Day 5 (September 5, 2019) - Devil's Tower

Deadwood, SD to Sheridan, WY via Devil's Tower

This morning broke with yet another beautiful day of sunshine.  We had 2 goals today.  The first was to begin the progression toward Glacier National Park.  The second was to enjoy some excursions along the way.

We left Deadwood behind with no looking back.  But not until we first visited the Mt. Moriah Cemetery where most of those who gained fame in Deadwood were buried.  The cemetery was huge so it obviously has remained in use since the days of yore.  They kindly provided a map of the famous so we set out to find Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane.

Wild Bill Hickock

We left Deadwood headed dead south back through Lead.  We were headed to Spearfish Canyon for yet another scenic ride through the Black Hills.  The following video gives a good micro-view of the scenery.

Of course, everywhere with waterfalls  has a Bridal Veil Falls.  Here is the Spearfish Canyon version.

From Spearfish, SD, it is a short trip to our next excursion of Devil's Tower, WY.

We walked the 1.3 mile Tower Trail which encircled the monument.  The views of the tower and the surrounding area in conjunction with the information panels along the trail provided some good points of interest.  One view was of the valley below known as Cattleman's Paradise.  It once teemed with bison.

Views of the tower revealed that were about 10 or so climbers moving up and down the face.  See if you can find the climber in this photo.  You'll see he was there in the next photo.

Many tears ago (1893), early climbers constructed and placed a wooden ladder on a portion of the tower.  It still exists today.  The following photo has a view of the ladder from the side.

The goal after Devils Tower was to get to Sheridan, WY for our next night's stay. Frankly, this part of Wyoming is not attractive.  It is mostly scrub grass and sagebrush as seen from the next video.

Along the way we had lunch a deli in Gillette.  Actually, it was outside Gillette since the downtown had little to offer.  There was the distinct odor of sulphur associated with the coal-mining in the area.  Dinner in Sheridan was at a very good restaurant, Frackleton's, where we each had excellent pasta dishes.

Susan’s quote of the day:  “I'm not impressed with Wyoming.  There's nothing here."  I can't disagree.  The parts we've seen are depressing other than Devil's Tower.  Yellowstone is in Wyoming, though, and that is coming soon.

The highlights - Devil's Tower and Spearfish Canyon.
The regrets - None.

Today's total miles - 269
Today's miles from start to destination - 256
Today's miles on side trips - 13
Today's miles driven by Paul - 269
Today's miles driven by Susan - 0
Today's hours in car - 4 1/2
Total Miles Hiked - 1.3

Cumulative total miles - 2,091

Cumulative miles from start to destination - 1,854
Cumulative miles on side trips - 237
Cumulative miles driven by Paul - 1,971
Cumulative miles driven by Susan - 120
Cumulative hours in car - 34 1/2
Cumulative Miles Hiked - 4.5