Day 31: Devil's Tower National Park

Tuesday July 12

Tues July 12^th we wake up and look out the camper at Devil’s Tower.  We pack up quickly and head to the park but not before I make Scott drive the truck and camper so I can take a picture of “Vinnie and Tow” with the tower in the background.  The park entrance is right outside the campground and we are told we will have to unhook the camper and leave it at the bottom if we don’t see another large camper exiting the park.  Luckily we see a camper leaving and there is plenty of room for us to park near the tower.  We visit the Visitor’s Center and learn a little more about the tower and the legends about how it got its name.  One Indian Legend says that 2 sisters went out to play and at night as they were returning home, the land rose around them protecting them from a bear.  The columns were made by the bear clawing at the land trying to reach the girls.

Devil's Tower

We decide to walk the 1.5 mile trail around the base of the tower.  Almost immediately we spot climbers on the tower.  It is neat to watch their progress as they throw ropes up and down the tower.  The land is still held very sacred by the local Native Americans and we see many prayer blankets tied to trees.  Later I find out that each different color has its own meaning.  At one point on our trip, Scott tries to get the girls to sit and listen to the sounds of nature around us (when we are alone on the trail).  The girls really do not appreciate this but the two of us do.  We are ever so careful to walk on the trail and not on cracks on some of the rocks that Scott and the girls climb as there are warnings of Rattlesnake in the area- yuck.

Prairie Dog

We eat a quick lunch at the camper and head out of the park but not before stopping at Prairie Dog Town.  There are hundreds of prairie dogs by the side of the road and we stop to watch and photograph them.  Then we are on our way to the Black Hills of South Dakota.  It is almost comical once we are in South Dakota to see the town signs which state the population.  Scott sees one town that boasts of 10 people!  Hard to believe that the town of Keystone (which we pass by several times over the next few days has only 300 for a population but can run such a tourist town).  The Black Hills are pretty but none of us would call them black.  If anything they are very green with vegetation and dark brown rock formations.  We spot several spots along the way that warn of bighorn sheep crossing the road and get excited that we might see this elusive animal.  This is one of the only animals we have yet to spot on our trip and we very much want to see one. 

The thing that strikes us most about South Dakota and the Black Hills region is how focused on tourism the area is.  There are campgrounds all over the place and places to spend your money; animal farms, chuck wagon dinners, water slides, etc.  We arrive at the campground and can’t get over the size of it.  Right at the campground itself, there is a horse stable (riding and chuck wagon offered daily), ice cream and pizza, laundry, restaurant, etc.  The one thing lacking at this KOA are large campsites.  We can barely fit the camper and truck on the same site.  It is cloudy and a mild 60 degrees out so we have dinner and play a game before an early bedtime.  Isabella helps make her brownie for her birthday tomorrow while I am cooking dinner.