Minneapolis/Yellowstone trip '09: Leg 5 Devil's Tower

Leaving Cody we are off on yet another great Wyoming journey, this time up into the beautiful Bighorn Mountains, reaching over 10,000 feet at the summit. Following highway 14 we pass through Greybull and then just before our ascent the little town of Shell (no relation to my Shell! But just as cute as my Shell!). We stopped at Shell Falls, a wonderful stop and gorgeous area. Saw some more deer and elk on the trip and then the big descent back into the valley.

(Opening shot; Devil's Tower, Wyoming)

Our destination for the day/night is Lake De Smet, just north of the town of Buffalo Wyoming. This was an adventure. There are no instructions, no ranger, no camp host, you just have to figure it out - always fun toting around a 14,000 pound trailer! First spot we picked we almost turned the trailer over, the spot was so small and so terribly uneven. (Pause.) Almost turning a trailer over is somewhat stressful, just in case that wouldn't be obvious. We did find a nice spot, still a little uneven but doable. The lake is a tri-county reservoir, very pretty, very clean and we had a great view from our parking site. (Pics of lake, etc. below, first "window road shots".)

Here are a couple of "window shots" driving up to the Bighorns.

And here is the Shell falls stop:

And a second falls

And surrounding area.

So, as many folks have said in different eloquent ways, it is not just about the destination, but the journey as well. The rest of this drive was like a travel log through the alps, with alpine meadows, deer, beautiful streams - all so very appealing to the eye and the soul.

Here is Lake De Smet, and no I have no idea how it got its name, probably some guy from Smet founded the area. Wonder where Smet is?

And our room with a view:

Looks good and it was, but it took over 8" of boards under the trailer tire to level up!

Roxy doesn't worry about level, that's not a dog's job! Dogs chase balls and retrieve sticks from lakes (and chase squirrels and rabbits and bark at bad guys and stuff like that!).

Evening started with this neat shot of building clouds and the moon rise:

We did have some interesting camp site neighbors. First they had 3 boxers, the youngest and feistiest took a liking to Rox. That was nice. But then at night when we lit our camp fire the neighbors just brought their chairs over and sat down. Hello! The lady proceeded to tell Shelle her life medical history in complete boring details and the guy started to tell me everything that is wrong with America. Turns out he is way right of Rush Limbaugh, of course a hero of his, and once he got started he couldn't quit. He also explained how they really didn't need any laws in Wyoming because A) no one follows them (I believe there is some truth in this) and B) everyone just respects each other. There ya go!

Next stop, Devils Tower. We met Mike and Sally again (they had stayed in Sheridan) and caravaned together to the Tower.

Devils Tower is awesome and it moves you. It is truly spiritual to the Indians and even today is still so considered. You will find “prayer cloths” around the area of the Tower, especially at the four quadrants of the compass. Feels almost like a comfortable church. The Tower, no one likes the term “Devil’s” but it is so ingrained over time it is hard to officially get rid of the name so all the locals and rangers just call it the Tower. Basically the Tower is a petrified volcano that never went off. It formed just like a volcano with all this molten rock screaming up through the earth, but it never made it to the top, so it never erupted. Some conjure that it was part of the same volcanic system that created Yellowstone and even perhaps that the eruptions at Yellowstone were what relieved enough pressure so that the Tower did not erupt. Then over the course of a great number of years the softer soil surrounding the tower eroded or blew away and voila; today’s famous monolith.

The Tower's 15 minutes of Hollywood fame came from its prominent appearance in the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Star gazers might be interested to know that part of the Indian legend says that 7 Indian sisters were chased up to the top by a huge, huge bear who kept clawing to get to them, hence the striation marks up and down the Tower. The sisters were eventually saved and turned into stars and became Pleiades, the seven sisters (now ain’t that cool!).

I am not sure why but both Shelle and I had expectations that the area around the Tower would be dry, barren and arid. Wow were we wonderfully surprised, it is just the exact opposite. Gorgeous country, great drive in (Wyoming goes with good drive, once again!) and fantastic camp ground. We were able to get two great camp spots right next to each other, which since it is first come, first served was really neat.

Driving in, first sighting of the tower:

Our wonderful camp site, with the Tower in the background:

And before we get close to the Tower, how marvelous the surrounding area near camp, here are some samples:

These guys are called "Mexican Hats" after the big brimmed sombreros, well they are pretty, some gringo must have named them.

Now, another thing, you might not know this, that the area is famous for is the ever so cute, ever so bold Prairie Dog. These guys are, well I suppose, cute and fearsome guards of their territory. They have two huge fields, right near the Tower, filled with these curious critters. Here is one of the dudes.

In all the huge space these guys had we never saw any of them "pal" up or get together, as I have seen in other pictures of these guys. Must be something about the geography that keeps them so sorted out and single. Never ever did we see the following:

Now here are some shots from the Tower from walking around the base, a fantastic thing to do, especially if guided by a ranger.

Here is a shot of a climber, they have about 5,000 per year (egads) which will give you a perspective of the size of this rock and the monumental task these climbers take on. I look at this shot and say " how the "Devil" did you get there, and what the yatahey are you going to do from there" Wow!