Rambling about rambling
My first big trip out West as a kid was to the Black Hills in South Dakota. On that trip we crossed the border into Wyoming, making our way to Devil’s Tower. After passing through Sundance, we peered out of the car windows and saw the megalith looming in the distance. It is quite the sight to see that rocky outcrop rise high above the red fields.
That is one thing that I’ve always noticed when passing across Northeast Wyoming. The soil seems to have an extra tint of red. Maybe it’s a little extra iron, or maybe it’s just my imagination, but it’s probably the closest thing we have to driving across the Red Planet.
Speaking of outer space, Devil’s Tower is featured in one of the all-time great sci fi thrillers, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I love the scene where the guy sculpts the tower in his living room. It really is the perfect place for an alien landing. We may as well go up there and chalk out a pad for them to target.
I’ve gone from Devil’s Tower to red soil to aliens. That’s rambling for you. Rambling is not only a form of walking, but also a form of writing. Both meander here and there, first down this path then down that path. Now I’m rambling about rambling.
Devil’s Tower
Back to the vacation. We crossed the red fields of Wyoming by van and made it to the tower. This was after we made the trip out to see Mt. Rushmore, so we debated over which one was cooler. I don’t remember the outcome, but today I’d say Devil’s Tower.
Many people attempt to climb the tower each year, roughly 5000 to put a number on it. About half succeed. Close up, the tower face consists of many parallel columns, and the climbers scurry up the cracks separating the columns. At the top the climbers are treated to a beautiful rambling zone with panoramic views all around. The vegetation is grasses, cactus and sagebrush while the wildlife is chipmunks, mice, and a few snakes.
We did not make it to the coveted rambling zone atop Devils Tower, but we did ramble around the base. There is a trail called the Tower Trail that wraps around the circumference. Along the trail there are prayer cloths, signifying the spiritual importance of the tower, especially for Native Americans. It is a nice walk where one can look up now and again and gawk at the tremendous size of the megalith.
Time to scramble!
The best part of the Tower Trail however is that it provides access to the boulder field. The boulders range from the very small to the very large, and they lie at the base of the tower. Some are as big as a bus. From my memory the typical boulder is about the size of a car. In their infinite wisdom, the National Park Staff allow visitors to climb on the boulders.
That leads me to introduce a very special type of rambling: scrambling. This of course is rambling over rocky surfaces. As kids it was great fun. We scrambled from one boulder to the next, climbing higher and higher into the boulder field. There was some small fear of slipping and coming to a hard landing, but overall, it was exhilarating. We made it all the way to the top of the field, then turned and headed back down.
The way I see it there are four ways to ramble at Devil’s Tower. One is by taking the trails, and the second is by scrambling over the boulder field. The third is the actual climb up the tower, and the fourth is the wide-open rambling at the top. I’m not big into climbing so it’s unlikely I’ll go back and do the complete voyage, but for me the scrambling was all the fun I needed.
