feet elevation on the west side of the Big Horn Mountains. We had crossed over a 9,000 foot pass to reach it. Because of the tilt of the rocks, younger rock formations are at lower elevations. It was world-class scenery set in a National Forest so is not overwhelmed by tourists ticking off National Parks.
Elephant Mountain.
The Shell Falls, named for the shell fossils found in the rock.
The many rock formations.
We arrived at our accommodation -- The Moose Creek Inn, after driving through Yellowstone. There were a couple of bison spottings and one small herd of elk. The park is looking good where the wildfire occurred several years ago, with many new trees growing (about 5-feet tall) among the standing dead trunks.
We dined at the Madison Crossing Lounge on trout cakes, peach flatbreads and fancy salad. Betsy had her favorite beer - Moose Drool, and I tried a Yellowstone Brewing ESB. One observation from the restaurant - we saw at least 5 tables with 4 people or more where every person at the table was on a phone at the same time.