HIKING DEVILS TOWER

The sun wasn't shining when we woke up but temperatures were comfortable and no rain was in the forecast.  Perfect!  From our campsite we caught the South Side Trail through the prairie dog town to Red Beds Trail Loop with great views of Devils Tower.  That was a little over 4 miles before lunch.  After lunch we drove the car two miles to the visitor's center and listened to a talk by one of the rangers about the history, geology and the spirituality of Devils Tower.  He also gave us a lot of information about the vultures that soar above Devils Tower during the summer months.

The only trail we didn't do in the morning was the paved 1.3 mile Tower Trail so we decided to do that before heading home for dinner.  I'm glad we did because it offered a different perspective of Devils Tower and we saw mountain climbers scaling the sheer walls.  We were surprised to see them because June is a voluntary climbing closure out of respect for American Indian beliefs.

First-time visit for us

Enlarge this to read the legend of Devils Tower

I like the legendary story better than the geological story

This formation is like none other we've seen

Here's a few interesting facts:

• Sculptor Junkyo Muto's "Circle of Sacred Smoke" was installed in September 2008
• His first sculpture was placed at the Vatican in 2000
• His second sculpture was installed in Bodhi Gaya, India
• Circle of Sacred Smoke represents the first puff of smoke from the pipe used by tribal people
• The sacred pipe was delivered to the Lakota people by the White Buffalo Calf Woman at the Tower several centuries ago
• The sculpture is made of granite donated from Crazy Horse

Circle of Sacred Smoke

That's the Belle Fouche River below

Love this painting portraying the Indian legend - the visitors center was built by the CCC

Black-tailed prairie dog barking

We finally got blue skies at the end of the day

That's all folks - thanks for stopping in.