1993/07 Rockies trip - Devil's Tower |
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It was cold and wet as we moved on
through Deadwood and Sturgis toward the Devil's Tower. Deadwood used to be a nice touristy town, with memories of Wild Bill Hickok, Annie Oakley, etc., but now it's a casino town, being ripped up for more table space and 
parking lots. We decided it was too much of a mess and kept moving. Nearby Sturgis is the site for the Black Hills motorcycle rally: thousands of Harleys then, quiet now.
The Devil's Tower is the inner core of an old volcano, with the rest of the volcano eroded away. It sits surrounded by a few hundred feet of rubble, a thousand feet higher than the surrounding countryside, so it's an impressive sight and a very popular destination for climbers.
It was also the site of the Close Encounters of the Third Kind movie. 
For once, we had some warm weather, and the area looked really pretty, with red rocks around the river, yellow flowers in the fields, and a blue sky above. The blue flowers are penstemons, I think.
We hiked around the trail at the base, watching chipmunks and vultures and the climbers rappelling down the rock faces. The vultures were watching the climbers too.
For the first time, it was warm and dry enough to barbecue outside that night.
Saturday June 26th
In the morning, I ran all the trails in the park, surprising a few animals and a solitary hiker. A half dozen vultures looked very interested as I struggled up the hill past their breakfast tree.
We dawdled somewhat over our breakfast as it was such a nice campsite. The ladies decided we both needed a haircut, a good idea as we didn't need to sweep up. The birds appreciated the nesting material.