The Devils Tower, La Tour du Diable, Teufelsturm

The Devils Tower is located in the northeast corner of Wyoming in Crook County.  This is a bit west of Rapid City South Dakota, the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore and Deadwood.  We recall that Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the number 10 saloon in Deadwod while holding the dead man's hand: two aces and two eights:  The wooden grave marker is engraved with:
"Wild Bill, J. B. Hickok killed by the assassin Jack McCall in Deadwood, South Dakota Aug. 2nd 1876  Pard, we will meet again in the happy hunting ground to part no more. Good bye, Colorado Charlie, C. H. Utter."

The tower is 5112 ft / 1558 m in elevation above sea level and is about 70 miles west of Deadwood. Take Interstate highway 90 west of Rapid City for about 75 miles and take the Sundance exit to the Tower.  It is a National Monument and a small fee will be required for your visit.  The most popular route is the Durrance route of five pitches of which the second is 5.7 in the Yosemite Decimal System.  I stayed at the Devils Tower Lodge and went climbing with them.  I just climbed up to the Teacher's Lounge about a 5.4.  The tower is quite beautiful and has a path around it though Pondarosa Pine (Pinus species) and Burr Oak( quercus species).  The Belle Fourche River flows past the east side of the tower and is about 4000 feet above sea level as it flows through the prairie.

Lat/Long:      44.59060 N/ 104.715 W