We got an early start and said a poignant goodbye to Yellowstone National Park. We had had an amazing time!
Google Maps estimates the travel time between Old Faithful and Devils Tower at seven hours and twenty-four minutes. For some reason, it took us nine hours.
The Plains Indians hold Devils Tower and the surrounding area sacred. Each Nation had its own story about how it was created, but the Kiowa legend is the most famous. The People believe that seven little girls were out playing and were attacked by a bear. The girls' prayer for help was answered in the form of a rock. The Great Spirit told them to stand on top of it. The rock rose out of the ground and transported them up away from the bear. The bear raked the sides of the rock with its claws, leaving deep furrows. The seven girls still remain in the sky as the stars in the constellation known to us as the Pleiades.
A mistranslation of an Indian name led the early explorers to call it the "Bad God Tower". This was later changed to "Devils Tower".
In 1906, President Teddy Roosevelt made history by establishing Devils Tower as America's first National Monument. He went on to declare 17 more. He also signed legislation that created five National Parks and 150 National Forests.
You can see Devils Tower several miles before you actually get there. There's not a lot out here to block your view.
Note the striations. Steven Spielberg's 1977 move "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" made them famous. Richard Dreyfus's character, obsessed with the Devils Tower formation, uses his fork to imprint them into a mound of mashed potatoes. From this distance, they really do look like fork marks!
We'd seen many desperate signs throughout the west, but this one we found particularly clever. It says, "For heaven's sake! Please stop and eat before we both starve!" Nice try, but we just ate.
In a strange way it reminded me of the simple but witty signs we saw throughout New Zealand.
Wildlife isn't a major draw at Devils Tower, but prairie dogs were ubiquitous. There's a huge "town" of them along the road up to the site.
We'll walk the 1.3 mile Tower Trail which encircles the formation. Like Uluru, in the Australian Outback, each side was slightly different. And its appearance changed even more with the angle of the sun.
From this vantage point, the top appears flat. It is actually mounded and about the size of a football field. You'd find grass, trees, and even squirrels up there. The guidebooks say that it isn't much different than the landscape around us.
Up close, you can see that the striations are actually giant columns of rock. A boulder field surrounds its base. These boulders are actually collapsed columns that have tumbled down from above.
Some of the boulders are quite large and have probably been here thousands of years.
Rock-climbing is a very popular activity at Devils Tower. An estimated 4,000 climbers reach the summit every year. You need a permit to go any higher than I am here. The Native Americans consider Devils Tower to be sacred, and climbing it is a sacrilege. Tribal leaders feel that climbing should be prohibited altogether, but the government cannot outlaw climbing for purely religious reasons. The rangers have compromised, asking rock climbers to stay off the Tower during the holy month of June. The climbing ban is voluntarily. Still, requests for permits drop by 85%.
The first climbers used wooden stakes that acted like a sort of ladder. You can see a remnant of one of the stakes in the middle of this photo. Holes left from other stakes can be seen along the seam up to the left.
There are two climbers in this picture (just left of center). One is wearing an orange shirt, and one is wearing no shirt. It gives you some perspective on how large the tower really is.
The top of Devils Tower is 1,280 feet above the surrounding landscape (roughly a quarter mile). Scientists disagree about the origin of the tower (where did the magma come from? and why does it protrude above its surroundings?). But most agree about how the columns were formed. When molten rock cools, it produces crystals. If it cools slowly, the rock has time to shrink and crack into perfect 120 degree angles. This produces hexagonal columns, just like Sheepeaters Cliff in Yellowstone. Different rates of cooling also formed a few 4-, 5-, and 7-sided columns.
We were the only people to go to Joyner Ridge to view the sunset.
How perfect is this picture? It's a quintessential photo of the American West. All it lacks is a howling coyote.
The full moon was actually unwanted on this night. It prevented Ma from seeing the Perseid meteor shower.
***
We spent the night at the KOA Campground just outside the park's gate. (Literally; their driveway is just a few feet from the entrance.) Unlike all of the other cabins we stayed in on this trip, this one did not have the a sink, or bed linens, or even heat. You get a bare, tarp-covered mattress on a double bed and bunk beds, a central light fixture, and little else. On the plus side, it was clean and in good shape. And it had a porch swing and a fire pit out in front. I was not expecting the no heat-no linens situation. The reviews had said that the provided linens were gross, so you should bring your own. I was prepared to be disgusted, but not cold. Ma had brought a blanket. I hadn't. Instead, I slept in several layers of clothes. For me, it was a long miserable night. Looking back, I should have known better.
Oh, and I should have joined Ma on the big bed. Yes, Ma, you told me so.
For Christmas dessert, I made myself a pumpkin pie. Mmmm!
Their basement is now finished. It's really bright and cheerful down there. And the floor made a great surface for the boys' new Matchbox cars.
Linc got a drum set.
Nash got Legos.
Very young children often find the cardboard box more entertaining than the toy it held. My nephews are well past that age now. So this contraption is both a cardboard box and a toy. (It's technically Linc's house, but I think the boys will have a lot of fun in it together.)
There's always one who ruins the picture... Hey, birthday boy! Straighten up back there!
That's better.
