FE. We depart Sheridan and drive through the eroding hills of northwestern Wyoming, under dramatic and endless sky.

RN: Some of you may be wondering why we didn’t go to Yellowstone. Answer is “been there, done that.”

RN and FE: Thank you, Fred from Foys Lake, for suggesting a side-trip to Devils Tower National Monument (we assume you visited here riding a Harley). Here are a few riders from the Sturgis rally enjoying the day.

FE: The tower, which is 867 feet high, was formed by an intrusion of lava into the sedimentary layers of the ancient sea that used to cover this area. Why is it now on up on top?

Easy… the once the sea disappeared, the mighty Belle Fourche river eroded many of the surrounding sedimentary layers away, and left the hard volcanic rock behind. Here is a view of the river taken from our hike from the parking lot up towards the base of the tower.

Sandstone is one of the layers of sedimentary rock left behind by differential erosion, here Rae is illustrating the drama of it all

here a harder balanced rock protects the softer sandstone from erosion

We are close to reaching the base of the tower, and the skies start to threaten rain

The tower also erodes and the columns break away, forming a pile of scree at its base.

We hike the loop around the base of the tower and see many prayer bundles left hanging from trees.

RN: This is a sacred site for the local indigenous tribes who revered this tower and visited it for thousands of years prior to the influx of settlers. The native names call the tower “Bear’s Lodge” or “Bear’s House.” It got its present name when it was visited during an expedition of the US Army; the colonel’s interpreter misrepresented a native name to mean “Bad God’s Tower” so it was given the name “Devil’s Tower.” Over the past 20 years, there have been multiple attempts by Native Americans to change the name to “Bear’s Lodge National Monument,” but they have all been rejected by the Wyoming representatives in congress (all info above from Wiki).

FE: It may become stormy soon

Well, we get away before the rain hits and take a shuttle bus down to where we parked. Good for my knees, and thank you kind shuttle driver for explaining to us the popular local sport of shooting prairie dogs…it is considered unsporting from less than 200 yards distance. Who would do such a thing? On the other hand they are pests that ruin the prairie.

We drive without any delay through Sturgis but notice enormous RV encampments and lots of bikes along the way. When we arrive at our hotel the “Sturgis Effect” is clear. I guess these folks do not quite understand why Rae is taking a picture of a parking lot!

RN: Thank goodness our hotel room is on the 9th floor! The bikes are LOUD.