DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT, WYOMING

September 10 – 11, 2010

At the entrance station

From Sheridan, WY, to Devils Tower, WY, was only a three-hour drive but it rained all the way, three hours straight until, just as we arrived at our destination, it finally started to clear. At the entrance to the National Monument was a large KOA Campground but we decided to try the campground in the park. With our Golden Age Passport we entered the park free and enjoyed a 50% discount at the campground. The campground did not have utilities but was neat and clean with pull-through sites along the paved roadway and we had our satellite and cell phone service as well. Furthermore, most of the sites had a beautiful view of the tower.

Fran listens to the Ranger

As soon as we were set up we drove the car the two miles up to the Visitor’s Center where we arrived just in time for one of the Ranger Talks. The Tower is close to 1000 feet tall above the surrounding countryside and the relatively flat area on top is about the size of a football field. It consists of igneous (molten) rock that was thrust up some millions of years ago and the surrounding softer soils and rock weathered away leaving the tower as we see it today. As the rock cooled it cracked into the vertical shapes so visible on close inspection. All quite amazing.

View from the Visitor Center

There is a lot of climbing on the tower, but not when the weather threatens as it did today. Climbers must register with the Ranger and then check in when they return safely. A climber in 1984 scaled the tower without ropes or pitons, using only his bare hands and rubber sandals; his time to climb was an astounding 18 minutes, ------- phenomenal!

Devils Tower on a sunny Saturday

Another daredevil in the early 30’s parachuted from an airplane to demonstrate his accuracy and actually landed on top of the tower. The only problem was it took another six days by an expert rescue team to get him safely down. There is a hiking trail around the base that is only 1.3 miles and would probably be an interesting hike but with the altitude and cold wet weather we just did not feel up to it; too bad.  We learned that some of the visitors were on a Big Sky RV Tour by Fantasy Caravans with 22 coaches parked at the KOA Campground.

Prairie Dog Town

 Returning to our coach we passed the Prairie Dog Town with thousands of little Prairie Dogs popping up out of their holes and feeding on local grasses. The Town is probably 30 to 40 acres and there are caves connecting all the caverns where these very communal animals have their own communities. Some of these little critters would come right out onto the roadway but a danger signal from one of them would have them all diving for a tunnel mound.

"Circle of Sacred Smoke"

The weather report on the internet called for “abundant” sunshine on Saturday 9/11 and for once they were correct so we went back to the Visitor’s Center in the bright sunshine on Saturday morning for more photos. Since we were heading to the Revconeer Rally at the Hart Ranch near Rapid City, SD, we had to be on our way and unlike the previous week, it was a terrific day for traveling.

That’s all for now ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bye!