Devil's Tower National Monument - A Day Off

Devil's Tower Was the first national monument and was created by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. However it has been visited by people for over 10,000 years. It was the site of wintering Indian tribes and was a the source of Indian legend where seven sisters and there brother was being chased by a bear. A buffalo helped them by showing them how to run around the rock four times and the rock rose up and the bear could not get the children. The bear clawed at the side to get the children but could not get them. Modern theory holds that molten rock squeezed into the sedimentary rock but did not surface. The soft sedimentary rock was then eroded leaving the Devil's Tower. What ever forces created the Devil's Tower it is a very impressive sight. I have seen many pictures including Close Encounters and none of them do justice to what a magnificent sight it is.


This morning I slept in until around 7:00 AM which was great. A nice hot shower and good breakfast put me in good stead for visiting the Devil's Tower. Our campsite is right at the park gate, so I met up with a couple of other riders and we walked up to the visitors center which was up a 2 mile trail. It was a lot steeper than we had thought when we started out so we were sweating by time we go to the top. The views of the surrounding valley was worth it. The visitor center was small but very interesting. There was a 1.5 mile trail around the tower which offered a 360 view. At most of the angles you could see climbers on the steep face of the rock. You wouldn't get me up there for any thing. I don't even like ladders.


After we got back down it was time to clean my bike. I wasn't all that dirty as we have had very good conditions the last few days however nothing runs like a clean oiled chain. The smoothness of the shifting and silence of the chain running in the gears makes the task time well spent.

As my laundry was done yesterday I think an afternoon nap is in order. There is nothing like the luxury of a lazy afternoon. I will post next weeks route map after supper which is here in the camp ground. Ok it doesn't look like pictures are going to load. I will try later.

Terry