Devil's Tower

We got ready for this sight by watching “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” the night before. We were worried about not being able to see it well on my 14” computer monitor until we remembered our much loved Sony Trinaton TV with the 13” screen. We used to watch it from across the room. Hard to believe since we now have a 42”.

What a cool thing! Just standing up out of the middle of nowhere. We took the 1 ½ mile walk around the base and enjoyed watching all the climbers. They were everywhere. We added to our mammal count a red squirrel who was flitting all over the place. He was so light on his feet – even more so than the squirrels at home. The Tower is made of columnar rock (we thought maybe basalt but they called it something different) that was formed by magma making a bolt for freedom through other rock which is why it stands by itself unlike the columnar basalt in Eastern Washington where it makes walls.

We had lunch in a prairie dog village at the base of the Tower. The little tykes were everywhere and totally fearless. The signs all say not to feed them but based on the way they came running whenever a car stopped I think some visitors must belong to the 20% of the population that is illiterate. They were so cute and fat. Woe to the prairie dog that encroached upon a neighbor’s begging area.

Park mammal count: 7 – deer, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat, red squirrel, prairie dog, rabbit
Trip mammal count: 10 - deer, moose, chipmunk, big horn sheep, mountain goat, antelope, rabbit, mule deer, red squirrel, prairie dog

Dollars saved on this trip with Park Pass: $52.00