My Close Encounter At Devils Tower

The road was dark with a heavy mist settling over it like a heavy wool blanket covering the earth. I had not seen another car in over an hour, when out of nowhere there came a brilliant light....Wait a minute that was a dream. I wanted to tell you about a trip I actually took with my daughter. Lets re-start this.

On a trip I took with my daughter to go see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse monuments, I had to take a little side journey. I being the sci-fi fan that I am realized that we where not far from Devils Tower. Now for those of you that enjoy the modern classics you will know devils tower is the mountain that is so famously connected with the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Now if you do not know this movie you cannot call your self a fan of sci-fi, and if you do then you must be as old as me just kidding. On a serious note if you are not familiar with it I whole heartedly suggest that you go find a copy and sit back and enjoy.

On this trip we had seen some pretty amazing places and the memories that we created where priceless, but the one that sticks out the most for the both of us was Devils Tower. The funny thing about it was we only went there for the day but it seemed to be a real highlight of the trip. One of the reasons that it became so memorable for the both of us was when I realized the we had the chance to see this place I made sure and bring along the movie Close Encounters as well as Paul an that also has Devils Tower in it, and happens to be now one of our favorite movies. So in the evenings sitting in the motorhome we would play cards twenty one or some other game she made up, she was only nine at the time and watch those movies. As well as National Treasure since we where also headed to see Mount Rushmore.

I will never forget the first sight of Devils Tower form the highway and the sheer excitement that came over her, and I will not deny myself as well. This was the culmination of my sci-fi nerdiness the only thing better would have been to go see area 51's entrance, or the chance to go to the Little Alienn restaurant. Now that I have shown my crazy, I will continue. As we got closer I was shocked just how giant this was. We stood in marvel of this natural wonder. The funny thing was this was not the real goal of the trip yet it had become the most significant part of the trip.

Its funny how the unexpected can and often becomes the most memorable or important part of a journey. We talk about that trip all the time. I have since run into many roadblocks that have not allowed much other travel, but we still dream and talk about the next time. With luck life will send some good fortune our way and before she grows up and is to busy we will get to see a few more things.

A little history about Devils Tower It was, it was actually was declared a national monument in 1906 by Teddy Rosevelt, it was the nations first national monument.

It got its name from Col. Richard Dodge who when writing about it took a little liberty with what the Native Americans called it, their name was "the bad gods tower" so he changed it to Devils Tower as we know it today.

The over all height from base to the top is 867 feet. and its top is about the size of a football field and flat.

The formation is not a volcano but was formed via this underground then erosion left us with what we see today. They suspect that it was formed over fifty million years ago.

And yes it can be ascended, many climbers go there to get the chance to summit this unique formation, with the proper permits. About 400 to 6000 climbers visit annually.