G.A.S.P.

(Great Adventures to Scenic Places)

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July 3, 1999

Click on thumbnails to see full photographs.

On July 3 I went to the Scotts Bluff National Monument. Between 1841 and 1869, over 250,000 men, women and children passed by Scotts Bluff on the Oregon Trail on their way west seeking a better life. It was one of the most recognizable landmarks along the Trail, rising 800 feet above the North Platt River in western Nebraska. The Park is very nice with a hiking trail leading to the top from the Visitor Center and another that follows a short section of the actual Oregon Trail through Mitchell Pass. There is also a road to the top that cars can take, but they wouldn’t let me ride my bicycle up it. I had to take the shuttle bus (or walk). The view from the top is terrific – 100 miles in all directions on a clear day.

I then rode to Kimball and west to Oliver Reservoir State Recreation Area for the night. When I left Gering (near Scotts Bluff) at noon, the temperature was 95 degrees and when I arrived at Kimball at 5:30 it was still 95 degrees. I believe it – it really did feel hot all day. About half-way to Kimball, I stopped for a rest part way up a hill. A pick-up truck passed me, then pulled over onto the shoulder a couple hundred yards ahead. When I got going again and pulled out to pass the truck, a little old man got out (while his little old wife sat in the truck), and offered me a ride to Kimball. Despite being very hot and having only warm water and gatorade to drink, I politely declined and profusely thanked him for the offer. Then a miracle happened. I went just five minutes further, reached the top of the hill and found a small café with an "open" sign. There wasn’t supposed to be any place to stop between Gering and Kimball (two "locals" had told me that). A half hour later, filled with cold water, coke and onion rings (hey, they just sounded good at the time), I departed for Kimball. Thinking of Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone, if I ever retrace this trip in a car, I just wonder if that café will really be there.