Seven young girls are playing outside when suddenly, spotting his dinner, a vicious bear starts sprinting towards them.
Everyone knows it’s silly to try and outrun a bear!
The girls find a rock on which they huddle, praying to the rock’s spirit, asking for protection. The rock does offer it. It grows taller and taller, shooting towards the sky, the girls perched safely on top of its flat surface. The bear, persistent in his hunt, attempts to claw his way to the top, his sharp claws etching long stripes into the rock as he slides down, his attempts futile.
According to Kiowa legend, this is how Devil’s Tower was formed. The tower continues to be a sacred site for American Indians, who leave their offerings tied to tree branches at the base of the tower.
The tower sparked European imaginations too – early settlers seemed to want to conquer the tower by climbing to its peak. They started with ladders. Today, mountaineers can use one of the 200 climbing routes that grace the tower’s circumference, although there is an action to stop climbers: people don’t climb churches, why climb this sacred site?
Devil’s Tower is impressive. Made of hexagonal columns which formed as magma cooled, it stands alone in otherwise fairly flat, manicured ranch land. The tower’s colours change as quickly as the sky changes its.
It’s huge when you see it from afar, and as I walk closer to it becomes domineering.
There are only about 8 miles of hiking around the tower, but they are nice hikes. Most people do the short tower loop so the other few miles are deserted of hikers, yet they do provide sweet eye-candy of the Tower, the ranches and the red earth that sits at the Tower’s feet.
I’m camped just at the foot of the tower, my tent door aimed at the tower so it’s the first thing I see when I upzip the tent door.
I am fortunate to be here when a slow moving storm makes it’s way towards the tower, the sky turning from a deep blue, to a dark mauve. The colours of Devil’s Tower change as well, changing it from a happy, protective structure into a moody one – it’s stunning, and I’m not the only one watching – others at the campground are doing the same. We wave to each other, confirming that we have a lot of time before the rain comes.
And suddenly, the sky is blocked by think grey clouds that spew angry, fat rain droplets.
I figure I have enough time to make dinner before the rain comes and start. Stove lit. Vegetables chopped and frying.
Wrong.
Dinner is quickly abandoned. Lid on, flame extinguished, everything placed under the picnic table and, already soaking, I climb into the tent.
The park is also home to many brave prairie dogs who, if you squat down and wait a little, may wander over rather than let out their alert and hide in their burrows.
Sturgis is not far, and the annual motorcycle rally is in full swing. A map created for bikers shows scenic roads of the area, colour-coded from easy to difficult rides. Devil’s Tower is a scenic point on the map and hundreds of riders find their way here. The purr of the roaring Harley’s travels far, and starts very early in the morning – it’s not an altogether bad way to be awoken in the morning.
It’s before 10am, and in the store just outside the park, some bikers are already complaining about being dry and asking where the liquor be.
A short drive from Devil’s Tower is the hamlet of Hulett, also a temporary home to bikers. It’s the perfect one street town, straight out of a scene from a movie.
