Devil’s Tower in Wyoming
You can see this thing from quite a distance.
“Why do we have to pay $25 to get in if we can already see it?” asked Maureen.
“Because it’s not the same. Close up and far away are two completely different things,” I said. And truer words were never spoken.
Puzzling Signage
Do not eed the animal. I assume that meant do not feed the animal. So I asked the park ranger in the booth who is the animal we are not supposed to feed?
Close up and Close Encounters
This laccolithic butte performed in the movie, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” a Spielberg movie from 1977. This is where the prairie meets the mountains.
“I’m glad we paid to get in,” said Maureen.
Every year people come from all over the world to climb these columns. Rocks are continually breaking off and falling but the columns seldom collapse.
The air was unbelievably fragrant. I read that the pine trees smelled like vanilla. It was so invigorating that I, for a second, felt like I was 16 and ready to hop in the car and just drive into the sunset looking for adventure.
The Pleiades Again
Colonel Dodge came out to investigate whether there was gold in the Black Hills. He named it Devil’s Tower even though the Sioux called it Bear Lodge among other things. One story about how the butte was created is as follows: Eight children were playing at it’s base. The brother turned into a bear and chased the seven sisters. They climbed upward, but the bear came after them carving deep lines into the rock with his claws. The seven sisters ascended into the sky becoming the Pleiades, part of the Taurus constellation.
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