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

 

Badlands National Park

While it is interesting to see the wildlife of Badlands National Park, the real star here is the geology. The soils that can be seen in the exposed cliffs were laid down for tens of millions of years or more. Both the colors and shapes of the badlands are evidence of the geological history of this part of South Dakota.

At the bottom of the deep ravines, a dark grey material is the oldest of the visible strata. This rock, says signs in the park, is known as Pierre Shale (described by the U.S. Geological Survey as "dark-gray clay shale with calcareous and ferruginous concretions and sandy members") and is the result of sedimentary mud that once lay at the bottom of a sea that covered what is now Badlands National Park. Because of its origin, this layer contains fossils of sea life such as ammonites, early clams, and baculites.

The Pierre Shale was deposited over the Upper Cretaceous period, also known as the Late Cretaceous period which lasted from about 98 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. At the end of that time, the vast sea that covered this part of North America receded mainly due to the rising elevation of the area caused by tectonic activity (the shifting of the Earth's plates). The sea floor mud formed fertile ground and not long after the waters retreated, geologically speaking, it was covered by a thick jungle.

Yellow Mounds Paleosol and Interior Paleosol

Decaying plant material mixed with the top layers of the Pierre Shale over the next 28 million years or so, resulting in a layer of yellowish soil. This layer is called the Yellow Mounds Paleosol. At some point around 37 million years ago, the jungle was covered by new sediments carried from the west. The minerals contained in this layer of soil were different than those of the Pierre Shale, so when the jungle grew up again in this new layer, the action of the plants and the organic material they mixed with it resulted in a soil with a strong reddish tint. This layer is called the Interior Paleosol.

The Colors of the Yellow Mounds Paleosol and the
reddish purple Interior Paleosol are visible on the steep sides
of deep ravines in Badlands National Park.
Photo by Brad Sylvester. Copyright 2011, all rights reserved.

Both the Yellow Mounds and Interior Paleosols were later covered again, becoming packed and fossilized by the weight of later sediments. Their distinctive coloration, however, can be seen in the cliff-sides exposed by erosion over the millenia.

Popcorn Rock or Bentonite Clay

More hints about the geologic history of Badlands National Park can be found in the make-up of much of the top layers of soil within the park. Although the area gets little rainfall for most of the year, the soil through much of the roughest areas of the park looks like dried mud. Indeed, it is, but mud of a very interesting nature.

It is a clay called Bentonite by geologists, but known as ball clay or popcorn rock in the local vernacular because of its unique properties. When it does rain in this arid part of South Dakota, The South Dakota Badlands Bentonite, because it contains sodium instead of calcium as it does in some other regions, says John P. Bluemle, absorbs the water and expands to many times its original size. The repeated expansion and contraction as it dries again causes it to break up so instead of a smooth surface, you end up with rough balls of hard packed clay that are an inch or two in diameter.

Bentonite or Popcorn Rock covers many of the steep hillsides
in Badlands National Park.
Photo by Brad Sylvester. Copyright 2011. Do not copy.

These clay balls will often break away from the hillside and roll down the into the ravine when they get wet. When this happens, their soft outer surface will often pick up pebbles as it rolls. If you look carefully at the bottoms of the gullies, you might find some of these clay balls that look like someone took hours to stud them with a variety of small rocks.

Bentonite is formed from the breakdown of volcanic rock and ash. With the super-sized volcanic caldera of Yellowstone National Park lying not too far to the northwest of Badlands National Park, it's pretty easy to determine the origin of the badlands bentonite.

Clastic Dikes

Clastic dikes run down the center of many of the clay hills
of Badlands National Park.
Photo by Brad Sylvester. Copyright 2011. Do not copy.

Another interesting geologic feature helps to give the badlands its rugged appearance. Clastic dikes are vertical wall-like structures of harder rock that erodes more slowly than the surrounding bentonite and paleosols. The result is that it often looks like the spine of the mountains, sticking up with vertical sides from the surrounding rock and soil. Clastic dikes are interesting formations that also tell us something about the history of this land.

According to Harman D. Maher Jr. of the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Department of Geology and Geography, it is believed that clastic dikes are formed when tectonic activity causes the ground to move in such as way as to open up deep crevices. These open crevices are quickly filled in either from above or possibly from liquefied material being forced up from below. This filling material solidifies almost like cement leaving a vertical wall of harder rock encased in softer surrounding soils.

Because of the way it is formed, the material of the clastic dikes may be of a different geological age than much of the material surrounding it. Furthermore, sometimes these crevices open and fill more than once. So if a clastic dike already existed and the same crevice opens again, but wider, the original clastic dike may be encased in a another layer of material, showing several vertical layers of different types of rock when the clastic dike is eventually exposed by erosion.

Source note: Much of the geologic history of the Badlands is told by signage within the park itself or was related to me by park rangers, and it is these that serve as the primary resource for the geological history that I relate here. Where other sources are used, they are referenced within the text.

Road Trip Day 4: Badlands National Park

View from an overlook along the Sage Creek Rim Road in
Badlands National Park, South Dakota

The fourth day of our road trip across the country was really the first day where we didn't need to worry about putting lots of miles behind us. This was a planned day of "rest" sightseeing at Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Badlands is a big place and I'm going to break it up into several parts. One of the things we hoped to do when we came out west was to see wildlife that simply isn't present back east.

