back to bear lodge

When I last left off telling you about my vacation, I has just visited Mount Rushmore, where I uncovered a terrorist plot to poison the North American supply of Oreo cookies. Today I'll be telling you about a place called Devil's Tower, or Bear Lodge, depending on who you ask and/or want to offend.

As we made our way into Wyoming, we left interstate 90 and took a scenic route that was suggested by the local bike shop owner. Although central Wyoming is largely lacking in green scenery, our route on state highway 24 led us through some small mountain ranges that wouldn't look out of place in a Busch Beer commercial.

Somewhere near Hulett Wyoming we rounded a series of bluffs and discovered Devil's Tower out in the distance. As you can see from the first photo, it truly stands out against the landscape.

After stopping to take several photos (and to allow Mr. Franey time to find some things to throw) we hopped back in the Explorer and finished our trip to the Tower.

After setting up our tents at the small campground on the park grounds, we drove further up to the visitors center, did a small bit of reading, and began the hike around the landmark.

Before whitey came to Wyoming, Devil's Tower was known to the Native Americans as Bear Lodge (among other names) and was considered a holy site not unlike Mecca or Jerusalem. In 1870-something Colonel Richard I. Dodge led a geological survey of the area and coined the name Devil's Tower, which stuck. Of course that pissed off the Native American groups that considered the area sacred, but attempts to rechristen the rock Devil's Tower/Bear Lodge even as recently as 2005 were met with opposition. Just ask Wyoming representative Barbara Cubin, who argued that a "name change will harm the tourist trade and bring economic hardship to area communities". That's perhaps the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life.

After climbing around on the boulder pile surrounding the rock, our hike took us completely around the tower. On what I suspect was the Southeast face we stopped to look through a couple of pipes that were mounted to point out the location of the historic wooden stake ladder that was used to climb the tower way back in the olden days. A word of advice: even if you can see the ladder, it's not worth seeing. But the tower itself is a fantastically amazing statement in weirdness. Although the explanations for its formation attempt to clear up how it got there, it's unfathomable to think that it was once completely surrounded by land that has now receded (one theory). It's quite easy to see why Steven Spielberg chose the site for a film about aliens; It truly seems like something from another planet.

After completing our hike we headed back to Hulett to find something to eat. Our first attempt proved worthless as we had arrived just in time for the closing of an establishment, so we crossed the road in hopes of finding food at a run down hole in the ground bar. Although we didn't find anything to eat, our host and bartender suggested we try the White Tail Creek Lodge, so we took off in a jiffy.

The White Tail Creek Lodge staff was quite cordial, and our waitress told us about the scene near Devil's Tower during the filming of Close Encounters ("There was a lot of that barbed wire everywhere and they closed the roads") while the local proprietor prepared us some fantastic steaks. After dinner we spent a short while watching an old Mike Tyson fight at the bar, and then headed back to our tents.

Our night of camping was not without strain, as the heat and heavy damp breathing led to an extremely moist tent, but I awoke the next morning and stepped out to the scene of three deer making their way through the campground. I spent the next hour watching them and waiting on everyone else to wake before we packed up and headed to Yellowstone.

Further research after our visit has increased my interest in climbing Devil's Tower, although the practice is frowned upon by Native American groups, especially during the month of June, which is considered a holy month. So there's always that to weigh. And the fact that I've never climbed anything.

In case you're wondering, the top isn't large enough for a regulation soccer field*, though apparently it's close to football field size. I doubt anyone would jump out of bounds to avoid being tackled.

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*Regulation Soccer Field is a standard unit of measure.