Well, this morning started out like so many others with sun shining through the walls of the camper and the sounds of people preparing breakfast or packing up to get an early start.
I got up and threw on a pair of shorts and t-shirt just so I can stay cool until I'm packed up and ready to leave.
The only goal I had today was to see Devil's Tower made famous by the 1976 film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, starring Richard Dreyfuss. It was a relatively short one and a half hour ride from Rapid City which put me there around the noon hour. Here is a shot I took as I approached this national monument.
A fellow nomad was kind enough to take this photograph.
As you can see it was a gorgeous day with temps ranging from 24'C to 29'C and things got warmer the further west I traveled. I paid my admission and rode the three mile road up to the base of this mighty rock for some better close ups.
There are indian legends about how this structure was formed and then there are the geological explanations. The indians talk of eight children (one brother and seven sisters) playing when suddenly the boy turned into a bear and attacked the sisters who climbed a tree for safety. The bear clawed at the tree but couldn't reach them and the claw marks remained on the tree which explains the marks on the tower.
The geological version goes back 50 million years ago when molten lava was forced up through softer sedimentary rock and cooled under ground fracturing into columns. Over millions of years the sedimentary rock was eroded exposing the tower we know today as Devil's Tower. The tower rises 867 feet from it's base and is just under a mile above sea level at it's peak.
Since 1937 when records began to be recorded the tower has attracted an average of 5000 climbers a year
In 1906 President Roosevelt proclaimed the tower as the first national monument.
Last night at dinner Bill Rusher had suggested I continue on to Yellowstone Park so I got back on I-90 heading west. I wanted to make it to Cody, Wyoming which is just an hour east of the park but the heat and wind really sapped my energy and I decided instead to stop in Buffalo, WY.
I got settled in to my new campsite and was starting to prepare my dinner when this huge storm just blew in from the Rockies so I had to settle for vodka tonic and popcorn for my evening meal with a nice crisp Granny Smith apple for dessert.
Looking ahead to tomorrow's weather the weatherman is forecasting a hot sunny day in Yellowstone so I plan to get a good sleep and I am really looking forward to seeing some incredible scenery tomorrow.
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