Well today was mostly spent driving. We did stop at two national park sites. We drove to Devil’s Tower National Monument and Little Bighorn Battlefield
We took the back way into Devil’s Tower. This took us over the edge of the black hills. This presented us with a view of the monument through Ponderosa pine trees. It was a different view that most people won’t get a chance to see, because they want to take the direct route.
We stopped at the visitors center to get our stamp and then took a 1.5 mile hike around the base of the tower. As we walked around the tower, we noticed how each side of the tower is different.
The trail was not crowded at all. There were maybe ten others walking, and they were walking the opposite direction, so we passed them once and then not again until we came back around to the beginning of the trail. This was a very peaceful walk. We walked back to the visitors center and purchased a picture book of the tower.
Along the trail you are supposed to be able to see a part of a ladder that was originally used to climb the tower.
It is virtually impossible to see. I took a zoomed photo and if you enlarge it about three times more, you can see it. Let me know if your actually able to see it. You can download the image by clicking here.
Back on the road, we headed up the freeway to our next stop; Little Bighorn Battlefield.
We thought we would not make it in time, but we arrived with just enough time to visit the battlefield and the visitor center’s exhibits and get our passport stamp.
The battlefield is bigger than I thought it would be. And I now have a better understanding of how events unfolded. I never really understood how the battle took place, just that nobody survived under Custer’s command. The battlefield has markers to show you where soldiers and warriors fell in battle. The majority of Custer’s troops are buried on “last stand hill”. This is where they fell. There is a monument on top of the grave that lists all of the members of the 7th Calvary that died. Another thing I did not know, was that the battle took place over two days, not just the few hours I learned about in school. So much for that state education.
We headed back up the freeway to the next “big” town. That town would be Billings. We checked into our hotel, got our free homemade cookies, then headed out to dinner. We decided to go with the chain restaurants, so we ended up at Olive Garden. On the way back to the hotel, Angie wanted dessert so we stopped at Dairy Queen.