1/17/2024 0 Comments Devils tower wyoming topWe drove back toward the tower under scattered clouds that cast shadows like lumbering creatures across the landscape around us. The next morning, the snow had abated-mostly. A far cry from our plan to camp under the stars and cook our dinner by camp fire, the Spearfish Holiday Inn did sport “the largest pool in town, complete with two hot tubs!” How could we say no?! We didn’t give in completely to a failed camping attempt though-we popped open our Coleman camp stove next to the vacant indoor pool, and grilled up some dinner under the watchful eye of the night clerk. With no hot springs within striking distance, our next option was the warmth and shelter of the Holiday Inn in Spearfish, South Dakota. In the words of Scott Momaday a Native American author, “There are few things in nature that engender an awful quiet in the heart of man Devils Tower is one of those….”ĭefeated by the ferocity of Mother Nature in our search for getting on rock, we posted up in a cave around the base of the rock, ate some lunch, and composed a plan. The formation is a volcanic plug, a piece of hardened lava that solidified in the top of a great underground volcanic structure millions of years ago-but the Native American explanation of a great bear sharpening his claws on the stump of stone appealed to me more. According to the laminated placards we poured over in the warmth of the ranger station, Devils Tower was originally called the Bears Lodge by the many Native American tribes who still consider it to be a place of great spiritual power. That morning at 3 a.m., we had departed Bozeman under starry skies and balmy winds with high hopes of climbing under afternoon sun at Devils Tower, a truly magnificent formation of igneous volcanic rock jutting out of the rolling hills of northeast Wyoming. These were literally the opposite conditions we had hoped for. We had arrived hoping to climb several routes that afternoon, but the climbing ranger advised against it, saying that high winds, dropping temperatures and snow sticking to the rock would make climbing impossible. The snow was blowing sideways blurring the stands of pines surrounding the small log cabin-style ranger station at the base of Devils Tower.
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