June 29th, 2022
We were able to find a nice doggie daycare near our campground so we were able to spend a couple of days exploring the National Parks and monuments in the Black Hills.
First up was Devil’s Tower in Wyoming.
We followed our GyPSy app from Spearfish and made a fun stop in Aladdin, Wyoming at the General Store. We would have never found it without the help of our friendly navigator!
After a pit stop and a cherry soda (Tim) at this eclectic store, we headed towards Devil’s Tower. The drive itself was incredibly beautiful and then, in the distance….G – A – F – F (octave) – C.
We knew we wanted to do one of the hikes around the tower. And I was shocked and thrilled when Tim said “let’s do the 2.8 mile hike” instead of the one mile paved hike around the base. Our GyPSy navigator had told us that we would get some amazing views on this hike. He forgot to tell us that this was no simple flat hike. And apparently we forgot we were in the BLACK HILLS!
Luckily we were prepared with plenty of water thanks to a hiking backpack Emily got me for Christmas last year. You carry a bladder of water and there is a long sippy straw handy!
The hike started out simple and then we started going downhill. Which also was not so bad.
Of course what goes down eventually has to go up!
Lots of rocky steps, no railings and about a 450 foot elevation change. By the end of the hike, we were both gasping. Remember the base of the tower is already 4250 feet of elevation.
The guidebooks call this an intermediate hike and for some people it probably is. For us, there were moments we were not 100% sure both of us would make it – but we did! 🙂 Next up – Badlands!
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