This National Monument is located in Wyoming just over the South Dakota border about 65 miles from Spearfish, SD where we are camped this week. So I am posting this in Wyoming and South Dakota today.
Judie and Betty Flip out over seeing the Tower
Did you know that Devils Tower is America’s First National Monument? It’s true. Thanks to Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.
No apostrophe in “Devils”… It was unintentionally dropped when the proclamation was established. This was a clerical error and never officially corrected.
Did you know that the columns that create the tower can be 4, 5, 6, or 7 sided?
We learned these facts and many more today along with some of the Native American beliefs about this strange rock formation that juts out of the ground and can been seen in the distance for miles
Devils Tower North Face
The Tower stands 1267 feet above the Belle Fourche River and is 5112 Ft above sea level. The top or summit of this rock is about the size of a football field. It is rocky, with native grasses, cactus and sagebrush. Also you’ll find Chipmunks, mice and occasional snakes are found up there. How can that be? How does a snake get up this big rock mountain?
Expect to see climbers at various spots along the columns. Most of them Free climb utilizing only the natural occurring ledges , cracks and projections to inch their way up the Tower. To watch them, makes my stomach feel a little queasy. They are just out stretched and hanging on all those 100’s of feet high above the rock pile below them. It is said that approximately 5000 + climbers come here every year from all over the world.
Climber on Devils Tower
In the picture above taken with a 200 mm lens you might be able to see 4 climbers. Follow the shadow of the rope at the bottom and see one guy on a ledge, above him is a gal spread eagle between the column and two more guys on the ledge above her. There were others at different spots and positions on the rock today.
A walk around the tower gives you different perspectives and lighting
We walked the 1.3 trail around the Tower and saw different vistas and angles and lighting of the tower. The photo above was taken late afternoon from the East side.
View from the Tower Trail to the valley below
Another stamp in our Passport Book at this great National Monument.
Thanks for preserving this area President Roosevelt!
