Skip to main content

Day 66 - Devils Tower

Devils Tower had captured my imagination ever since I saw picture of it long ago. Set far in the northeast corner of Wyoming, I didn't think I would make it out to see it-- but I made it.  

I arrived at Devils Tower midday while the weather was rainy. I secured a campsite and then took a long nap until the weather cleared up.  Most people drive up and walk the 1.5 mile inner loop trail around, but I thought I would hike up on the outer loop trail and then connect to the inner loop and then return back on the outer loop - 6 miles total. 

Along the way I passed by some barking Praire Dogs and some great views of the tower and the praire below. The tower was formed by a magma intrusion and erosion then carved its famous narrow pillars. The tower is a sacred Indian site and walking around the tower in the rainy must felt mystic and spiritual.  The first people to climb the tower did so in 1873 with a 350 foot wooden ladder. I found myself mapping routes up the tower in my mind and really wanting to come back one day and climb it. Pics. 





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 43 - Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef, a national park centered around a 90 mile ancient seabed reef was next on my list. A sensationally scenic three hour drive from Bryce, back through Escalante, and then through a national forest led me to the park.  A stop by the visitor center to get the lay of the land and insider info on local free BLM campsites complete, I set out on Chimney Rock trail up the the top of the first reef to get a view.  Yes sir!! The weather was ideal for hiking and the views completely blissful, but I was frankly tired today. I set out along the scenic road down the west side of the reef and remember wanting to take a nap-- but still having a sense of urgency to complete the desert portion of my trip-- I pushed on and set out to hike down the Capitol Gorge and Grand Wash canyons. The Capitol Gorge had a "Pioneer Wall" with inscriptions from the early 1900s and the Grand Wash had a nice narrow section with towering canyon cliffs all around. I took a photo of the surrounding reef...
1 comment
Read more

Day 54 - Great Sand Dunes

I awoke to clear skies, a dry mattress and pillows, a second hot shower and a waffle-filled motel breakfast. I decided to head east to Great Sand Dunes National Park in order to climb 700 foot sand dunes surrounded by snow-covered alpine mountains--a rare site.  Just about every road in Colorado goes over a pretty high mountain pass eventually, and this three and a half hour journey didn't disappoint.  And Great Sand Dunes didn't disappoint either. After securing a dune-side campsite and waiting out a rainstorm, I set out to climb the dunes for a sunset view. Great Sand Dunes is also famous for its Medano Creek wave-like flow and ankle-deep water, making it popular with young kids. I hiked through it and started climbing the dunes, first to a high dune on the east side and over to the next highest dune and then the next highest et until I got to the highest one-/ properly called High Dune. I sat down, setup my phone to capture a time-lapse of the beautiful sunset my eyes were ...
1 comment
Read more

Day 67 - Badlands

Badlands means very difficult and dangerous to travel through-- Badlands lived up to this name.  I began my eight mile loop hike by climbing up a steep canyon side to the mesa wall on top. From here I travelled east towards the popular window, door and notch trails via a wet, muddy and slippery Medicine Root trail that left me covered in mud up to my knees.  Of the popular trails the notch was my favorite because it involved a wooden ladder climb and then a hill scramble past crumbling rock up to a six foot "notch" step that required a almost-rock climbing move to ascend.  The views up at the top cliff were sensational. Even more fun, two girls from New York-driving to Portland and a young couple saw me up there and followed the path up-- with a bit of my help at the notch. I love helping people get a bit beyond their comfort zone. We all enjoyed the view then descended safely to find that this notch was not actually the trail but a side canyon-- haha.  I then hiked ...
Post a Comment
Read more