The Devils Tower National Monument (Wyoming, USA). A 50 million year old rather unbelievable looking natural formation? Or a place where one might expect some Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

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Produced by Steven Spielberg in 1977, Close Encounters of the Third Kind was probably one of the first Science Fiction movies I watched. Watching it again last night, at the KOA campsite we were at (where it plays every single night, at precisely 8:00 p.m.), we both smiled as we watched the dated acting, scenes and cinematography. But, truth be told, it was still as fun last night as it was way back then.

Probably because the actual Devils Tower was looking very very real, looming large and majestic, just behind the TV screen,



and we just happened to be at the exact coordinates that the aliens in the spacecraft were trying to relay to the humans on Earth, who, in the movie, were busy sculpting, instead of eating, mashed potatoes.

We packed our lunch, and planned our day for the long hike around the rock,

"Or perhaps we're looking for the mothership?" I questioned Dave, rather surprised at his eagerness and willingness to go... HIKING !!

"But why do they call it Close Encounters of The Third Kind?"

"A close encounter of the first kind is sighting of a UFO; the second kind is physical evidence to prove the existence of an alien; and the third kind is actual contact with alien life forms."

There are several hiking trails to choose from, and we chose to do two separate loops. The first being the short (2 km) loop directly around Devils Tower







In 1893 two local ranchers first climbed Devils Tower using the stake ladder that is still there if you look, and squint, hard enough through the viewing tubes.



"Oh my God" exclaimed Dave, "would you look up there?"







"Would you...?" I asked as I shuddered,
"Not in a million years" he said.



Imagine this if you will. Devils Tower is more than four football fields tall, 1000 feet wide at the base and narrowing to a diameter of 275 feet at the top.

We both wondered which side of the mountain, or which mountain face would be hardest and/or easiest to scale? Not that it matters really, we'd never be facing that challenge. But in case you wanted to know, there are allegedly (and approx) 150 different ways to go. It takes about 4-6 hours to climb the most popular Durrance Route and about 2 hours to rappel back down.

The NPS does warn climbers, who have to sign in before any climb, that they:

"might encounter snakes, spiny plants, poison ivy, falcon attacks, wasps, and falling rocks".

"So what do you think the top looks like?" asked Dave. Once again, the tourist information centre provided an answer to that.



"Still not enough to entice me to get up there, and rappel down" I muttered, whilst thanking the Park Ranger for the information.

Devils Tower is composed a grayish rock "studded with feldspar crystals", mostly symmetrical hexagonal columns (some have four sides, some as many as seven) which are the tallest (600 feet) and widest (10 - 20 feet) in the world.



This would be the last day of climbing for any enthusiasts out there,



as many spiritual Indian ceremonies occur during the summer solstice, in June, using traditional prayer cloths wrapped around tree trunks and branches. We saw evidence of them everywhere,





and being a spiritual type of being myself, I wondered what the symbolism, colours, and placements of the cloth.

Once we circled around the Rock on the short, well established trail we came back to our starting point, and this time we headed towards the grassy rolling hills of the Belle Fourche River Valley, studded with Ponderosa Pines. The 5 km's of trail facing us were described as being of "moderate" difficulty,







and the Red Beds (or Red Badlands),









were robust with red coloured mud and sandstone and all that was left of the Spearfish Formation.

Here there was nothing but the Earth, the hawks circling overhead, the birds chirping, the wind whistling through the pines,

"Do you smell that?" I asked Dave, as I inhaled the woodsy pine scent deeply, to which he replied by inhaling as well.

What a surreal, mystical, type of place. While we didn't find any evidence of spaceship landings,



we did see some remains of life.



We didn't cross paths with any aliens, but we did see some deer, groundhogs, and this very cleverly camouflaged bunny.



Close Encounters of the Hiking Kind.