After breakfast we headed over to the Devils Tower visitor center to attend a 1 1/2 hour, 1.3 mile ranger walk around the base of the Tower. There was a large group of folks gathered for the walk, more than the ranger normally guided but he was not fazed. He set some ground rules about keeping to the trails and not touching the American Indian prayer cloths that could be seen hanging from some of the trees and we were off. We made six stops around the tower and at each stop the ranger gave us insight into how the tower was formed 1 1/2 miles underground and exposed as the landscape above it eroded away, what the tower means to the Native Americans, climbers and local ranchers and the wildlife of the area. It was an interesting talk and we got a lot out of it, much more than if we just walked the base of the tower ourselves reading the information signs along the way. The tower looks so surreal, I understand why it was selected as the spaceship landing site in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I didn't see any UFOs though (bummer). Anyway, here's the geological story as told by the ranger: About 50 million years ago molten magma was forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground. As it cooled it contracted and fractured into columns. Over millions of years, erosion of the sedimentary rock exposed Devils Tower. The Tower rises 867 feet from its base and stands 1,267 feet above the river. It's teardrop shaped top is 1.5 acres and it's base is 1,000 feet. After our walk we dropped into the visitors center so I could get my Devils Tower stamp stamped into my National Park Passport and to view the exhibits. Before 11:00am we were back in the campground hooking up our trailer to our TV so that we could get on the road to our next stop for the day: Agate Fossil Beds National Monument which was about a 4 hour run from Devils Tower. We traveled on Route 85 in WY to Route 20 into NE to Route 29 down to Agate Fossil Beds. These roads traveled some of the most wide open sp
aces I ever saw, there was nothing to be seen except prairie for miles at a time. Strangely beautiful though, with the exception of the many junk cars lined up outside of run down mobile homes which were sprinkled along our route. We finally arrived at Agate Fossil Beds NM, man it is out there! No homes, or towns for miles. I wonder how long the commute is for the few rangers that man this lonely park. Anyway, we watched the introductory movie and viewed the exhibits. It was fascinating to learn that the fossil beds were created about 19 - 20 million years ago when a drought struck the plains of what is now western Nebraska. Deprived of food, hundreds of animals died around a few shallow waterholes and over time their skeletons were buried under silt, sand and volcanic ash which preserved them. The most common fossils found are Moropus, Palaocastor, Menoceras, Daphoenodon and Daeodon - Do not ask me to pronounce these! After getting my National Park Passport stamped we continued on our way as it was getting late in the day and we still needed to secure a campsite for the night. Our goal was Riverside RV Park in Scotts Bluff, NE. I had done a bit of research on www.freecampgrounds.com and found this park listed for $10.00 with water and electric. After about an hours worth of travel we pulled into Riverside (which is connected to the county zoo) and found they had spaces available for us. What a deal! It's a very clean park with full hookups for $15.00 and W/E sites for $10.00. We selected a W/E site because we didn't need to dump, paid our 10 bucks and set up camp. We had a little bbq and then retired for the evening as the next day we would be visiting Scotts Bluff NM and then travel to Rocky Mountain National Park.
After breakfast we headed over to the Devils Tower visitor center to attend a 1 1/2 hour, 1.3 mile ranger walk around the base of the Tower. There was a large group of folks gathered for the walk, more than the ranger normally guided but he was not fazed. He set some ground rules about keeping to the trails and not touching the American Indian prayer cloths that could be seen hanging from some of the trees and we were off. We made six stops around the tower and at each stop the ranger gave us insight into how the tower was formed 1 1/2 miles underground and exposed as the landscape above it eroded away, what the tower means to the Native Americans, climbers and local ranchers and the wildlife of the area. It was an interesting talk and we got a lot out of it, much more than if we just walked the base of the tower ourselves reading the information signs along the way. The tower looks so surreal, I understand why it was selected as the spaceship landing site in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I didn't see any UFOs though (bummer). Anyway, here's the geological story as told by the ranger: About 50 million years ago molten magma was forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground. As it cooled it contracted and fractured into columns. Over millions of years, erosion of the sedimentary rock exposed Devils Tower. The Tower rises 867 feet from its base and stands 1,267 feet above the river. It's teardrop shaped top is 1.5 acres and it's base is 1,000 feet. After our walk we dropped into the visitors center so I could get my Devils Tower stamp stamped into my National Park Passport and to view the exhibits. Before 11:00am we were back in the campground hooking up our trailer to our TV so that we could get on the road to our next stop for the day: Agate Fossil Beds National Monument which was about a 4 hour run from Devils Tower. We traveled on Route 85 in WY to Route 20 into NE to Route 29 down to Agate Fossil Beds. These roads traveled some of the most wide open sp
aces I ever saw, there was nothing to be seen except prairie for miles at a time. Strangely beautiful though, with the exception of the many junk cars lined up outside of run down mobile homes which were sprinkled along our route. We finally arrived at Agate Fossil Beds NM, man it is out there! No homes, or towns for miles. I wonder how long the commute is for the few rangers that man this lonely park. Anyway, we watched the introductory movie and viewed the exhibits. It was fascinating to learn that the fossil beds were created about 19 - 20 million years ago when a drought struck the plains of what is now western Nebraska. Deprived of food, hundreds of animals died around a few shallow waterholes and over time their skeletons were buried under silt, sand and volcanic ash which preserved them. The most common fossils found are Moropus, Palaocastor, Menoceras, Daphoenodon and Daeodon - Do not ask me to pronounce these! After getting my National Park Passport stamped we continued on our way as it was getting late in the day and we still needed to secure a campsite for the night. Our goal was Riverside RV Park in Scotts Bluff, NE. I had done a bit of research on www.freecampgrounds.com and found this park listed for $10.00 with water and electric. After about an hours worth of travel we pulled into Riverside (which is connected to the county zoo) and found they had spaces available for us. What a deal! It's a very clean park with full hookups for $15.00 and W/E sites for $10.00. We selected a W/E site because we didn't need to dump, paid our 10 bucks and set up camp. We had a little bbq and then retired for the evening as the next day we would be visiting Scotts Bluff NM and then travel to Rocky Mountain National Park.
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