June 27
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June 30-July 2
Thursday, June 29
I woke early for some reason. Carl didn't sleep well last night. So, we grabbed breakfast, packed up, and headed off down the road again.
Today's objective is Devil's Tower National Monument. It was raining when we left the hotel (it was really heavy during breakfast). However, it cleared as we neared Wyoming. We had blue skies with some puffy clouds most of the time we were there.
The three photos above are three different views of Devil's Tower. The photo on the left is the view from the approaching highway. The center photo is the view from the entrance road. The photo on the right is the view from the base, near the Visitor's Center and looks almost straight up.
Parking was at a premium when we arrived - very few empty parking places and lots of cars circling. We finally found a spot, parked, and went into the Visitor's Center for an overview.
Then we walked the Tower Trail (around base of Tower). It was just over a mile in length. It was a nice walk! We kept encountering the Ranger Walk as it went along, so we picked up some history and geology as we walked.
These four photos were some of the ones I took as we circled the base of Devil's Tower. The photo on the left shows one of many prayer flags that were tied to trees part way up the base. They're put there by native Americans that live in the area. The photo on the far right shows a closer view of the vertical rocks that make up most of Devil's Tower. To give you an idea of scale, the diameter of each of these tubes is about the same as an average schoolbus.... It's not been conclusively determined whether these tubes were formed by volcanic action or some other form of magma displacement.
Three more photos from the base trail. The photo on the left shows Carl looking up at the massive rock above us. The other two show more close up detail of the vertical rocks.
We were there from about 9:30 til just after noon. As we drove back to the entrance station, we stopped for some parting shots.
Lunch was at the cafe at the entrance. BLT for me, cheeseburger for Carl.
Soon, we took our leave and continued on to Gillette, WY, for the night. We checked in early and lazed around the room the rest of the afternoon.
Dinner was at a nearby pizza place. Good dessert (good pizza and beer, too).
Then back to the room for a few episodes of Big Bang Theory.