It was the first US National Monument, declared by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. I have learnt over the course of this trip that lovers of the many natural wonders the US has to offer have a lot to be thankful to their 26th President for.
The journey from North Dakota back into Montana and then heading south into Wyoming was long, lonely and mostly straight. The occasional town we passed through didn't seem to have much life, cellphone reception was non-existent and any other vehicles were few and far between. It did cross my mind that if Fin got poorly, I wasn't sure what we would do.
As it happens, he got us to our destination perfectly, as ever.
Our first glimpse of the Tower was a near wee-in-the-pants moment - for me at least! Having expected to see it on the horizon for about half an hour, it suddenly popped into view. I was so taken aback that I almost didn't notice the huge elk standing nonchalantly in the middle of the road until the last minute. A quick swerve and we made a beeline for our campsite.
The Belle Fourche River campground, which sits inside the monument's boundary, is first come, first served. We had made good time, however, and had no problem grabbing a great spot with a direct view of the Tower. An added bonus was that the previous occupants had left a huge bundle of firewood by the fire pit, so that evening's cooking facilities were sorted!
As soon as we had pitched, we put on our hiking boots and headed to the Tower. Our route took us through a Prairie Dog town. Having seen these cute little chaps a couple of days before, we were thrilled that they once again put on a good show for us.
Pressing onward, we headed up the trail to the base of the Tower and the visitors centre. It seems like most people choose to drive up to the visitors centre, as we only met a couple of people on this 1.3-mile hike. Just as well, really, as the route was quite narrow in places! Stopping a couple of times to catch our breath, have a swig of water and take some snaps, we were soon at the visitors centre. Stopping in to get the obligatory National Parks stamp in our passport and to listen to part of a Ranger talk, the wasps finally convinced us to get back on the trail again.
We started with the Tower Trail, a 1.3-mile loop around the base of the Tower. It was really cool being this close to the Tower and the boulder fields that surround it. We stopped many times to take more snaps, look for climbers up on the Tower, and just to marvel in its grandeur.
After completing this trail, we did a second one that encircled the Tower at a greater distance. The Red Beds Trail gives you a slightly different perspective of the Tower, is much quieter - we didn't see a single other person on this trail - and quite a bit longer. It was 2.4 miles until we were back at our campsite, via a final visit to our Prairie Dog buddies.
It had been a while since we had done a decent hike, and kicking off our hiking boots we collapsed into our camp chairs.
Light fading, it was time to think about lighting the fire. I got my trusty axe out and started to make some kindling when Sam sheepishly asked whether she could make the fire. "Of course!", I replied.
She must have been paying attention to all those times I had built a camp fire, as she did a great job at getting a solid fire going. I rated it 8 out of 10, which is really good for a girl :)
That night we had bun-less burgers with corn on the cob, and sat by the fire until darkness fell and the annoying sodding insects forced us inside to the sanctuary of our tent. Today had been a day I will forever replay over and over in my head. Thank you, Devil's Tower - oh, and you Mr Spielberg!
This is a day I been looking forward to as well, so much so that I texted you to check when the entry was going up once I started to see blog entries that came from the surrounding area ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love that the vid starts with a hill, which clearly isn't the Tower, deliberate or not, it made me chuckle.
It's funny the rest of the vid is great and some interesting sights and views but it just feel like it is building to the main event, then a road sign for the Tower, the first contact :-) WOW!!
This is probably the best campsite and pitch ever, how cool. The prairie dogs are pretty cute, they remind me a bit of meerkats, which is odd given one is a dog and one is a cat ;-)
There are so many great pics here but the one at 5:14 is probably my fave. Actually 7:19 is superb, so much great footage too. Oh and pics at 10:00 and 10:30 are cool too.
Great work with the fire Sam and dinner, with that view must have been fab.
What a cool day - thanks for sharing.