Devils Tower

One thing about me: I love watching conspiracy type videos on YouTube. Not like, Alex Jones type conspiracies. Instead think: pre-diluvian advanced technology, lost ancient wisdom, UFOs, Tartaria / mud flood, magick, esoteric ideas, etc. I see it more as science-fiction-esque entertainment than something to take at face value. You don’t watch Star Wars and secretly think Chewbacca is real, but it’s still a ‘believable’ story and fun to imagine! So no need to worry about me alone, in the woods, watching conspiracy videos, rambling about crystals and magic 😂

Anyways, Devils Tower is a place that pops up a lot in this type of content. Reason being: it looks like a giant tree stump. One common tale is the world used to be home to giant trees (and even giant people) only to have gone extinct and the true history suppressed. Once I saw that it was on the way to Lake Tahoe, I knew I had to check it out for myself.

The miniature version they have in the visitor center parking lot really makes it look stump-like. Native Americans have their own stories for how the formation came to be, which (sadly) does not involve giant trees. But does involve giant bears!

In my experience, something this big only looks larger when at the base of it. For some reason I didn’t feel this way about Devils Tower. Looming in the distance, it obviously is bigger than anything around it. But it almost felt smaller once getting up close.

Devils Tower was the first thing that caught my attention when looking for a route to Tahoe — I kind of planned everything else around it. Intended to be the “grand finale” of my trip through South Dakota. Ironically, but metaphorically perfect, I spent the least amount of time here and it ended up being a very minor part of this leg!

One cool thing was they had a selfie stand — perfect for me! It’s also 4,250 feet above sea level. This was shocking to me, I had no idea we were so high up, even at the base!

If I’m ever around here when it’s warmer, I would love to come back and climb up the tower. Over 200 routes apparently! I had no idea it was climbable.

After giving it a final good, long look, I got back in the car and continued onward.