Devil’s Tower for me carries some awesome old memories with it. Our trip definitely has a lot of “things Zach hasn’t seen before” but it does overlap with some previous Sanderson family vacation destinations. I’m definitely saying things like “When I was here last…” but am trying not to make it seem like comparisons: “It was much more fun last time I was here.” One thing that is certainly different, I’m in control of the steering wheel this time ’round.
When we went to Devil’s Tower (1993 maybe?) my brothers and I jumped out of the camper and played some ball in the campground. There was a river nearby but I don’t think Justin had his new fishing pole yet since he got that in Cody. He probably had to resort to throwing the mini football with his dorky younger brothers. I seem to remember the campground having fewer places then. I think that night mom cooked up a roast beef dish that was delicious after coming in with cold cheeks.
Sorry, the above paragraph wasn’t for your benefit unless you are me, Tyler or Justin. That was an awesome stop on our trip. We ended up hiking up to the visitor center exactly as Jayne and I did…
…in the PRESENT. Which is where we are now.
Now familiar with our new tent Jayne and I had the thing up in no time, complete with an awesome view of the tower. We got there at a reasonable hour to ensure a camping spot and we got one with a pretty nice flat driveway which I would later discover was prime RV parking as I watched huge contraptions fit for Cole Trickle drive by and covet the even gravel and wide turnout. Early bus gets the worm though, grandpa.
We headed straight for the visitor center which was about a two mile hike up the side of the hill that Devil’s Tower rests on. To get to the hill, our trail passed a prairie dog town. If you are not familiar, picture big mole hills with that dramatic hamster rodent chirping on top of them. Each hill is spaced evenly apart. Prairie dogs are basically the American suburbanite of the animal kingdom. Similar-looking homes, evenly spaced out with enough room to feel like they own something but not far apart enough that they get scared, accomplishing nothing but barking at any sign of potential danger.
Past the prairie dog town was the trek up the hill. The trail was marked and a steady dirt path but very narrow. It looked more like a small drainage ditch. I remember taking the trail as a kid but for some reason remember it being a lot wider. Could be because I was three feet tall then.
Halfway up the hill the wind started to blow and I thought I could hear rain in the trees further up the hill. 10 seconds later we were getting dumped on. Not thirty feet up the trail from us was the most perfect overhang. It was really cool. It looked like something from a villain’s lair in Masters of the Universe or something. The peak of the overhang was like a giant eagle’s beak hanging over to protect us.
The rain blew past pretty quickly and we hiked on, a little cooler and damper.
We saw a total of two people on the trail the whole time we were on it. This was because the same destination could be accomplished by car. When we got to the visitor center at the end of the trail we saw tons of people. The parking lot was full and flip-flop bedecked kids were crawling all over the boulders.
One family stood out to me. I tried to be cool and relax as a twenty-five year old lucky enough to not have to cart a child on my five week trip. These guys were all over the place though and there were four boys in the family. I tried to draw parallels with our visit in 93 but all I could do was hope that I was not near as annoying as Trevor, Kelvin (parents must be big temperature fans) and Reid. If I was, Mom, I apologize.
In my defense I wasn’t named Kelvin though.
The tower speaks for itself: