Devils Tower, Wyoming.

Our last stop on our journey through Wyoming is the iconic Devils Tower. This might rock appears to have been thrust upward from the earth’s core in some sort of monolithic statement. In reality, though, it slowly appeared as the prairie around it eroded away exposing the harder rock surface of a rare type of rock. I will leave it to the geologists to wonder about the specifics of the tower’s existence (of which there is apparently some scientific disagreement.

I will instead, like the many first-time visitors to the park, simply be in awe of the magnificence of this national monument, protected since 1906 for its scientific value. The opening image is a close-up view of the tower taken from a sequence of trails that visitors can use to loop around the tower for views of the prairie dog town and the nearby Belle Fourche River valley. The 1.5-mile (2.4 km) trail has one steep elevation change on the South Side Trail. If you loop the tower counter-clockwise, you’ll be downhill on the large elevation change. The National Park Service’s Devils Tower website lists the details on the park’s hiking trails here.

Our first views of the tower were from some distance as the tower stands so high above the prairie. We stopped at a pull-off on Wyoming State Highway 24. It was another smoky day for us, but the haze filter in Luminar AI did a decent job of removing much of the haze in the photos I took that day.

Looking in the opposite direction, a set of cliffs were all we could see of the Belle Fourche River from this vantage point. I admit to using sky replacement in this altered reality image to add some life to the hazy sky.

One of the first pull-offs inside the national monument is the large prairie dog town. We couldn’t resist stopping to take a few photos of those cute burrowing rodents. Being a rodent, they have a controversial history, however, according to the park website, they are an important part of the prairie ecosystem. The article notes that some prairie dog towns can cover hundreds of acres, the town at Devils Tower encompasses only about 42 acres. You can read more about prairie dogs in the park here.

The trees at the base of the tower provide a visual perspective on the height of this natural wonder. Three altitude descriptions help with understanding the magnitude of the tower which is 5,112 feet (1558 m) above sea level and stands 1,267 feet (386 m) above the nearby Belle Fourche River. Probably the most important height is referenced from the base of the tower which is 867 feet (264 m) below the relatively flat summit.

There are many hundreds of parallel cracks in the tower making it one of the premier climbing areas in North America. Cracks in the large columnar structure can be wide enough to fit a climber’s body while others are barely wide enough for a handhold. I have no interest in rock climbing, preferring to have solid ground underneath my feet, but for those who enjoy climbing, be sure to check current conditions at the tower before planning a long trip. The pandemic has closed many of the common climbing routes, though on the day I am writing this (early April 2021), there are no closures.

In the month of June each year, there is a voluntary closure in the area inside the Tower Trail to honor the fact that the area is a traditional cultural site for indigenous people. Since the closure is “voluntary,” it doesn’t mean you are prohibited from climbing. As it notes on the website here, there are no fines or citations given to those “caught” entering the closure area. The closure, even though voluntary, has resulted in an 80% drop in climbing activities during the month of June. Because of the sacred nature of the site to American Indians, this closure provides some quiet and solitude for those ceremonies of Native American origin.

We spent a couple of hours at the park having arrived late in the day and still needed to continue into South Dakota for our scheduled evening stop. Near the park entrance, a small collection of businesses ply their tourist items. Among the local businesses in the area, there is a gift shop and a cafe. As of this writing, the cafe is listed as temporarily closed.

From Devils Tower, it’s only about a 90-minute drive to Rapid City, and all of the other attractions in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I conclude this tome with an announcement of a new feature that goes along with the new look on my Journeys blog.

Notes on the new the new theme and new features allowing access to better quality images.

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered that the new WordPress block editor allows me to embed images directly from Flickr to my posts. In order to take full advantage of the feature, I had to change WordPress themes.

The new theme allows you, dear reader, to get a more detailed view of images that were saved in higher resolution by simply clicking on the image to see it on my Flickr site. Other photo details are included in the data block underneath each image on my Flickr site for those who might be interested. Finally, clicking on any image brings you to the album that features all of the selections for this week’s challenge without my having to create a specific gallery section in my post. Flickr does the work automatically. Check it out. Click on any image above and then a new window will open up. That’s my Flickr site.

Click on the Flickr image to get a detailed view of higher resolution images. Scroll down below the image to view details about the photo and camera used. Use the arrows at the left and right sides of the image to scroll through the entire gallery. I hope you like the new look.

John Steiner

Devils Tower, Wyoming.

In early June, I will feature a Travel Tuesday post about the Devils Tower National Monument. This interesting and unique tower has a controversial set of theories as to how it originated. About the only thing that the scientists agree on is that the tower didn’t “thrust upward” from the prairie that surrounds it. Instead, over the millennia, the prairie eroded around it.

Spielberg fans will recognize the tower from the 1977 movie, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. It’s also a major attraction to rock climbers with it’s many cracks that allow climbers to ascend.

About the photo: This image was captured at the trailhead of one of the hiking trails that lead visitors around the base of the tower. It is very near the parking area at the national monument. I took the image with my Samsung S20U, uploaded it to Lightroom and finished processing as usual in Luminar AI. Click on the image for a closer look.

John Steiner