Devils Tower, Wyoming

Devils Tower, Wyoming
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012

OK, I have to admit that my impression of Devils Tower is a bit colored by watching the movie A Close Encounter of the Third Kind in which Richard Dreyfuss sculpted the iconic monument from mashed potatoes in an alien-inspired OCD trance. Well... I guess you had to be there in the theater for the original release or, perhaps 11 years old as I was when I saw the film back in 1977, but I do have to say that I half expected military roadblocks and dead cattle to be lining the road during the approach. Of course, there was none of that though the roads and fields were quite recognizable  from Spielberg's movie.
 
Seeing Devils Tower in person in September of 2011, however, was actually more impressive than I expected. It was especially breath-taking, up close. It's easy to see why the Lakota Indians and a number of other tribes of the region consider it to be a sacred site. Among the Native American names for Devils Tower are Bear's Tipi (Arapaho & Cheyenne); Bear's Lodge, Bear's House, and Bear Peak (Cheyenne); Bear's Lair (Crow); Tree Rock and Aloft on a Rock (Kiowa); and perhaps the most imaginative come from the Lakota Sioux - Bear Lodge, Bear Lodge Butte, Ghost Mountain, Grey Horn Butte, Mythic Owl Mountain, Penis Mountain, and Grizzly Bear's Lodge.

As a side note, as we traveled through the great plains and the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, I was very aware that once this land belonged to other peoples, and that our ancestors made it a part of the United States through bloodshed and government sanctioned genocide. The guilty are long dead, and we cannot hold ourselves forever accountable for the sins of our fathers, but we can recognize those sins and make sure we never allow ourselves to again walk the path that they walked.

My mother, my wife, and myself posing for
a picture at a large turn-off on the approach to
Devils Tower.
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012.

Devils Tower is a columnar basaltic formation rising out of the ground about fifty miles southwest of Belle Fourche, South Dakota off Route 24 in Wyoming. There are a number of photo opportunities along Routes 24 and 110 as you get close where you can take photos with Devils Tower in the background.

There's a small information center at the parking area and loop trail entrance. Inside are, souvenirs as one would expect, but also a number of exhibits detailing the cultural importance and legends of the origin of Devils Tower from the Plains Indian tribes, as well as its history as the first of our country's National Monuments, designated as such in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt.

This fawn and its mother grazed quite near
the path as we circled Devils Tower.
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012

The loop trail is paved and though it is worn and uneven in spots, it is a, short, easy, fairly level walk that circles Devils Tower. As the trail loops around it offers a view of the river valley and then passes into forest. Surprisingly to me, the forest and the foot of the Lakota's sacred rock offered us not only views of the literally monolithic structure, but also of wildlife, including the fawn pictured above, its mother, a couple species of squirrels, and a rabbit, in addition to the Turkey Vultures and pigeons that circled around the summit.

Vultures and pigeons, just discernible with
a zoom lens, circle the summit of Devils Tower.
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012.

Devils Tower, itself, though, was certainly the star performer of the day. It was formed as an underground magma vault that cooled and hardened in place, to be revealed as the softer ground around it melted away over the millenia. As the basalt cooled, it formed naturally hexagonal columns. Over the centuries, some of those on the outside have fallen away and lay piled around the base of the tower where they offer themselves for closer inspection.

Devils Tower is comprised of hexagonal
columns of basalt.
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012

The nature of the columnar basalt, at once geometrically precise and yet flowing along the paths of least resistance gives it an truly artistic presence that could not have been sculpted any more perfectly than nature has made it (even in mashed potatoes). If you are traveling through the plains anywhere near Devils Tower or Yellowstone Park, I highly recommend detouring to visit the tower. It is truly remarkable.

Unless you're planning to climb the tower, which is permitted once you register your intent inside the visitor center, expect to spend a relatively short time here. The walk and tour of the visitor center takes perhaps 90 minutes. Bear Country USA is nearby, though, and between the two of them, you can make a good day trip of it from the vicinity of Yellowstone.

The back side of Devils Tower shows the
frozen movement of flowing lava.
Photo by Brad Sylvester, copyright 2012