Devils Tower
Devils Tower is a tremendous column of rock, abruptly jutting up from the pine covered
hills of north east Wyoming. Towards the close of the age of dinosaurs
a volcano went dormant, the plume of magma caught in it's throat, cooled and hardened into rock-
like plaster in a mold.
Erosion by the nearby Belle Fourche river scoured away the surrounding landscape until
the once subterranean volcanic plug stood 850 feet in the air. The cooling lava
crystalized into bundles of six sided columns, many of which have splintered off and fallen into
ramps at the base of the tower.
These fragments- each the size of tractor trailer- are a perfectly
hexagonal as a giant's pencil.
A Native American legend attributes the groved appearance of Devil's Tower to a giant
bear who tried to claw his way to the top.
If you look carefully at this photo you can see two climbers in the center of the
picture.
Devils Tower was seen in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", as the site of the alien mothership's landing. In the movie Devils tower seems to be brown- but it is actually covered in green lichen.
Devils Tower is in north east Wyoming, not far from Badlands NP, and Mt. Rushmore. This high country, with its evergreen forests, and grassy hills is quite beautiful. Cool breezes stir the trees, like a benevolent spirit sweeping over the land.
All images © John Donohue