After my family moved to the United States, we would go back to Canada on vacation every summer. It took three days to drive from Utah to Ontario so my dad would always find places for us to stop and explore along the way. One of my favorite places was Devils Tower in Wyoming (I was so excited to see it because I am a big fan of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind). My sister Marilyn and I were on our way to Mount Rushmore on a road trip when we spontaneously decided to revisit some of our favorite stops from those summer vacations, starting with Devils Tower. It added about two hours to the ten hour drive to Mount Rushmore but it was worth it because it is so cool!
It is a large butte (867 feet from base to summit) formed from igneous rock with hundreds of parallel cracks (which makes it very popular to climb). It is sacred to the Kiowa and Lakota Native American peoples because, according to legend, it rose from the ground to save a group of girls from a large bear that was chasing them. The bear's claws left the cracks in the rock when it tried to climb up to the girls but the tower grew so high that the girls eventually became stars in the sky. It costs $25.00 to enter the park (which you pay on your way out) and there is a loop you can drive which takes you all around the tower and leads to a Visitor's Center, a path you can take to the base as well as some longer hikes, and several routes of varying degrees of difficulty for climbing the tower (you must register for a permit, which is free, and then check back in when you finish). Go here for more information.
I loved seeing it again but, sadly, no alien space ships landed there during my visit!
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