After the whole Wind Cave adventure, we hit the road again, towards Devils Tower in Wyoming!  First, we drove by the Crazy Horse Memorial, the world's largest sculpture, and took some pictures. They have been carving this mountain for over 50 years, and exist solely on private donations and visitors fees. It was too late in the day to go in, so we just took some pictures and moved on.   Heading out of town, we saw a roadside stand offering firewood for sale..  large tied-off bundles of logs for $5 each,  or 5 for $20.  For the size of the bundles it was a bargain, so I dropped a $20 bill in the coffee can "honor box" on the card table, and Tyler helped me load the bundles under the cargo net in the truck bed.   While we were loading, I saw someone in the back yard, so I waved and pointed to the can- I wanted them to retrieve the cash, lest it be too tempting for the next person who happened by!

Devils Tower is the biggest thing in the area, it loomed up on the horizon as we approached it. We stayed at the Devils Tower KOA, right at the base of the mountain. This is the location where Stephen Speilberg filmed "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", a movie they show every night at the campground. We had a great site next to a redrock wall by a river.  There were deer and rabbits roaming freely around the campground. It was warm but  very windy, and the area was so dry campfires were not allowed, so we had to break out the camp stove to cook some burgers.  It was very buggy out, so I lit several citronella candles.   They don't go after Dawn at all, but for some reason they were eating me alive!

This was the day I dreamed about!  To see Devil's Tower in Wyoming and head back south and east through little towns... and to go into Sturgis... the American Mecca of the motorcycle world... an event that already had people trucking and trailering their bikes to attend... but to which I RODE the entire way.  Devil's Tower was monumental, over powering and majestic in size and scope.  To think that that it was formed as a result of erosion and that the actual top of the magma mass was still under the bed of an ancient ocean at the time of it's forming is beyond human comprehension.  The size of the boulders of magma that had broken off an tumbled were staggering.  The fact that people were climbing the Tower was astounding.

I also had the opportunity to ride through towns like Spearfish, Lead, Stugis and Deadwood where I went to Mt. Moriaty Cemetary to pay my respects to Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok.

Got up at 6:00am and headed north to Livingston, Montana. Stopped by McDonalds for a quick breakfast and got on I-90 East. Our first stop on our trip is Devils Tower, Wyoming. It was 31 miles from I-90. A beautiful drive and lots of animals to see. For instance, horses, cows, antelope, and deer. We started off in Montana and went through Wyoming and into South Dakota.

Devils Tower is awesome. When you first drive into the park you pass a large group of prairie dogs running and barking. Cute little critters and fun to watch. You continue to drive up the road to the parking lot, located at the base of the tower. Hike up the trail to the tower. If you have time you can hike completely around the base.   www.nps.gov/deto

The Geological Story:  About 50 million years ago molten magma was forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground. As it cooled it contrated and fractured into columns.  Over millions of years, erosion of the sedimentary rock exposed Devils Tower and accentuated Little Missouri Buttes. The Tower rises 867 feet above the river and 5,112 feet above sea level. The area of its teardrop-shaped top is 1.5 acres. The diameter of its base is 1,000 feet.

Even though I couldn't make it to Devil's Tower before sunset, I wasn't worried. I had my tripod in the car and the waning sun could still provide enough light if I just held my camera shutter open manually. It wasn't until after I drove the extra 30 miles to the tower, accepted the fact that NO ONE would be around to help if something happened and fumbled with my tripod in the dark for a good twenty minutes, that I realized I had NO IDEA how to do that with my camera! The end result was a handful of pictures that looked a little something like this. So much for my artistic vision.

I have vivid memories of Devils Tower from my early childhood! I remember clearly running through the tower trail through the boulders to find my mother, I remember sitting at the cafe near the entrance if the park with my family reading a Native American legend about how the tower came into existence, and I remember the excitement in my heart when I first looked up at the tower.. The tower has fascinated me ever since and I was ecstatic to finally had the chance to revisit the Tower when I was staying in Gillette, WY, one of my old hometowns from waaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day :P..

the legend is that several local girls were running from a giant bear when they hopped on a rock and prayed to be taken to safety. The rock heard the young girls pleas for help and raised high into the sky bringing the young girls out of reach of the bear.. the Bear, however, still made attempts to get the girls thus causing the grooves around the "rock"...

Devils Tower is located in the North Eastern region of Wyoming near Sundance and the Black Hills.

The visitor Center was closed during the winter season, but the park was still open. There are a few trails you can hike and if your are an avid rock climber then you def need to visit!!

Fee was $10.00 per car (up to 4 adults)

check out these links for more information:

http://www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm
http://devilstower.net/

After our break in Cheyenne, it was an uneventful trip to Devil's Tower. It had been raining when we started out that morning, but by the Wyoming border that was a memory. As we got close to the tower I kept waiting for it to appear. It would an then would hide behind another hill. We were right on top of it before we got a really good look. It is big. We got there about 2 pm and walked around the trails, ate lunch, and enjoyed the scenery for about two hours. Then were were off to Belle Fourche, to bed down for the night.

This imposing obelisk rises out of the ground into the sky to be seen for miles on your approach.  Located in eastern Wyoming, Devils Tower is worth the trip from the Black Hills portion of South Dakota.  Prairie dogs surround the rock temple. 

