7/11-Prepare for a Bunch of Campstool Photos!

At last! A short day! I still left at about 6:30 from New Haven B&B. Sadly, I didn’t get to see Lesa or Gary this morning. I should have gotten a photo last night. 

They had both told Ben and I to take Barlow Canyon Rd instead of going to Hulett. We had no reason to go to Hulett. Barlow Canyon would cut off a little more than 7 miles, and be more gravel and less highway. We weren’t sure, but when Ben pulled it up on Google Maps, even it said to take Barlow Canyon. Ben left before me, but he had been convinced. 

Barlow Canyon was awesome!

Look! Way off in the distance! It’s a campstool!

Can just see the top of the campstool. 

I understand why the route goes to Hulett because of the camping option. But, if you are doing this route, and you don’t need to go to Hulett, Barlow Canyon is the way to go!

I worked my way toward Hwy 24. Getting ever closer to the campstool. 

At the Hwy, I just had about 3 miles to go. I was heading toward the KOA. 

Campstool

Me and the campstool

Heading down to the KOA

Campstool KOA (aka Devils Tower)

I got checked in at about 9:00. They have a cafe here that serves breakfast. It was a perfect day for second breakfast. I had the “Fancy Like”…French toast, bacon, and tator tots. Then I went to the tent area and set up. 

Red rocks along the Belle Fouche River

The campstool from my tent

It was really heating up, and I wanted to go up to the Tower before it got too much warmer. I unloaded most of the stuff off Wanda. 

It was a three mile climb to the parking lot and visitor center. Two miles up there was a traffic light because the parking lot was full. I just rode by all the stopped cars. I noticed when 5 cars came down, the traffic light let 5 cars go up. Clever way of keeping too much congestion at the top. 

I parked Wanda at the Visitor Center.

In the VC

I found a small magnet of the Devils Tower. I decided I would do the 1.6 mile Tower Trail that goes around the base.  Stupidly, I forgot to bring my hat, so I wore my helmet to shade my face. Only had one person comment on the fact that I was walking the trail with a bike helmet on. I told him, safety first!

The Tower Trail is a paved path

Boulder field

Prayer bundles on several of the trees

See the climber?

The gravel road angling toward the upper left corner is what I will do tomorrow.

As I made my way around, I came upon a big man in a motorized mobility scooter. The trail was going up, and his scooter was having trouble making the grade. There wasn’t anyone with him. I asked him if it would help if I pushed. He looked at me and said, “I’m awfully big!” I said let’s give it a go. I handed him my water bottle so I could use both hands on the back of his chair. We made it up a ways more, but then it wouldn’t do it. He got out, and then he could throttle it while I pushed from behind. We did it! He was very grateful.

Away he goes!

I made it back to Wanda, and headed back down. Now, that was a fun descent! I stopped at the Prairie Dog Town at the bottom. There were signs everywhere saying “Dont’t feed the prairie dogs!”

They are everywhere!

This is not zoomed in!

I went to the Trading Post for some ice cream, then back to my campsite. There’s a pool here, so I decided a soak would feel good. Of course it was mostly kids, but I didn’t care.

Tonight they will show Close Encounters of the Third Kind at 8:00. Well, they show it every night. I’m going to take my chair. Even though the Devils Tower was the first National Monument, it is the movie that made it famous. Everything around here is alien themed. 

Vivian and Ken showed up to ride to the Tower. When they get back, we will meet for dinner in the KOA cafe.