Devils Tower

Devils Tower National Monument has been on our "bucket list" since the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" opened years ago.  Today we finally had a chance to visit the Tower.

As we got closer, the magnitude of the Tower became very apparent. At 5112 feet above sea level, it's the highest point for miles around.

American Indians have revered the tower for generations, naming it Bear Lodge. Their name was misinterpreted as Bad God Tower, which became Devils Tower.  It was originally thought to be the core of an extinct volcano, but is currently considered to be a Magma Intrusion, which is just a fancy phrase for an upward intrusion of hot magma into fractured sedimentary rock above it.  It never appeared above ground, but has been exposed by erosion of the rock by the nearby Belle Fourche river along with rain and wind.

We walked the base trail around the tower, marveling at the different faces the tower presented.

One of the interesting things we noticed while on the trail was the damage done to many trees in the forest of Ponderosa Pines.

At first we thought of vandalism, then perhaps fire or beavers or deer rubbing their antlers on the trees, but nothing seemed to fit until a ranger pointed out that the local Porcupine population loves to eat the tender layer just under the outer bark of the tree.  Since Porcupines don't hibernate, they are on the hunt for food all year long, particularly in winter.  Surprise!

One last look at Devils Tower as the clouds gathered and we drove away.

On the way out of the park, we stopped to visit one of the local Prairie Dog towns.  These guys are Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs, one of more than a hundred different kinds of prairie dogs.  Dogs are very social, and live together in "towns".  The town at Devils Tower covers some 40 acres, but in years past, they were measured by the square mile!

Dogs only live about 4 years in the wild, due to the fact that they are lunch for badgers. ferrets. bobcats, coyotes, hawks, falcons, and bald eagles.  Their population is declining, so consequently the population of other species is also declining.  One interesting note is that each burrow contains two entrances, an observation room just inside each entrance where the dogs can keep watch without going outside, a nursery, food storage and eating room, as well as a bathroom.  Social, indeed!  They are smarter than some other mammalian species……

A great day trip, some 247 miles round trip, but worth every effort.  Day Five of afternoon thunderstorms.  This is getting a bit monotonous.