More Than Just A Big Rock

Sunday August 11, 2013 adventures

So on the advice of Lissa, I veered north away from  my intended route to go take look at Devils Tower in north east Wyoming.  My intention was a quick drive by, check it off my list and then double back down south.

Wow, was I in for a treat. It is a spectacular massive monolith, like a giant tree surrounded with vertical creases and  bursting through the ground . It is impressive in a geological scale and welds a legendary tale from the Kiowa people. Bonus info: in 1906 President Teddy Roosevelt designated this  as our nation's first national monument!

 According to the National Park Service pamphlet, 50 million years ago molten magma pushed upwards into to sedimentary rock and then cooled. As it cooled, its exterior fractured into columns. Then over millions of year sedimentary rock eroded and exposed Devils Tower.  It rises 867 feet (think of an 86 story high rise) from it base and over 1260 feet above the Belle Fourche River. Its top covers 1.5 acres -can you imagine a football field up there - a whole new kind of out of bounds!  The base is 1,000 feet in diameter.

The Kiowa people's legend says eight children were playing until the brother turned into a bear and charged the seven sisters. The sisters ran to a giant tree stump and the stump told them to climb upon him.  Then the stump grew and rose into the air as the bear clawed at the bark of the tree trying to reach the sisters. The stump soared into the sky and the sisters became the stars of the Big Dipper.

Those are some tough siblings, my brother chased me plenty when I was little, but luckily he never turned into a bear!

As I  paid my day pass fee to the ranger, I noticed they had also had a campground fee. Hmmm, I had no idea they had a campground. The area surrounding Devils Tower was a valley of green prairie grass, big trees and rolling hills to the east.  I was tired after all and my back said it was time for a break. I was going to just drive through and give it a look see. A half mile from the  entrance there was a pullout and several people were gazing at the valley across from Devils Tower.  What could trump a view of the tower? So being the good tourist, I pulled over and got out. What was that chirping sound? Then I saw them.  Prairie Dogs! They are cute little buggers and don't stray far from their hole in the ground homes.  Animal cuteness trumps geological formations every time.

Made it to the campground and knew this is what I needed. Grassy areas for tents, huge old Cottonwood trees circled the campground, a picnic table, potable water spigot just steps away, and several recycling stations! Now we're talking! Set up my tent and drove up towards the Visitor Center, but along the way I saw a gravel road with a sign for a trail. So off I went. 

Joyner Ridge Trail is a mile long and runs along the north side of DT. It was a gentle rolling ridge with grasslands scattered with flowers and Ponderosa pines spewing that wonderful sappy scent. I found a weathered old cedar bench in the shade facing the tower and rested there, trying to soak it all in. A moderate breeze blew over my back cooling off the hot Summer day. Cicadas called out like the string section of a symphony warming up. Butterflies danced from flower to flower, sipping nectar and passing pollen like giggling girls passing notes in a classroom.  That  was the essence of a life force, right there, in that place at that time. I realized I wasn't tired anymore.

Big cumulus nimbus clouds were building to the east and their bases were flattening and growing dark. Time to head back. Had a nice dinner of soup and can of peaches. And by 5:30pm the thunder was rolling across the hills.  A brief lightning flash to the east got my attention, but the campground host drove by and said it typically moves around them. Why do they all say the same thing?

Rose early Monday and as I sipped my coffee, reviewed my plan and my maps and decided to slow this journey down another notch or two. Revised plan; Keyhole SP tonight, visit Rushmore and badlands on Tuesday, then head down to Hot Springs, Wednesday head out highway 18 across the southern part of SD and stop at Burke Lake, then Thursday turn south on I- 29 along the Missouri River and camp mid way down Iowa and Friday drive into St Louis.

Signing off for now.