Sunday, August 10th, we drove the 121 mile round trip to Devils Tower in Wyoming. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt created Devils Tower National Monument, the first national monument. It was established as our first national monument because of its scientific and geological importance. Geologists agree that “Devils Tower was formed by an intrusion, the forcible entry of magma into or between other rock formations, of igneous material”. From miles away our first sighting of Devils Tower was magnificent, rising dramatically 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,114 feet above sea level. When we arrived at the parking lot we went to see the Visitor Center that was built in the 1930s by the CCC, and both it’s buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Then we took the 1.3 mile walk around the base of the Tower to get closer, what makes it striking is its shape, near-vertical cliffs with regular, furrows and flattened top, the size of a football field. As we approached the Tower we noticed climbers on the sheer cliff, half way up the wall. The first climb was in 1893, it was done using a series of wooden ladders held to the mountain by pegs driven into some of the vertical cracks running between the columns. William Rogers on July 4th ascended the ladder for the first “official” climb. We could still see portions of the ladder that remain on the rock wall. It has become one of the finest traditional crack climbing areas in North America.
Piles of rubble, broken columns, boulders, small rocks, and stones, lie at the base of the Tower, and eventually at some time in the future, even Devils Tower will erode away! The American Indian people have long considered the Tower a place of spiritual and cultural importance. The sacred connection continues today, with the large granite sculpture in the park called “Circle of Sacred Smoke”, (by Junkyu Muto) representing the first puff of smoke from the pipe used by the tribal people to pray. The prayer bundles of the four directions, (red, yellow, black and white) are seen throughout the park. As we left the parking lot we drove along the gravel road to the Joyner Ridge for another incredible view of the Tower across the plains. Our last stop was at the Black-Tailed Prairie Dog town, approximately 40 acres in size, where we saw the playful, social animals running in and out of their tunnels. Prairie-dog tunnels may extend downward from 3 to10 feet, and then horizontally for another 10 to 15 feet. The Black-Tailed Prairie dogs are protected within the boundary of Devils Tower National Monument, their overall population is about 2% of what it was 200 years ago.
On our way back we drove through Hulett and stopped at Aladdins to take some photos. Aladdins is a 30 acre hamlet in the Northeast corner of Wyoming and it is For Sale for $1.5 million. You can buy the 30 acres and 15 buildings including the 118 year old General Store.
