2018.10.01 - Devils Tower to Douglas, WY

10.01.2018 - Devils Tower to Douglas, WY - we slept in a bit this morning in that we have a relatively short drive to Douglas, WY.  When we first got up, the top of the Devils tower was hidden in the clouds so it appeared we were in for a cloudy morning. By 10:00 am, however, we could actually see blue sky breaking thru the clouds and soon the sun was shining. We had a leisurly breakfast, broke camp and headed to the Visitor Center.

Devils Tower Campground - Finally, the sun is shining !

The Visitor Center's parking lot was pretty small and RV's had to park down the hill a bit from the main parking lot. After a quick stop at the actual Visitor Center (it's really small), we decided to take the 1.3 mile tower trail that encircles the base of the tower. Although it's up and down a bit, it's relatively easy and is paved asphalt all the way. It was a good way to see the tower from a number of vantage points, from full sun on the south side to shade on the north.

 RV Parking outside the main parking lot.

An appropriate rental unit for today.

Devils Tower from the Visitor Center - looking east.

The sunny side (facing south) is on the right

From the Visitor Center, we decided to hit the south side first in that the sun was shining the brightest there. Rock climbers were also known to pick that side to make their ascent with a number of groups making their way to the top that day. There were lots of aspens around the base of the tower making for good photo ops as well. Not too many people on the trail, so that was nice. We stopped a few times to watch a group of climbers rope up the side. Way too small to catch in a photo. At one spot on the trail, they had a fixed set of binoculars where you could view remnants of wooden ladders wedged in the cracks. The ladders were used in the 1930's for tower ascents. 

Selfie at Devils Tower

Aspens in full color

Nice to see the blue sky again

Devils Tower is actually known as an "Igneous Intrusion" formed some 50-million years ago as molten magma was forced upwards into sedementary rock above it. As the intrusion cooled, it contracted and fractured into multi-sided, vertical columns. Over millions of years, the softer sedimentary rock eroded away, leaving the harder, more durable igneous rock columns you see today. Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower the first national monument under the new Antiquities Act in 1906. Wyoming, therefore, had the distincction of the first National Park (Yellowstone in 1872) and the first National Monument. 

The Kiowa people had a different story as to it's origin, claiming that seven sister and one brother were playing, when the brother turned into a bear and started chasing the sisters. They ran to a stump of a great tree that spoke to them, instructing them to climb on top at which time the stump began to rise into the sky. The bear tried to catch them, but could not reach them and so raked the sides of the rising stump with its claws. The seven sisters were borne into the sky and became the seven stars of the constellation, Pleiades. 

There was also an interesting story in the Visitor Center about a George Hopkins, a professional stunt parachutist, who, in 1941, wanted to prove his jumping prowness by parachuting from an airplane and landing on the top of Devils Tower. A 1,000 ft long rope was to be dropped from the plane after him to allow him to climb down. Hopkins hit his mark, but the rope didn't, leaving him stuck on top.  In the end, it took six days to organize a rescue and get him dowm. Serves him right. 

Nowadays, there are 4-5000 climbers who reach the top every year. Anyone can try it, they just need a permit. In the month of June, however, climbing isn't allowed in respect for Native American beliefs that the tower is a holy place and, therefore, not to be subjected to the disrespect of climbing. 

We ate lunch and headed out about 2pm. As it turned out, Douglas was about 170 miles away, so our short ride turned into something a bit longer. We hit the Post Office on our way out to buy stamps and mail some post cards, but found out it was only open until noon. So we then stopped at the KOA store, which luckily, sold stamps and hit the road. 

      "What kind of  #$@&%*!  Post Office closes at noon, anyway?" 

We headed south, then picked up I-90 west towards Gillette, WY where we stopped for gas. From Gillette, we turned south on Hwy 59 headed for Douglas, WY.  Hwy 59 passes thru classic high plains, including the Thunder Basin National Grassland with lots of sage and lots and lots of antelope.

There are huge coal operations in the area as well with a massive, multi-rail raiload line supporting many long' long coal trains, loaded going south and empty returning north.

The KOA at Douglas is not a "destination resort" and was pretty much as expected for a "one-night-stand" RV park. Although there were many residents that appeared to be "semi-permant", most, like us, were just looking for a spot for the night. Lots of big diesel-pushers and 5th-wheelers.

After settling in, we started checking out possible destinations around the Estes Park area for the rest of the week. We had reservations starting Friday at St. Vrains SP in Longmont, but needed something in between. Because we were trying to reserve a spot less that 72-hours in advance, most locations around Estes Park wouldn't accept on-line reservations. St. Vrains would, however, so we reserved a spot for three days, one space away from our Friday reservation. We'll just have to move one spot over. No big deal.