D4 Chadron to Carhenge


Monday dawned clear. Cheryl was got ready for school. She hugged me goodbye and went to teach the kids of Chadron about nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. (Side note, Chadron has a Marshallese community! At one point it was 100 people).

I had breakfast with Steve while my tent dried on the line in the backyard. We studied the map and plotted a course for me to take to avoid Highway 385. We found a way along Bordeaux Rd and then through a series of farm roads until close to Carhenge. The big unknown was road condition. Rain, some of it hard, had fallen two days in a row. 
About 9am my tent was dry and off I went with a big wave to Steve and Leila their dog. My first step was the Museum of the Fur Trade. I thought it was a local history museum, but it was the whole fur trade. It was fun to see Pacific NW artifacts in Chadron. The museum is on the site of an early fur trading post which was rebuilt in the 1970s. It is very small and now looks authentically old. I think it was started in 1837 by Frenchman named Bordeaux.
Amazingly, Bordeaux Road starts right by the museum. What followed was a beautiful 13 mile ramble up the Pine Ridge along a creek drainage. The Pine Ridge is an escarpment meaning you go up and stay up. It is another pictures tell the story place. The road was it great condition and freshly graded. 
Once on top of the escarpment, I thought it would be flat, but the gravel road rolled up and down as the trees thinned and then all but disappeared. Some the climbs were steep! Who said there aren’t hills in Nebraska? 
After a long way down Long Road, route turned right. Almost immediately the road got soft due to rain - not muddy thank goodness but soft sand. It made the going slow. Eventually, I had a decision to make, keep going or make a diversion to Highway 385 two miles west. As I was pondering a truck with a electrically lineman rolled up. He didn’t know the road condition to the south, but volunteered to do recon for me! He got back 5 - 10 minutes later and the pictures were not promising. It got worse. Off I went to the highway.
Highway 385 wasn’t bad. I had a huge shoulder with a rumble strip and moderate traffic driven by nice drivers. Soon I got to 7E and turned left. After five miles I turned right on 87. I was starting to get road weary. I distracted myself with an audiobook which is something new for me. I’d switched over to britpop when Carhenge and the RV park immediate north of it came into view.
I planned to stay at the RV park. I find they have a strange vibe. They feel desserted, but you know people are there hidden in their rigs. I tried a couple of gambits to introduce myself like “Can I use the hose near you spot?” but people were guarded. The tent site had goatheads on it. Those can poke through a tent and air matress. I inspected closely for a goathead free spot and set up my tent then went to check out Carhenge.
As I approached I saw someone had set up a tent in the shelter in the parking lot. Hmmm? There was a motorcycle and a van. Three people were sitting in chairs admiring Carhenge. Mick, Amy, and John were the friendliest folks on there way to the Black Hills to do trail riding. I asked if one, it was OK to camp there and two, could I join them. It was yes and yes. They got permission from the Alliance police who cover Carhenge. We had a great time. John is a climber too and a camping gearhead. Mick and Amy have a farm 40 miles south of Omaha. The were going to look at a geothermally heated greenhouse in Alliance the next day. We had wonderful conversation until they turned in. I cooked by dinner as the sun set and went to bed around 8:30.

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