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is decorating cookies with my mother.
This year, we did one batch of white and one batch of gingerbread. That's a lot of cookies! Each cookie is unique. (Okay, so after nearly three decades of decorating cookies together, we get a few duplicates. So what?)
Naturally, there are a few that turn out (unexpectedly) great. Which is your favorite?
Did I mention we also made chocolate chip cookies and spritz?
Everyone gathered at Dan & Deb's cabin on Friday night. Katie wouldn't arrive until after midnight, but her son Mason had plenty of aunts and uncles and cousins to keep him entertained. He's such a happy little guy. I'm sure that DJ feeding him beer helped to keep him jolly. (Just kidding, Katie!)
The opening morning hunt is a wonderful tradition, and this was Trevor's first. He sat in Norm's stand.
In the afternoon, I took off on a solo hike through the woods. There were deer signs everywhere. For the uninitiated, this photo ain't no Easter basket. That's moss covered with a few kernels of deer scat.
There are some very cool mushrooms growing out there.
I headed for the ground blind along the fence line. It had seen better days. The logs that had been concealing the chairs had collapsed upon them. I took it upon myself to make a few repairs.
How do you like my handiwork? Most of the logs were rotted through and couldn't be reused, so mostly I dragged new ones from nearby fallen trees.
After dark we headed for Dan & Deb's cabin again. We celebrated an early Thanksgiving. None of the guys got any deer, so we were sans tenderloins for our feast. Still, we had a great meal of baked ham, cabbage rolls, cheese pirogis, root vegetables, and chicken soup. Yum!
Those who didn't fit in the dining room were hanging out in the living room.
Troy brought a friend along this year. Her name is Christina. We've often said if you can manage to spend the night at the Farm, you pass the family's inspection. Well, Christina did it with flying colors. That's her playing with Mason and chatting with Troy.
Ma and booze? Nuh uh.
Well, we weren't very successful at killing deer this year, but we always have a good time. And great food!
I had an above average year for bell peppers. I picked all of these last Saturday. I managed to pick several green peppers earlier in the season, too.
My front yard is a carpet of orange leaves. This photo doesn't do the color justice. It catches my eye every time I walk past a front window. And I love rounding the corner in my car and spotting my yard down the block. Spectacular!
You can see Devils Tower several miles before you actually get there. There's not a lot out here to block your view.
We'd seen many desperate signs throughout the west, but this one we found particularly clever. It says, "For heaven's sake! Please stop and eat before we both starve!" Nice try, but we just ate.
Wildlife isn't a major draw at Devils Tower, but prairie dogs were ubiquitous. There's a huge "town" of them along the road up to the site.
We'll walk the 1.3 mile Tower Trail which encircles the formation. Like Uluru, in the Australian Outback, each side was slightly different. And its appearance changed even more with the angle of the sun.
Some of the boulders are quite large and have probably been here thousands of years.
The first climbers used wooden stakes that acted like a sort of ladder. You can see a remnant of one of the stakes in the middle of this photo. Holes left from other stakes can be seen along the seam up to the left.
There are two climbers in this picture (just left of center). One is wearing an orange shirt, and one is wearing no shirt. It gives you some perspective on how large the tower really is.
We were the only people to go to Joyner Ridge to view the sunset.
How perfect is this picture? It's a quintessential photo of the American West. All it lacks is a howling coyote.
This pool is called Sunset Lake. Regrettably, it doesn't look best at sunset. It's called Sunset Lake because of its brilliant yellows and oranges, but the low angle of the sun revealed only a tiny sample at its edge.
Cliff Geyser sits on the very edge of Iron Creek. An eruption is imminent when the crater is full to the brim and boiling. It is unpredictable, but it sometimes erupts twice a day.
Black Sand Basin gets its name from the black volcanic glass sand (obsidian granules) that is found in the area. Thermophiles contribute the reddish color in this photo.
Our sightseeing done for the day, we returned to our cabin at Old Faithful. What a great spot we got! This is a photo taken from our front door. We can see the geyser from here.
Castle Geyser erupted a little earlier than anticipated. We were walking up the trail and saw its initial burst over the treetops. It's a good thing eruptions last for 20 minutes. We still got a good show out of it.
Even after the peak of its eruption was done, it still splashed water out occasionally, and the steam made for some excellent rainbows.
This cluster of geysers is called the "Grand Group".
Beauty Pool
Chromatic Pool
The size of its sinter cone... The height of its eruption... The sheer volume of water expelled... There's nothing that's not gigantic about Giant Geyser. When Giant erupts, it can shake the ground. Unfortunately, it's unpredictable. Giant can lay dormant for years between eruptions.
This amorphous shape is Grotto Geyser. Scientists theorize that the geyser emerged in a stand of trees, and the remains became covered with a thick coating of sinter. Thus the cone developed into this unusual form.
Here's a closer view of Grotto. I think that's a "stump" in the middle, and a fallen limb on the left forms the nifty arch.
Riverside Geyser is among the most dependable geysers in the park. It erupts every 5.5 to 7.5 hours for about 22 minutes. And it has done so for as long as records have been kept.
At last we have reached our destination: the Morning Glory Pool.
