Boulder was a sunny fun outdoor-tastic time of lovelyness :)

I went hiking around the Rockies and shit myself whenever I saw a "warning : bear / lion country" sign. On my lst day I went a little off-trail and into a climbing / bouldering uphill section, which looked like a haven for lions. Eventually I paniced and joined the main trails again !

Nightlife was pretty cool too - found some bars and played some pool. Boulder is a very studenty town, so has some really cool bars, shops and lunch spots.

Next stop was the Black hills to see Mount Rushmore. Getting there involved an overnight Greyhound with the entire contents of Wyoming insistute for the terminally odd - lots of talking and conversations that made no sense. One girl inparticular ran on the bus to "hide" from 2 guys, and then when we stopped for gas in the middle of nowhere, she never reappeared... oddball.

Finally I made it to Deadwood hostel, from which I took a tour out to Mount Rushmore (not that big), Crazy horse memorial (will be massive, when finished in 1,000 years ish) and Custer Park. The tour was great and really good fun. Then today cam bike riding - a 14 mile trek around the Black Hills which concluded with a side-trip to Deadwood cemetary, where I saw the graves of "Wild Bill" Hicock and Calamity Jane.

Apparently deadwood is the home of these Western figures as well as many others (Wyatt Erpp, etc...) but now it's just a big gambling hole in the mountains. Free blackjack lessons tonight though - I need to get into form for Vegus next month ! Next stop should be Yellowstone - but with forest fires and no public transport going into the park, I'm not sure how I'm gonna get there !

[Note : no new photos due to crappy internet terminals - might have to wait until Seattle at this rate]