Saturday, August 14
I wonder why so many natural wonders were believed to be the work of the devil? Long before it was discovered by Steven Spielberg, I visited the Devil's Tower during the mountaineering summer of 1970. Then it seemed that the earth had an erection, an expression of the male principle in nature. Uncanny and challenging, I wanted to climb it, but didn't since the Grand Tetons beckoned.
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| Barbara after her first look at the Devil's handiwork |
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| My second close encounter |
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| Over 800 feet high from base to top |
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| A pair of climbers doing Yosemite-style crack climbing in the heat |
Barb and I reached DT in the afternoon, and posed for pictures. First Barbara, who was impressed and excited to be there. Then me, having a second close encounter with the artist's work. Since the weather was changeable, we decided to hike the easy loop around the tower's base. In the space of an hour we went from sweating to dodging chilled raindrops. There were at least 8 climbing teams on the crevices that day. My telephoto picked out one pair, about half way to the top. As luck would have it, the battery in my camera died shortly thereafter, so, dear readers, you're spared my observations on rock climbing then and now. I did ask a couple of National Park Rangers if they had ever encountered any aliens on the premises. One replied that there were strange happenings at night. Glad know somebody's keeping watch, I told him.
Satisfied that we had indeed seen one of America's natural wonders, and eager to reach Estes Park Colorado, we embiked again and rode off to the south, stopping for the night in the town of Gillette, Wyoming.
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