We were worried about the cracked windshield so we marked the end of the crack.  By the time we had driven a few miles, the crack had extended past the mark so it was still growing.  We decided not to continue driving with a cracked windshield and went to the Rapid City National rental people to exchange this car for another.  The National agents were very helpful and the new car process only took about half an hour.  We’d never had to exchange a car before (even though we always get extra insurance thru American Express at $25/rental) so now we’ll find out if the insurance really covers the problem.

We drove back into Wyoming to see the Devil’s Tower, which you may remember from the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”.  My husband truly is a saint because he went along with my idea of approaching the Tower in an unusual way, on a 22 mile long dirt and gravel road.  We drove to the top of Waverly Peak (across the valley from the Tower) before descending thru valleys on the gravel road.  This approach paid off when we saw a doe and twin fawns ahead of us.  The photo of the Tower, valley and deer is one of my favorites for today.

Once inside the park we took a few more photos including another one with the balloon which is now wearing my black cowboy hat.  We drove on to Douglas, WY for the night.

We left the campsite/lodge at about 10am and stopped off at a couple of picturesque stops at the badlands. Mike, Ji, Art and I climbed up some pretty high hill things and on the last really high stop I couldn’t get down properly and ended up skidding down a 10m drop on my ass using my leg and hand to stop luckily it was just kind of soil rock so it only really grazed me. No doubt tomorrow my ass will hurt!

We left the badlands and headed to the town of Wall, to see “Wall Drug” this kind of mega-gift shop. Only bought some postcards, fudge and lunch (milkshake, hotdog and fries). We are now on the road heading to Rushmore which should be 2hours drive from Wall drug (we left about 1.30). Went on a semi interesting wlak at Rushmore led by a Park ranger but was busy flicking all these annoying little bugs that took a liking to my white t-shirt off me throughout his talk. Me and Jacqueline went back and I got an ice-cream.

The crazy horse monument looks impressive but as it is still a work in progress we couldn’t go and see it up close and personal. It’s being built for the Indians and the guy who started building it is dead now but his family is continuing to build it. The US governments offered $50 million to speed up its completion but the Indians don’t want the governments dirty blood money (the US government were the ones who said “go out and kill all the Indians” in the first place)

We got to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming and had a meal at the KOA at Belle Fourche. Bit of tension in the camp as Kiwi Chris was annoying Sonja all day by being quite pervy. I stayed up til last after having a few beers with Chris (UK) and Chris (DK) both saying up with me. I was blown away by the sky. The cheer number of stars was awe inspiring and I saw the milky way for the first time in my life, and saw my first ever shooting star, and my 2^nd and 3^rd ever shooting star!! Went to bed about 1am I think and snored in my sleep waking Kendal up who then complained about it to Art! Haha.

We got up early this morning and headed for Devils Tower in Wyoming. It was only a 2 1/2 hour drive from where we were. We got there and it was already in the mid 90's but the heat didn't diminish the enormity of the tower. I've never seen anything like it before. You could see it from a distance and once you got closer you were astounded by the enormity of it! Dad and I could just stare at it. We didn't go up into the actual park b/c we figured it was a waste of time seeing it any closer than where we were. I went into the gift shop and got a book on how it was formed and the history of it. I couldn't believe they think it's 50 million years old. Yes 50 million!!!!!!!! We then headed south for our next destination!

Pikes Peak here we come! We decided to skip Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and save it for next year's trip to California. I've never been to Colorado and dad swears it's "God's Country through and through". He went there when he was 15 and remembers it like it was yesterday. So I'm super excited to be heading down there. We drove another 8 hours and ended in Wheatland, Wyoming extremely ready for bed. We didn't see much on our way down other than grassland, which apparently half of the state is covered in. So after 400 miles of grass, hay and cows we're ready for a change in scenery!

Ciao!

We packed up our camp and headed to the Tower.  Devils Tower is volcanic in nature, the theory is that hundreds of thousands of years ago, magma welled up inside a soft mountain, and over the eons the mountain eroded away, leaving the hardened tower we see today.   We stopped at the visitor center first, then we walked the trail around the mountain, and up it as high as we could get without technical climbing permits. Tyler clambered up the rocks like a billy goat!  We watched some professional climbers going up the steep face through the binoculars, but we were getting a double image- probably because Tyler had dropped them back at Mount Rushmore!   

 The Tower is a mecca for professional climbers all around the world-- hundreds of people climb to the top every year.  We were able to get as high as the point where it went completely verticle, but you need equipment after that.  There are actually chipmunks living at the top of the tower...even though there is no way for them to get up or down!  They have been up there for many chipmunk generations, probably carried there and escaped from some bird of prey.  Can't be much for them to eat up there!  Living on bug and grasses, maybe?  The views were terrific, even though we didn't go all the way to the top!  We did some exploring around on the rocks, then headed back down.  We then went back to the visitor center to get T shirts, souvenirs, and water.  When we finished there, we were headed off to Montana....next stop, the Little Bighorn Battlefield!  There was evidence of a recent fire as we were leaving the park, as the hills were all blackened and barren, but the trees seemed to be OK.