Memory and I said our good byes. She had been a kind and decent hostess by letting me stay at her place for a couple days. But on a cold and rainy day, I continue on with my road trip leaving a great place, but taking with me lots of fond memories. Next stop, Lovell Wyoming. I had heard that there was a well preserve sacred Indian Medicine Wheel there. It’s not to far out of the way to the Little Big Horn battlefield in Montana, so I figured it would be kind of cool to see.
Once in Wyoming, I noticed that I was very near Devil’s Tower. I was pleasantly surprised that I was so close, and that I just had to go there and have my CLOSE ENCOUNTER. Devil’s Tower is just 28 miles off of Interstate 90 near a very small town call Sundance. And yes, the town is name after famous bank robber/outlaw the Sundance Kid. The road to Devil’s Tower cuts and winds through some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen. From what I can make out of Wyoming so far, is that everything is cattle, horses, oil/natural gas drilling, mineral, and lots of wide open country. Much to my surprise, there are National parks and forests all over the place including historical locations. Halfway to the park, one can see the lonely tower protruding out from the earth and piercing the dark rainy sky in the not so far off distance.
In spite of the cold and nasty weather that had blanketed all of Wyoming, there were still tons of tourists from the far corners of the world at Devil’s Tower on this day. It cost ten dollars for a seven day pass to the park. There’s a camp ground there. Just outside the park there were cabins with just a bed with no linen that went for fifty dollars a day. Boy, what a rip-off I thought. But if one thinks about it, then one realizes that it would take at least 7 days to see the whole park. And yes, one can climb the tower, as well as, going to the summit of the tower.
Once entering the park, I drove for a few miles through some piney woods all the while having Devil’s Tower in plain view. I drove to the base of the tower where the Visitor Center is and parking. There’s a 1.3 mile trail path that goes all around the base of the tower that takes about 45 minutes to do. The trail winds through tall pines and giant boulders. The boulders are from the tower. They fall every 10,000 years and tumble down to the base of the tower to their final resting place to move never more, never more.
All in all, I thought my visit to Devil’s Tower was kind of boring. The park is far away from any town or city. It is truly out in the middle of nowhere. However, if one comes here to camp out and hike, then one has come to the right place. The surrounding country is absolutely beautiful. There’s this river that runs right along the edge of the park that is pretty cool. Not too far from the park the river runs through this canyon that’s pretty cool. Though, I am not certain, but I believe, one can kayak, canoe, or raft down the river.
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