9/28 - Gering to Hermosa, SD

A nice day driving on good secondary roads across northwestern Nebraska and southwestern South Dakota.  


It seems like there's air pollution everywhere, but we're not so sure the air pollution in this area isn't actually mostly dust and dirt.

This view of Chimney Rock shows just how hazy it is. As we drove north through the farmlands towards South Dakota we kept seeing farm vehicles driving down dirt roads and raising huge clouds of dust which might be contributing to the problem.  On the rare occasions when there's no wind the dust can't move out.

Another interesting thing from this picture is the huge irrigation boom across the foreground. I have often seen circular fields in Google satellite pictures but didn't realize until we traveled through the agricultural west that they are caused by the irrigators. They're anchored in the center with the booms going around the field like fan blades.

These cornfields are more typical of Nebraska but there are still hills popping up. (Excuse the reflection from the window.)  The state gets much flatter going east.

Another massive load of hay on the move. This load probably weighs about 48,000 lbs.

Mini-badlands getting closer to South Dakota

Going through Chadron State Park a few miles south of the SD border.

We got to our campground before 2:00 so it was an easy day. This is an okay place for the three nights we need to be here but it's not the kind of place to stay and relax like the last one.  It's unattractive land.....dirt, gravel, grass so dry it crunches underfoot. 

There's a great pizza place in Hermosa so we decided to treat ourselves to pizza for dinner. While we were waiting for our pizza we talked with a local rancher who was the father of the owner of the restaurant.  He said he wasn't a farmer but decided last year to put in 25 acres of corn. They had so much rain it grew 11 feet high. He tried it again this year but it's been so dry the corn never even germinated. Guess we shouldn't be surprised the vegetation looks dead. It probably is.  He also told us the pizza restaurant serves between 700 and 1200 people a day which is astounding in a town of 400 people. He said people come from quite a distance to eat there.