Day 12 - Big Horn Mountains and Devil's Tower

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We left at the crack of dawn today to get a good start on the Big Horn Mountains. They are the last set of climbs we should have to make. When we got to the peak (9,666 feet) there was still snow on the peaks as well as some of the snow breaks. They must have had great amounts of snow this past winter. Any way, we finally put down roots in Sundance, Wyoming. We decided to take a closer look at Devil's Tower. We got the last spot in the Mountain View RV park, ate lunch and headed north.

We traveled to Devils Tower with a group of club members during the 2002 Sturgis Rally. I don't remember getting as close to the tower as we did today so I assume the rest of the group only wanted to view from afar. It was a good side trip and we walked around the base. I took way too many pictures too.

We are nearly back home in Minnesota so I would like to thank everyone who took a few minutes to read about our trip. We had a nice time and enjoyed reading everyone's comments.

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Photos

Crazy Woman Canyon
I didn't know there was a canyon for us

Prairie dogs
There is a whole field of prairie dogs in the park.

Gary
He say's he is afraid of heights, but he sure likes to climb on high rocks

Granite sliver
Park ranger said this piece is the most recent piece to fall from the tower. It fell over 10,000 years ago.

Prayer cloths
The local Indians put prayer bundles and cloths throughout the tower area around the summer solstice. This tree had a lot.

Comments

[Joan Dawley]

Big Horn Mtns
Very interesting to see Devil's tower closeup. Wonder how it got there. When we took our 1 trip west to Wash., went through Rockies & Cascades. Never had heard of or expected the Big Horn Mtns. I was so surprised. Only place we traveled that had runaway truck lanes at the bottom of long steep grades. Also saw the very tall fishing pole size poles beside the road with small flag on top. Was told that was to mark the road for snowplows when they got tons of snow. Also noticed the huge increase in humidity right after we crossed the border from S.D. into MN. Guess because of the dry ground in SD, then lots of cropland & growing things in MN> We may have serious storms this afternoon & this weekend. Keep watch & stay safe.