August 24, 2020

Devils Tower Hiking

Devils Tower View Campground Devils Tower, Wyoming

Another short walk this morning.

Our goal today was to hike the 1.5-mile Joyner Ridge Trail at Devils Tower.  This was a great hike. 

We started on the ridge with wonderful views of the tower.

We descended the steep hill.

We walked through a cool ravine.

The last portion of the trail was through prairie.

We wanted to hike the Tower Trail as well.  This though was much more popular.  The parking lot was full and the trailhead was crowded.  We elected to try again later in the day.

After a brief rest in the RV, we headed to the town of Hulett, population 383.  We walked the streets of the town and stopped at the Corner Market to get a few groceries.

We had a good lunch at Red Rock Café.

The tower was shrouded in smoke much of the day.

We went back to the park after 5 to walk the Tower Trail. This is a paved 1.3 mile path around the base of the tower. I am really glad we went back to do this portion. We got an entirely different perspective of the imposing size of the formation.

Closeups of the columns – each is hundreds of feet tall and 10-20 feet wide.

Prayer cloths throughout the park.

Climbers!

Beyond the tower.

Changing light.

Wildlife in the park.

We had a picnic dinner and were entertained by a group of wild turkeys. This one was separated from the other 14 turkeys in her group…she was on the wrong side of the fence and trying to find her way back!

A couple of her friends on the other side…

Sunset as we left this evening.