Nebraska - Day 22 - Chimney Rock and Lake McConaughy

Cedar View Campground, Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area

Saturday, 22 October 2022

I decided to run a few errands before leaving town, since I knew where I could find things here.  I stopped at the grocery store once more, and I ran by the recycling place again.  Just in the last couple of days, I'd accumulated enough recycling material that I saw no sense in leaving town with it since I knew I couldn't dump it before Iowa, and when I was here the other day, the guy had told me where to put stuff when they were closed.

As I was leaving the center, I was on a 5-lane street and saw a squirrel run most of the way across, get spooked by oncoming traffic and run all the way back again, and I missed hitting it only by braking hard.  Squirrel would have been better off if he'd kept on running the way he was going.  But I really didn't want his death on my conscience, even if it wasn't my fault.

today's route

As we were leaving Scottsbluff, I saw a house that had been built in maybe the 1950s or '60s.  It was whitewashed brick and had a rounded front.  Half the front had 8 or 10 narrow vertical windows and was likely the living room; the other half had maybe 3 or 4 windows.  I wish I could have learned more about the house.

I passed a large facility labeled "Western Sugar," which I learned online is a local co-op of sugar beet farmers.  So maybe that green crop I've been seeing now and then has been sugar beets.

We crossed the North Platte River again.  I saw quite a few Trump signs in the Scottsbluff area, including a "Trump Won!" sign.

I saw large fields of grain both growing and being harvested.

I'd heard a lot about Chimney Rock and, though I didn't want to go visit - the map looked like it was unpaved roads to get there - I did see that there'd be a marker along the road with a good view of the rock, so I stopped there.

Chimney Rock

It doesn't look like much, does it?  Though I think it's eroded a lot over time.  But this historical marker explains why it's important.

And apparently not wanting to waste a perfectly good stopping point, the state added a couple of other markers to the site.

I came to Bridgeport, pop. 1,545, "Trail City USA."  As far as I can tell, their nickname comes from the number of trails that came through the area (e.g. Oregon Trail).  The "bridge" was put up over the North Platte River to aid the gold miners in the Black Hills, transporting supplies north and gold south.

Speaking of trails, a sign told me I was on the Western Trails Nebraska Byway, presumably again because of all the wagon trails through the area.

I thought we were on flat ground, but the AC refused to function properly and poor Dext was in the sun.  I guess it was an extremely gradual climb, though I wish I could get that AC fixed - I've asked from time to time and mechanics don't know why what I'm describing would happen.

Nebraska has a town called Oshkosh, pop. 884.

We got to the campground before noon.  I knew it would be a short drive, but this was another walk-in only campground, and it was once again a sunny Saturday.  I'd heard Lake McConaughy was a very popular spot (it's Nebraska's largest lake), so I was worried about finding a camping spot.

And just like last time, we were the only ones in the campground.  Although I learned the next morning that a small group of tenters came in later on, but they were camped so far from us I didn't even know they were there until Dext and I walked by before we left.

This campground was very nice with paved campsites that were pretty level and a semi view of the lake.  No bathroom or showers this time of year, but we were comfortable.