It stood all alone on the horizon of the Wyoming Plains as we approached, as if the state was giving us a thumbs up for our visit. Well, right back atcha!
Devil's Tower is the first national monument and Yellowstone is the first national park.....and we got to see them both -- Cool!
It stands 867 feet tall and stood out in the 1978 movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." It is also the subject of an old Indian legend. It seems that a long long time ago, 7 young girls were playing in the field when they were chased by a bear, ran away and jumped on a 3 foot rock while they prayed for the rock to save them. The rock heard their pleas and began to elongate itself upwards and out of the reach of the bear. The bear kept clawing its way up leaving long grooves in the stone as the rock got higher. Eventually, the 7 girls were pushed up to the sky and became the stars of the big dipper. Who's to say it ain't so?
Now, back to our day. When we first arrived, we saw a warning to beware of prairie dogs and snakes while walking on the trails. Obviously, Joan refused to leave the car. I proceeded to follow a path around the base of the tower taking some awesome shots of the tower and the surrounding countryside.
Now you may wonder why there are only 2 pictures above, when I took so many. That is an excellent question. Here is what happened. As I was driving back to the hotel, Joan (bless her heart) was trying to clear out some old pictures to free up some space and inadvertantly erased all but two. But I still love her.
By the way, I was considering climbing the mountain but I remembered seeing the sign that one had to register with the Park Service before attempting. As I did not have a lot of time, I decided to pass. But if my son-in-law, George, is ever out this way, I think he could be a good candidate for the task!
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