Leaving Sheridan we entered a very desolate desert area heading towards eastern Wyoming. Felt sorry for the cross country bicyclers we saw (but they chose to do this). In the middle of this desolation there was the oasis of Gillette, WY with nice houses and all the familiar restaurants and stores. This area mines much of the coal used in the USA. Continuing on, the geography improved as we arrive at the KOA campground located below Devil's Tower.
Devil's Tower is another anomaly in America. It's about 800 ft tall and the hike around that we took is a little over a mile. Using binoculars, we watched several pairs of technical climbers ascend and descend the cliffs.
Indian lore suggests that the vertical "claw marks" were made by a giant bear trying to catch children as they escaped the bear. The tower rose out of the ground to protect the children.
The tower was featured in the 80's sci-fi movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" starring Richard Dryfus. The KOA campground shows this movie outside every night. Jeff watched for a while but got cold and returned to camper.
No comments:
Post a Comment