Devils Tower
We left Nebraska early in the morning driving west then north through the prairies of eastern Wyoming. Gone were the fields of corn, beets, and hay, the land was now rolling hills covered with grass and sagebrush, inhabited by cattle, with frequent sightings of pronghorn antelope. In the distance, we could see bluffs rising to either side. The towns were small and infrequent, the roads were quiet. It was a relaxing drive until we reached the Wyoming Black Hills, here the terrain became steeper, the roads twisted back on themselves making driving the big rig more difficult. The final stretch was a 7% downhill grade to the gates of the National Monument and our RV park.
We arrived at the Devils Tower minutes ahead of a major rainstorm, barely giving us time to park the RV and hook up the water and electric before we had to retreat inside for the next few hours. We had been planning to take the park Hay Ride but it was now too wet and muddy so we settled for a viewing of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Parts of the movie were filmed here and it is said that Steven Spielberg “sat in front of the park for hours before deciding this was the place for his movie." They show the movie every night, so when it began to rain again we made a run for the RV. We’ll watch tomorrow night.
The morning broke clear and sunny! We took off early for the Tower to avoid the crowds. Using our “old Fogies card" we got in free. At the base of the tower is a one and a half mile looping trail the favored way to view it. We took our time, about 2 hours viewing all the sides and the spectacular views down the valleys. We did observe two climbing teams making their way up. (They were climbing despite a voluntary moratorium on climbing in June out of respect for Native American beliefs that it is sacred.)
Pano from Tower Trail
The tower was well known to the Native American as the bear’s tipi or lodge. They visited it and camp near it. Today you can see prayer cloths or bundles tied to trees at the base. If you are interested in the stories of the Indians visit:
The first white men to visit were probably mountain men trapping beaver but it was not recorded until 1875 when Col. Richard Dodge entered the region with the US Geological Survey. It was Dodge who gave the tower its name claiming the Indians called it “bad gods tower", a claim disputed by the Native Americans.
In 1906 The Devils Tower became the first National Monument. Using the new Antiquities Act of 1906, passed to protect “objects of historic or scientific interest", President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed it at Nation Monument. Thank you, Teddy, for all you did to protect our national treasures.
There are many interesting stories about the Tower, for instance, the one about the man who parachuted onto the top over a $50 bet. He made the jump and landed but was then trapped up there for 6 days awaiting rescue.
If you are interested in learning more about this National Treasure go to https://www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm
Views of Devils Tower:
On our walk, we spied a charming little Black Tail or Mule Deer. He did not see at all bothered by the many people.
Of course being on the prairie there was a Prairie Dog Village!
After a short rest in the RV and a walk for Gracie and Maddie Mae, we walked back into the park for pictures of the Belle Fourche River. It is hard to believe that such a quite winding stream could have contributed to the carving of this monument.
Other things I found interesting:
To round out the day, we chatted with other campers about their travels, had buffalo burgers for dinner at the local cafe and watched “Close Encounters of the Third Kind." While watching the movie a black tail deer walked through the outside viewing area then stood and watched us for 3 or 4 minutes.
In the morning, it was back on the road again, this time south to I80. We crossed through miles and miles of rough prairie, populated with cows, sheep, and pronghorn antelope. The further south we went the higher the bluffs and hills we crossed until we reach the top of the continental divide at over 7000 feet. We did make one stop at Independence Rock, another highlight on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. About 40 miles south of Casper the granite rock bulges from the surrounding land, The pioneers believed that they had to be at Independence Rock by the 4th of July or they would not make it over the mountains before winter. We did not climb it but were told many of the names of pioneers can still be seen carved into it.
We stopped for the night at Rawlins, WY on I80 planning to visit the old Wyoming State Prison and visit Saratoga, WY to soak in the HoBo Hot Springs but that was not to be. Tom and I both began to feel the effects of altitude sickness, shortness of breath, headaches, so we moved on west to Salt Lake City, UT.
June 18th, 2016