Last night we van camped at the Hulett, WY rodeo and fairgrounds. It was a nice dark, quiet place to park for the night. It was a very cool and comfortable night for sleeping. We awoke to bright blue Wyoming skies.
We drove south on state route 24 to Devil’s Tower National Monument. After stopping at the visitor center we first hiked the Tower Trail which circumnavigates the base of the tower. It is definitely summer time and people are now on vacation as this easy trail had lots of people. Most people seemed to being going counter-clockwise so we decided to go clockwise though that might not have been such a smart move as we were constantly greeting people as they came from the opposite direction. It is a great trail and we saw magnificent close up views of the tower. We also saw the historic wood ladder that was used by the first two men to ascend the tower in 1893. Believe it or not, in the early years they actually used it to take tourists to the top. We then drove to a more isolated area of the park and hiked the Joyner Ridge Trail where we didn’t see another sole. We again had great views from this trail. In the monument we saw many prairie dogs and quite a few deer.
We had noticed on our highway map that at the town of Belle Fourche, SD there was a monument for the geographic center of the USA. So we headed east from Devil’s Tower National Monument and entered South Dakota. Upon arrival in the town we located the monument. It was a fine monument but the only problem is it is actually 20 miles south of the true geographic center of the USA. The lady at the visitor center in town described it as though it were a tremendous trek driving north for 14 miles on a highway then 8 miles on a gravel road and then you need to climb through a barbed wire fence and walk across a field. She doesn’t know us – how can we be so close and not go there on what sounds like a mighty easy trek to us. It was easy to find though it was definitely out in the middle of nowhere. We took pictures then headed back south.
We stopped back in town for groceries, gas, and dinner at Hardees. We then continued driving south on the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Highway and then on a forest service road where we found a spot to park the van for the night. It was another wonderful dark and cool night for sleeping.
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