Our next stop was Devils Tower, WY. You know, the place made famous by Close Encounters of the Third Kind. We stayed at the KOA just outside the park entrance to Devils Tower National Monument (http://www.nps.gov/deto/) and as you can see, we had a pretty nice view. Shame we don’t have a window in the back of the RV! We were parked right across from the large community campfire which is lit nightly at 7pm for anyone's use, and then at 9pm every night they show the Close Encounters movie!
Devils Tower is 5, 112 feet above sea level, 1,267 above the river that helped form it, and 867 feet from its base to the top. In 1906 Devils Tower was proclaimed the first national monument, and today thousands of visitors come every year to marvel at this sight. Nearly 5,000 climbers come from all over the world annually to climb its massive columns. Contrary
to popular belief, the tower did not rise up from the ground through the earth. Instead the process began 60 million years ago as molten magma pushed up into the sedimentary rock above it. As the magma cooled, it contracted and fractured into the grooved columns. Over millions of years the softer rock and sediment surrounding the hard volcanic rock eroded away exposing the tower. (We also learned that the nearby Little Missouri Buttes were formed at the same time in the same way.)
The area is sacred ground to many American Indian tribes and is still used for ceremonies and worship today. Many of these ceremonies occur during the month of June, and there is a ban on climbing during this time. Throughout the park you see prayer cloths or bundles tied to trees. These are brightly co
lored cloths that sometimes contain herbs, tobacco, or something symbolic to the individual, and after a prayer is said, the cloth is tied to the tree so the wind may blow the prayer up to the Great Spirit. According to Native American legends, the columns on the tower were created by claw marks of a large bear, and each tribe has their own version of how this occurred. This photo of a painting in the visitor center depicts the Kiowa legend. 
At the nearby picnic area is the circle of sacred smoke sculpture honoring the American people created as a gesture of world peace. The sculpture, dedicated in 2008, represents the first puff of smoke from a newly lit pipe.
We decided to take the 1.3 mile ranger-led Tower Trail walk that circles the base of the tower giving you up close views of all its sides. The trail is paved and not too strenuous though one spot is a little more uphill. Our guide was not actually a ranger but rather worked for the forest service and we have a feeling it may have been one of his first times leading a group. We have no doubt he is extremely knowledgeable and intelligent 
but was just not good at relaying information and answering questions for the group. However, we enjoyed the walk through the pines and the beauty of the tower and its surroundings. And you can see Russ back to his rock climbing (sort of) in one of the pictures below!
We only stayed a couple days in this area as there’s really not much more to do, and since we didn’t see any aliens or UFOs, we figured it was time to move on.
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