On our way up to Devils Tower, we chose a scenic route through the Black Hills that took us through Deadwood, where I spent too much time reading the displays in the Adams House Museum. \u00a0Our route had us going through tunnels lined up perfectly to see the four faces of Mount Rushmore. \u00a0We set up in the Devils Tower National Monument campgrounds and then went up to see the Visitors Center before driving to the town of Hulett (population 383) for supper at the Ponderosa Cafe, where we had a huge meal for an incredibly inexpensive price, served by folks just as friendly as you please. \u00a0Next day, Jeff took his leave to continue on to Idaho, and Barb and I went back to the Tower to hike around its periphery. \u00a0We saw at least four different sets of climbers on various faces of the Tower, including the descent of a team that consisted of a young guide and a not-so-young 70 year old completing his first climb of Devils Tower.<\/p>\n
Devils Tower is thought to have been formed as\u00a0a large mass of igneous rock which intruded through sedimentary rock beds without reaching the surface, but made a rounded bulge in the sedimentary layers above. \u00a0As the magma cooled, hexagonal (and sometimes 4-, 5-, and 7-sided)\u00a0columns\u00a0formed. As the rock continued to cool, the vertical columns shrank horizontally in volume and cracks began to occur at 120 degree angles, generally forming compact 6-sided columns.<\/p>\n
Devils Tower did not visibly protrude out of the landscape until the overlying sedimentary rocks eroded\u00a0away. \u00a0As the elements wore down the softer sandstones and shales, the more resistant igneous rock making up the Tower survived the erosional forces. As a result, the gray columns of Devils Tower began to appear as an isolated mass above the landscape, today\u00a0rising dramatically 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain.<\/p>\n
The nearby circle of sacred smoke<\/strong> sculpture honors the American people as a gesture of world peace by sculptor Junkyu Muto. The sculpture is designed to help raise visitor awareness of the importance of the Tower to over twenty affiliated tribes. It is the third of seven works planned by the sculptor around the world. The first two are located at Vatican City and Bodhi, India. The sculpture represents the first puff of smoke from a newly lit pipe.<\/p>\n\n\t\t