Devils Tower, WY
Thursday, October 8
Our morning began in Cody, Wyoming at the Ponderosa Campground. We had a long day of driving ahead, so Andi and I decided to hit the road early and planned to stop to do school somewhere along the way.
As you’d imagine, there’s a lot of open space in rural Wyoming. It’s beautiful, peaceful countryside. Andi and I took turns driving to break up the 3-hour drive to Buffalo, WY.
We stayed at the KOA in Buffalo on our way home from Yellowstone in 2018, but neither Andi or I could remember the town. As we drove downtown today, we discovered its actually a very cute small town! We found a place to park near the ballfields and made lunch in the RV. Then, Tory, Aden and I did schoolwork while Andi walked to the nearby grocery store.
From Buffalo, WY, we continued driving east toward Devils Tower National Monument in Hulett, Wyoming. Devils Tower has been on my Wyoming bucket list of places to visit since I lived in South Dakota during the early 2000’s. Back then, my employer held several events at Devils Tower, but I was never able to go to them. Well, today was the day I would finally see the monument!
Andi wasn’t so sure about my suggestion for a slight detour off the interstate to Hulett, Wyoming, but even he admitted one we arrived that the massive butte towering 867 feet above the plains around it is pretty cool.
Did you know Devils Tower is America’s first national monument? It’s true! Since Yellowstone was named America’s first national park, that makes Wyoming pretty darn special to have the first named national park and national monument in its state. Even early visitors of Wyoming witnessed its wild beauty and though enough to preserve it for future generations. According to the National Park Service, when the Devils Tower National Monument was proclaimed in 1906, the apostrophe was unintentionally dropped from ‘Devil’s’ and this clerical error was never officially corrected. I found that random fact very interesting!
The Devils Tower Visitor Center was closed, thanks to COVID, but there were still plenty of ways to appreciate the geological formation. When Andi booked our camping for tonight, he asked the lady on the phone if we’d be able to bike the Devils Tower scenic drive. In a gruff voice she replied, “You could, but I don’t know why anyone would want to.” Ha! We wondered if the lady questions why anyone flocks to tiny Hulett, Wyoming to see this place.
Taking the woman’s advice, we decided to go for a hike instead. There are five hiking trails around Devils Tower — Tower Trail being the most popular as it takes visitors for a walk around the base of Devils Tower — but Andi suggested we keep our distance from other travelers and hike the Joyner Ridge Trail instead. The Joyner trail is an easy 1.5 mile hike through forest and open prairie with different views of Devils Tower along the way. We enjoyed this trail because we could see the monument off in the distance, plus we had the trail all to ourselves.
Andi booked us a campsite at the Devils Tower KOA for the night at the base of the butte. I threw in a load of laundry while Andi cooked sloppy joes for dinner. He’s getting pretty good at cooking with the convection oven inside our RV and even made tator tots! We were big fans.
Don’t forget the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies! These have been a RV staple this trip. Andi is really pulling out all the stops.
The rest of our evening at Devils Tower was pretty uneventful. Together, the four of us polished off a few more episodes of When Calls the Heart before bedtime. I think we’re on Season 4 now. Who would have guessed we’d become so obsessed with this show?!
Friday morning before we left the KOA, Andi filled up with water and dumped our sewer while I took out the trash. I was startled by a little stowaway when I opened up the lid — a raccoon! Fortunately, he was as surprised to see me as I was to see him. I also think he might’ve been drunk on vodka since he was snuggled up next to the bottle!
More driving ahead today … on to South Dakota.
