Devils Tower National Monument: Devils Tower, WY

I have always wanted to visit Devil's Tower.  I remember seeing pictures of it in a National Geographic when I was a child.  My dad told me he wouldn't take me there because it was in the middle of nowhere.

President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower the first national monument in 1906.  It's also known as Bear Lodge and is a sacred site for many Native Americans.  Here is one legend that the kids enjoyed hearing: 

Crow Legend
Once when some Crows were camped at Bears House, two little girls were playing around some big rocks there. There were lots of bears living around that big rock and one big bear seeing the girls alone was going to eat them. The big bear was just about to catch the girls when they saw him. The girls were scared and the only place they could get was on top of one of the rocks around which they had been playing.

The girls climbed the rock but still the bear could catch them. The Great Spirit, seeing the bear was about to catch the girls, caused the rock to grow up out of the ground. The bear kept trying to jump to the top of the rock, but he just scratched the rock and fell down on the ground. The claw marks are on the rock now. The rock kept growing until it was so high that the bear could not get the girls. The two girls are still on top of the rock.

We enjoyed our hike around the tower.  It sure was hot though.  The ponderosa pines made the air smell sweet.  Max thought it smelled like Tootsie Rolls.  The kids found scratch marks on all the trees from the porcupines.  

The kids were sketching wild flowers in their Junior Ranger books.

Becoming Junior Rangers.  

See their backpacks?  They are filling up with badges!