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 57 - Rocky Mountain National Park

Ever since I decided to go west for my big trip, I had dreamed of high mountain lakes with snowy peaks arching in every direction, with chilly air making every moment crisp, and with clear skies bringing all into perfect focus-- pure bliss.  Today was the first of many great mountain lake days to come.  Hiking here was far easier here than in the San Juans because the snow was packed down on the trail, but I brought my mini crampons for the downhill. I made it safely past a narrow ridge with narly black peaks across the gorge (pic 1), then up to Mills Lake (pic 2) then Jewel Lake then the Loch (pic 3) then down before the afternoon rain started falling.  I hiked around some lower, more accessible lakes but the sky was now overcast and pictures no good.  I drove up the open portion of the Ridge road amid a very light dusting of snow before heading back to camp for dinner and bedtime. I did manage to capture some fine Elk grazing in a meadows on the return trip and a g...
3 comments
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