Devils Tower National Monument
We had a wonderful night at Mikesell-Potts Recreation Area. I woke up to a gorgeous sunrise over Lake De Smee. We had bagels for breakfast. We put things away and were on the road about 8:00. Today our destination is Devils Tower National Monument, about 127 miles away.
As we were leaving the county park we saw a few Pronghorns at the entrance. One was drinking water out of a mud puddle from yesterday's rain. We saw a couple of fawns.
Larry drove 101 miles on I90, and the rest on a couple of two lane highways. As we driving we saw a lot of ranches with cows and horses. While driving the interstate we saw where Wyoming had a big fire, the prairie was burnt on both sides for over 15 miles. We saw where ranch fences were replaced and much of it was still being replaced because of the fire. We saw a couple of workers replacing the fence. We also saw some Pronghorns in the burnt area. There wasn't much to eat but they were finding a little bit. The scenery was very nice because you saw mountains and rolling prairie. When we got to Gillette Wyoming we stopped at the Maverick right off the highway to fill the Minnie with gas. It had a free dump station and water in front by the gas pumps 3&4. We had dumped our tanks yesterday so we were fine with that but there had been no fresh water so today Larry topped the water tank off. After getting water we are in business for at least another week.
We were back on the road again. We had to stop for road construction along the way. We waited about ten minutes. While waiting we chatted with the lady holding the stop sign. They were oiling and graveling the road. The sign and pilot crew consisted of four women and one man. We didn't see any big trucks working on the road, We only saw where the road was done and the sign holders. The work went for a long time. Once out of the construction we had no delays. Today the road we took were very well maintained.
As we were driving we saw Devils Tower at a distance. It was very cool. There is a KOA Campground right at the entrance of Devils Tower. There is also is a cafe and souvenir shop. The park ranger, who let us in the park was very nice and gave us a map. First stop was the campground to get a site, it is entirely first come first serve. We had no problem. We found a great site right across the road from the restrooms and water. There is no power at any of the sites. By the end of the day there were only two tent sites left.
Devils Tower National Monument entrance
Devils Tower was the first National Monument. In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed the Tower and 1,000 surrounding acres a national monument. During the Great Depression the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the camping and picnicking facilities and the log buildings that house the visitor center and offices for the rangers and entrance station. They improved the road to the base of the Tower and built a trail around the Tower. Over 20 Indigenous tribes continue to maintain sacred narratives about the creation of Devils Tower. There are white tail deer, black-tail prairie dogs, porcupines, chipmunks, cottontail rabbits, mule deer and different species of birds.
We arrived at 10:30, using binoculars we spent most of the day watching people climb Devils Tower. We read a bit. After dinner we walked around the campground and surrounding area. As we walked we saw the prairie dogs, turkeys and a cotton-tail. We walked to the day area and read about Devils Tower. We saw a beautiful sculpture, which was Circle of Sacred Smoke. We walked around for about 45 minutes. Then I walked around for a half hour to get some steps. I ended up doing 17,000 steps. We read.
Turkeys walking to the amphitheater
One of the many Black-tail Prairie Dogs
A cotton-tail rabbit
Circle of Sacred Smoke and Devils Tower
We had a super day.
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I would love to hear friendly comments on anything at all. Ruth