Devil’s Tower/BlackHills “Our…Close Encounters of the Third Kind”August 15-17th, 2022

Monday, Day 28 & 29 of this adventure! So for the first time on this adventure, we were awoken by our loud, piercing alarm, which we thought was our weather radio, but no a Silver Alert on the phone at 5 am! Then my phone goes off at 5:15am ….same Silver Alert! Fall back to sleep till….6 am when the loudest thunder clap makes us both jump 2 feet off the bed! Can’t sleep now so what the hell…. Let’s pack up and get on the road! Showered, packed everything up and on the road by 7:30. Large herd of wild horses cross the road in front of us, then it was like all the prairie dogs were out saying goodbye!

I saw a sign for Home on the Range so I had to look it up….Home on the range is a therapeutic working ranch located in western North Dakota. The facility provides education, therapy, spiritual guidance! Not what I expected!

Crossed into Montana at 8:20 am. Saw a herd of pronghorns along side of road. Lots of cows on the hillsides. Fields of corn, sunflowers & hay as far as you can see! All of a sudden, out of nowhere, these big rock formations….then a sign for Medicine Rocks State Park!!! 🪨

The park is named for the “Medicine Rocks,” a series of sandstone pillars similar to hoodoos some 60 to 80 feet high with eerie undulations, holes, and tunnels in them. The rocks are considered a sacred place by Plains Indians. Theodore Roosevelt said Medicine Rocks was “as fantastically beautiful a place as I have ever seen.” The park is 330 acres in size, sits at 3,379 feet in elevation.

For the next 150 miles…. NOTHING!!!!! No cars, no towns, no anything!

No way in hell could I ever live here, just saying! 11:33am crossed into Wyoming! Landscape changed to pine trees🌲, red rocks and lots of cows. 🐮 And lots of hay….square bails and round ones. About 5 miles away, we could see Devil’s Tower!

12:16 arrived at Devil Tower KOA They said we couldn’t check in till 1pm….. read my bubble! 😳 So we entered the Park which had no parking big enough for the truck & trailer so we went to overflow area….made lunch and went back to the campground! Checked in, set up & happy hour started early! It’s 5 o’clock somewhere! 🥂

Did a little shopping across the street at the Trading Post then went into the park. Visited the visitor center, got our stamp for our National Park book, and yes I got my Junior Ranger Badge. Too hot to hike soooo….

Back at the campground to do 3 loads of laundry. 🧺 Tim brought happy hour the the laundromat! 😃 Grilled dinner out and just gazed at this spectacular view of Devil’s Tower! Listened to music 🎶 till 9:30 then went to far end of park to take pictures! Had to wear jackets for the temperature is in the 50’s. 🥶 Milky Way was so visible and oh my….the amount of Stars.

**** Devils Tower AKA Bear Lodge butte, composed of igneous rock in the Black Hills, northeastern Wyoming above the Belle Fourche River. It rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, standing 867 feet from summit to base. The summit is 5,112 feet above sea level. Devils Tower was the first United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres. The name Devil’s Tower originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, when his interpreter reportedly misinterpreted a native name to mean “Bad God’s Tower”. Native American names for the monolith include “Bear’s House” or “Bear’s Lodge” and others. The tower is unique because of its size and the type of rock, phonolite. The columns that make up Devils Tower are some of the tallest and widest found in these types of formations. Devils Tower history even includes movies. In 1977, it was used as one of the filming locations for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. 👽

The Black Hills are considered a holy site. The hills are so called because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they are covered in evergreen trees. The Southern Black Hills are home to Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Black Elk Peak (the highest point in the United States east of the Rockies, formerly and still more commonly known as Harney Peak), Custer State Park (the largest state park in South Dakota), the Crazy Horse Memorial and The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, the world’s largest mammoth research facility!!!

Tuesday we got up at 7am, went into the park to hike trails. Did Devil’s trail around the tower. Amazing how every turn, the tower changed colors. Saw a lot of groups…2-6 people climbing to the summit with ropes! Climbing the rocks around the base was stressful enough. Lots of birds, chipmunks & deer along the peaceful trail early in the morning. We were able to see remnants of the ladder built in 1893!

Drove to closest town…10 miles away… Hulett. Population 309! Elevation of 3,747. Old country town but apparently closed today! 😲 Passed a Sinclair gas station so had to see if they had fountain drinks….. awwww yes… a Diet Coke but in a Pepsi cup! I’m a happy camper! 😊 🥤🤣 Then went into Devil’s Tower Gulch, just before turn to campground, looked around shop upstairs then decided to have lunch there! Tim tried a local beer…Saddle Brunc Brown Ale 🍺. Lunch was delicious 😋. Today’s travels were 33 miles. Relaxed back at campsite editing pictures and blogging. Tomorrow’s a travel day so time to pack up a bit. Pleasant dreams! 😴