One of the smaller of these is the prairie dog. Although small, prairie dogs serve a vital role in the prairie eco-system as a food source for a variety of mid-sized predators, like foxes, badgers, raptors, bobcats, and the endangered black-footed ferret. They also help churn and aerate the soil with their prolific burrowing. But, this is a blog about sightseeing and not about wildlife management, so I'll skip the details about prairie dogs (which, in Badlands National Park, by the way, are of the black-tailed variety,  specifically of the species Cynomys ludovicianus).

• See my prairie dog pictures here 

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Prairie dogs are visible in several spots around the Badlands Loop Road, but the best place to view them is near the Pinnacles Entrance along the Sage Creek Rim Road. Shortly after entering the park, there will be a right hand turn-off marked Sage Creek Rim Road. It's a dirt road, but it is well-groomed and easily passable by any car during the dry season at least. There are several scenic overlooks in the first few miles along this road, and you should definitely take the time to stop and look out over the landscape here. At the five mile mark, however, is Roberts Prairie Dog Town.

Here, on flat level ground, far enough away from any ledges to let the kids walk around without worrying, there is a parking area and a little walkway into the prairie dog town. The town consists of many, many prairie dog burrows. You'll see prairie dogs sitting as sentinels near one of the two entrances to each burrow around the field and others grazing on the grasses seemingly without a care in the world.

At this location within Badlands National Park, the prairie dogs seem accustomed to people and didn't startle as easily as those in other locations I visited. Even so, never feed wild animals even when they seem tame. Prairie dogs don't drink water at all, so they need to get the right mixture of water and food through the grasses they eat. Adding dry crackers or other artificial foods to their diets can throw off their balance, especially if they contain salt. Additionally, once they start to expect food from humans they seek out people and may spend more time in and around the road near the parking area exposing them to additional risk.

A Prairie Dog crouching in the entrance to its burrow at
Roberts Prairie Dog Town in Badlands National Park, SD

Feel free to wander into the prairie dog town, watch them go about their activities, and take all the pictures you want, just watch out for the holes in the ground and the occasional wandering bison. While we were there, one lone bull bison was grazing a couple hundred yards away from the parking area. We kept a wary eye on his position lest it approached closer than the 100 yard minimum distance recommended by the park rangers. It never did.

Money-saving Tip

If anyone in your group is 62 years of age or older, they can buy a lifetime senior pass for just $10. This pass let's them and anyone else in the car into any National Park for FREE-- just another reason to travel with the in-laws.  At some national monuments and other sites, it offers a discount on admission as well. (Mount Rushmore is the exception - no discount for senior passes there.) Otherwise, Badlands National Park admission is $15 per car load, but that admission is good for seven days.

The Ice Beds at White Rocks National Recreation Area

We are off on our cross country trip. We packed the van, handed the house-keys to the sitters and headed west yesterday afternoon. Our first stop is my mother's house in Vermont where we will spend the night, pick up one more travelling companion and head out first thing in the morning. My mother happens to live almost in the shadow of a place called White Rocks National Recreation Area, which is a must see attraction in its own right.

I've written a complete review and description of the place here.

Essentially, the granite mountainside was torn off by a glacier leaving a fall of boulders that stretches from valley floor to mountain peak. All winter long, snow and ice packs into the crevices between these boulders so that by spring there is a deep ice pack insulated by tons of chilled rock. As a result, air flowing over the rocks is cooled and follows the ice beds down into the valley. As you enter the valley, through July at least. You feel the air temperature drop by ten degrees or more as this chilled air settles there.

There is a steam that issues from the base of the ice beds as well which is ice cold all year round. It's probably a good idea to use a micro-filter or other purification system before drinking from it, but we never did as kids. This is theonly place in Vermont where it is possible to have a snowball fight in early July (depending upon snowpack and summer temps.)

So we'll hit the road at 7:00 am, headed for Niagara Falls. 

• Vacationing with the In-laws

Woman Swept Over Niagara Falls after Climbing Railing

As our family is planning a cross-country road trip, one of the stops we had planned was a visit to Niagara Falls. It's something that is on our way and that we haven't seen before. As one of the grat natural wonders of North America, it certainly merits a visit.

Today, however, I learned that a young woman was visiting the Falls on Sunday evening and fell into the river at around 8:30 pm, just about 60 feet upstream of the falls itself. The river current swept her away instantly over the falls. She is presumed dead, although as of Monday morning her body had not been found.

According to the report in the Montreal Gazzette, the woman climbed the railing to sit on one of the pillars with one leg on either side of the metal railing. She lost her balance as she stood to climb down again, says the report and fell to her presumed death. Surveillance video shows no signs of anything other than a tragic accident.

Accidents like these, however, remind us that when we are sightseeing, we need to be very careful and use common sense. Climbing the safety railing is never a good idea. It is after all the awesome power of Niagara Falls that makes it a tourist destination, a power that should be resepected.

Similarly, we are planning on a visit to Yosemite where as many as 19 people have died this year already, mostly from falls. Loose shifting rock along a cliff edge is extraordinarily dangerous. I spend considerable time in the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire and there are places here with similar conditions. We don't always think of a visit to a National Park as a dangerous activity, and with proper attention to safety it isn't. For those who ignore warnings and safety barriers, however, yesterday's tragedy at Niagara Falls is a reminder that they can be very dangerous indeed.