We should have pursued it, but laziness won out. Climbing Devils Tower in Wyoming, if only to a height of a couple dozen feet with a class for climbing noobs, would have been a worthwhile and memorable experience.
The truth is I had mostly forgotten about a climbing class until we saw this couple defying death and gravity some three-quarters of the way up the monolith. It was awe inspiring to watch. They were so high we could barely see them with the naked eye. Slowly moving dots of red and white is about all we could make out. Their Spiderman-like heroics made visible only with the aid of a 300mm zoom lens and a close picture crop.
A team climbs in tandem with one person securing the rope while the other climbs. We estimate these folks are 300 feet or more off the ground.
Somewhere in these cracks, our climbers slowly make their way to the top.
Everywhere Once 
We passed on the climb, too, but just marveled at the different personalities of the rock from different sides. And of course, got the hairy eyeball from the park ranger when I asked what time the spaceships came by….
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Funny! I had already used “Close Encounters” in a recent blog title so I didn’t feel right about using it again. I’ll say it is hard to talk about Devils Tower without thinking of the movie, but that probably just dates me.
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Honestly, as soon as I saw the wide shot of the mesa, I immediately heard the theme in my head! 🙂
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Awesome place…looks like the rock has stemmed out of nowhere! almost like the Aeyer’s rock in aussie land
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It is pretty neat. Apparently Devils Tower formed underground, like a Jello mold, and the rest of the earth eroded away around it. It’s amazing to think that at one time the land was as high as the peak of the tower and that it just washed away over time. Nature is awesome.
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Great pics. Number 3 is essential to get a sense of scale.
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Wow, I’d never actually heard of this place before. Where is this?
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I’m always a little embarrassed when a reader asks a question that should have been answered in the blog post, but somehow wasn’t. Devil’s Tower is in Eastern, Wyoming. (Sheepishly slinks off to add that detail)
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This just makes me want to go take a climbing class so I can start defying death like they are!
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Rock climbing is something that is on my to-learn list. I figure it’s something that I probably won’t devote enough time to get any good at, but I’d like to give it a shot. Devli’s Tower would have been a really neat place to do it to. Maybe next time.
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That looks beautiful and frightening!
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Awesome!
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Thank you for the like. I like your like. Awesome blog, incidentally. Great stuff. .
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