Devil's Play
The highways and scenic byways, as well as an extensive network of backcountry lanes, are the signature of the Black Hills and Badlands. Up and out on the road. Left the main roads and headed up Highway 34; wending my way down solitary drive on this scenic byway connecting to Highway 24 in Belle Fourche, Wyoming. Orange, red, and golden-hued pockets of burr oaks and elm are pocketed in the creekbeds and valley swales along the route. The road passes through towns with single digit populations. The tiny rustic roadside hamlet of Aladdin and its landmark historic store just recently was for sale for $1,500,000 and the Aladdin store, its liquor license, post office, gas station, an adjacent 2-bedroom home, an outbuilding with a walk-in cooler and a seven-unit mobile home park sold for $500,000 earlier in the summer. The tiny town is a popular stop for travelers and motorcyclists.
Seriously, passing no one for miles and miles through ranches, across streams and around buttes. I felt as if I had been painted into a fine western oil painting.
And then I round the bend and out of nowhere there it is....the tower....rising above the surrounding grassland and Ponderosa pine forests –a monument to a geological wonder. Devil's Tower is a solitary, stump-shaped granite formation that looms 1,267 feet above the tree-lined Belle Fourche River Valley, like a skyscraper in the country. Once hidden below the earth’s surface, erosion has stripped away the softer rock layers revealing the Tower. Northern Plains Tribes have lived and held ceremonies near this remarkable geologic formation for thousands of years. Fur trappers, explorers, and settlers alike were awed by the tower's majesty. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Devil's Tower as our nation's first national monument. There is nothing surrounding it that even vaguely resembles this formation. There is no real agreement on how the tower was formed, but the simplest explanation is that Devils Tower is a stock—a small intrusive body formed by magma which cooled underground and was later exposed by erosion. The magma which formed Devils Tower cooled and crystallized into a rock type known as phonolite porphyry. It is a light to dark-gray or greenish-gray igneous rock with conspicuous crystals of white feldspar. Hot molten magma is less dense and occupies more volume than cool hardened rock. As the rock cooled, it contracted, forming hexagonal (and sometime 4-, 5- and 7-sided) columns separated by vertical cracks. These columns are similar to those found at Devil's Postpile National Monument in California but those at Devils Tower are much larger.
Hiking around the tower, one can feel a majesty, power, and reverence. As you encounter others on the trails, there are no other voices above whispers. The tower plays and important role in Native tribal life. Stories and histories shared by tribal members indicate that the Tower was a sacred site - a place for winter camps, vision quests, and summer ceremonies. Today, many tribes still utilize the park for traditional ceremonies. Visitors will observe prayer cloths and prayer bundles attached to trees around the park, especially along the Tower Trail. These represent a tangible connection which native peoples still maintain with this area. One legend has it that a giant bear clawed the grooves into the mountainside while chasing several young Indian maidens. Known by several northern plains tribes as Bears Lodge, it is a sacred site of worship for many American Indians. The stone pillar is about 1,000 feet in diameter at the bottom and 275 feet at the top and that makes it the premier rock climbing challenge in the Black Hills. June is a voluntary no climb in respect to Native ceremonies. Devils Tower is also remembered as the movie location for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind" I stayed at the campground right at the entrance of the park and each evening at dusk they play the movie.
This was my first KOA Campground experience. While expensive, the location couldn't be beat. There is a nicely stocked camp store and restaurant that I did not try out. However, the showers and bathrooms were impeccably clean and hot, hot water. Each shower is a solo room and nicely tiled. It was a full hook-up campground that I made good use of. Cleaned out and ready to move on.
The highways and scenic byways, as well as an extensive network of backcountry lanes, make the Black Hills and Badlands of western South Dakota an absolutely an amazing drive. From hairpin curves, mountain-carved tunnels and eagle-eye views, to wide-open meadows and ranges with bountiful wildlife, to deep canyon passageways along sparkling mountain creeks, I am just not sure which direction to turn. My brother wants me to head to Custer and visit an old high school friend and Tracy Amato suggested I check out Spearfish Canyon. I am still without running water, so I am checking into RV repair. Will let you know next post which way I turn.
