Devil's Tower and Crazy Horse

Devil's Tower

Yesterday we packed up and left Bozeman.  Thankfully the rain held off until we put the cover over the trailer.  It looks like we are done with the camping portion of the trip.  Weather isn't looking so hot...thunderstorms are popping up all over the West.

We decided to return by a different route than our usual path so we could visit Devil's Tower.  I have to say that I had never heard of it...that evidently makes me "weird."  Our 31st anniversary was spent in Gillette, WY.  We ate dinner at the Prairie Fire Brewery...an okay beer though not a Cold Smoke or Bozone.  It did have outdoor dining that allowed Cooper so a win for the evening. 

Long Horns

Devil's Tower is only an hour away so we arrived before the crowds which was really nice.  Just as we were driving up we noticed a couple of bison and a small herd of long horns...kind of a cool sight right in front of Devil's Tower.  

The Tower became the very first National Monument in 1906.  It is one odd looking area compared to the surrounding landscape.  There are a few theories as to how the Tower was formed.  The one agreed upon idea was that it was formed by an intrusion...or the forced entry of magma into a rock formation.  The outer layer wore away leaving behind the harder rock...the Tower that we now see.  The problem is that people can't seem to agree on exactly how this all occurred.  Like I said it is an odd formation.   

Smoke Ring Scupture by Junkyo Muto

Several Native American Tribes consider the Tower sacred and it has several other names...Bear's Tipi, Grizzly Bear's Lodge, Bear Lodge Butte, Tree Rock.  One Native American story tells of a boy getting chased by a bear.  He prayed to the Great Spirit to save him and the huge rock rose beneath him carrying him up to safety.  The bear tried to climb the rock and left huge claw marks. 

Colonel Dodge documented the first sighting of the rock was in 1875.  Somehow the original translation was mistranslated (of course)...the Indian word for the Tower should have been "Bear Lodge" not "Bad God's" which was changed to Devil's Tower cause it 'fit better'. 

Crazy People

Back side of Tower

I took the 1.3 mile hike around the base of the Tower.  Several climbers were visible on several of the 220 climbing routes...crazy people.  The hike was a nice easy paved trail...about 30 minutes or so with all the picture taking I do.  Bill stayed with Cooper at the visitor center (no dogs on trails in National Parks/Monuments) while I hiked.  

He said that it was interesting watching people jump out of cars, take a quick picture and jump back into the car.  Very few actually walked up the path for a better picture...even fewer completed the trail.  We seem to see that type of activity a good bit when we're in Parks...rushing from one thing/site to another and not spending any time anywhere.

Almost as soon as I finished the hike the clouds started rolling in and we decided to head off towards Crazy Horse.  A totally different 'tourist site' than our usual preference.  There is something compelling about the Crazy Horse Project that intrigues us.  It is certainly an amazing work that must have been a daunting task to have undertaken by Korczak Ziolkowski in 1948. 

The sculpture is so HUGE.  A few figures to ponder: the head is 87 1/2 feet tall, the arm is 263 feet long, the horse's head is 219 feet tall, the base is 641 feet long and 563 feet tall.  

The completed head

The face was completed in 1998 well after the death of Ziolkowski (1982) and millions of tons of rock have been moved.  No where is it written when Crazy Horse will be completed.  We're not sure we'll ever see it finished and cannot imagine someone spending 40+ years doing this knowing he'd never see it completed.  Amazing that all of the work is still being overseen by his wife and children along with the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation...and all privately funded.

Marble Model 1/300th scale

 

Yet more crazy people

Long Horns and Bison

Rickety ladder from 1800's

Black tail prairie dog

Cooper watching other "dogs"

After leaving Crazy Horse we drove by Mount Rushmore on our way to Rapid City, SD.  Our plan was to visit the monument the next morning so that the sun would be on the faces, but since it was on our way we did a drive by.  Sad to say we were disappointed.  The sculpture looks so small after seeing Crazy Horse.  We knew that the 4 Presidents would all fit on Crazy Horse's head and hair...according to the Crazy Horse Foundation...but it appeared even smaller.  Just not our thing I suppose.




UPDATE:  8-22-14
Woke to rain/fog so we decided time to bail...no point heading back out to Mt. Rushmore since we would not see it in this weather.  Heading home instead...