Blogs from Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming, United States, North America - page 2

Our next stop along the way, is Devils Tower, WY. This is the first National monument, decreed by (guess who!) President Roosevelt, in 1906. You need to stop in a town before (we stopped at Gillette WY our first couple of trips, coming from the west, and Sturgis this time, coming from the east) to stock up on groceries, etc. (There's a little store at Devils Tower, if you forget something important.) Devils Tower is the focal point of the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075860/) The KOA campground there (http://koa.com/campgrounds/devils-tower/) is situated on the filming site and they show... read more

We rounded up the group and headed off to Custer's Battlefield at Big Horn Mountain. Ed is a history buff and a wonderful tour guide. We started our "tour" by walking the battlefield down to the ravine. There are headstones placed along the field where the remains were found for the Soldiers and the Indians. The soldiers headstones are white and the Indians are red. It is interesting to see how the battle unfolded. There was a large Indian Encampment, approximately 5000, just over the ridge, beyond the ravine. As you walk down into the valley to the ravine you visualize the challenges that Custer's troop faced. There are small hills and mounds that entirely block your field of vision, or make it easy for you to disappear. The Indian warriors knew this land. They outnumbered ... read more

Checked out Devils Tower (Bear Lodge) and a went by a huge field of prarie dogs.... read more

I headed west today, into Wyoming. When crossing the border, one sees the highway stretching away in the distance by a long mountain ridge. I thought at first these were the Rocky Mountains. In reality, they are the last gasp of the Black Hills. My main target, Devil’s Tower, lies within them. There are three roads to get there. I ultimately chose the long northern route, because it is the most scenic. The first part goes through rolling ranch land, with the mountains in the distance. Slabs of sandstone start appearing in the hills. The road ultimately enters a valley, on par with what the rest of the Black Hills has to offer. Along the way, it passes a town sign that I had to stop and reread, just to make sure it was not a ... read more

Finally! We got to Devil's Tower, we finally found it on the 2nd day of traveling through Montana and Wyoming. Our navigator has taken us on a few crazy detours, one of which we filmed yesterday. We were trying to find Wounded Knee, Lucy brought us to some place down a dirt road, with a house at the end. Not what we were looking for. When we got to the Tower, I couldn't walk up the hill, so we could see all the prayer bundles, that is private stuff anyways, that's between the Creator and the person who left it. The tower was huge, it had turkey vultures soaring above it. And apparently, eagles soar around it in the winter. We sat at the base, we rested and took pictures, it is hallowed ground, many ... read more