devil's tower defeats my coworker and me.
today we went to devil's tower.
it was about 90 degrees. i had eaten a granola bar. my coworker n, had eaten a bowl of oatmeal. we brought one bottle of water each.
we did the devil's tower 1.3 mile trail first.
this trail allowed you to see it all up close, down to the climbers ignoring the wishes of the people who found the mountain sacred.
then we started on red beds trail, which is 3 miles.
but we had gone maybe halfway through it when we were allowed an option to go on the joyner ridge trail, which is a mile and a half. so we went on it. it was pretty amazing.
it seemed like the terrain changed every minute, and apparently they're little pocket ecosystems.
there were butterflies all around, and i guess sometimes you can see coyotes and great horned owls.
people also tied prayer bundles and cloths to trees because this is a sacred place.
but we were out off water 'round about here halfway through the joyner ridge trail, and we were mighty thirsty.
this place was called the corridor and had ponderosa pines.
n and i were literally pouring sweat omg.
we only ran into one other family on the very first segment of the red beds trail, otherwise, this place was empty.
seriously amazing omg. i know i took 2032392 pictures, but how could i resist?
this picture is different because it has trees.
there was a natural viewpoint.
scenic wyoming.
what the hell, really?
so, then this trail looped back to where it started, to about the halfway point of the red beds trail, and we continued. at this point we were so exhausted from dehydration and heat, i quit taking pictures. the belle fourche river, which we crossed, mocked us.
we started climbing uphill, and that's when we got defeated.
coworker n stated that she was going to vomit, pass out in her vomit, and i couldn't possibly help her and we were just going to die on devil's tower.
which was pathetic, because, what, a five-six mile hike defeated us? wild west settlers we ain't.
with less than .5 miles to go, we walked down to the highway. we tried to flag down cars, but they just waved at us. we crossed the highway and managed to get delicious, sugary beverage. and there we were, at the base of the monument. we told the ranger what had happened, and she told us to go on ahead without paying, and to walk up the 3 mile driveway to our car.
thanks so much!
after about another mile of walking, a ranger finally picked us up and drove us to the parking lot hahaha.
you can check out the map here.
so, all of tower trail, then we started at red beds trail at the visitor center. then we probably hiked up to that peaked point in red beds trail, where we saw joyner ridge trail, and walked up to it. then we followed it as a loop, hiked to that grey thing, which is a highway, and turned around to follow the other side of joyner ridge trail. then went back down to red beds trail at the peaked point. then we followed it down, past the belle fourche river. we went up past valley view trail, following the red beds trail, trying to get to visitor center. but since that whole area past valley view trail is uphill, and we had ran out of water halfway through joyner, we just couldn't do it, and turned back to valley view trail, which crosses over the 110. then we followed the 110 to get some soda at the entrance station, then back to our dumbass car at the visitor center.
thank god for the hippie ranger who picked us up!
the prairie dogs at prairie dog town were so cute and right next to us when we hiked up that dumb ass road back to the car. :I
and that's our story. next time, TAKE MORE THAN 1 BOTTLE OF WATER AND EAT MORE THAN 1 BOWL OF OATMEAL/1 GRANOLA BAR.
it was about 90 degrees. i had eaten a granola bar. my coworker n, had eaten a bowl of oatmeal. we brought one bottle of water each.
we did the devil's tower 1.3 mile trail first.
this trail allowed you to see it all up close, down to the climbers ignoring the wishes of the people who found the mountain sacred.
then we started on red beds trail, which is 3 miles.
but we had gone maybe halfway through it when we were allowed an option to go on the joyner ridge trail, which is a mile and a half. so we went on it. it was pretty amazing.
it seemed like the terrain changed every minute, and apparently they're little pocket ecosystems.
there were butterflies all around, and i guess sometimes you can see coyotes and great horned owls.
people also tied prayer bundles and cloths to trees because this is a sacred place.
but we were out off water 'round about here halfway through the joyner ridge trail, and we were mighty thirsty.
this place was called the corridor and had ponderosa pines.
n and i were literally pouring sweat omg.
we only ran into one other family on the very first segment of the red beds trail, otherwise, this place was empty.
seriously amazing omg. i know i took 2032392 pictures, but how could i resist?
this picture is different because it has trees.
there was a natural viewpoint.
scenic wyoming.
what the hell, really?
so, then this trail looped back to where it started, to about the halfway point of the red beds trail, and we continued. at this point we were so exhausted from dehydration and heat, i quit taking pictures. the belle fourche river, which we crossed, mocked us.
we started climbing uphill, and that's when we got defeated.
coworker n stated that she was going to vomit, pass out in her vomit, and i couldn't possibly help her and we were just going to die on devil's tower.
which was pathetic, because, what, a five-six mile hike defeated us? wild west settlers we ain't.
with less than .5 miles to go, we walked down to the highway. we tried to flag down cars, but they just waved at us. we crossed the highway and managed to get delicious, sugary beverage. and there we were, at the base of the monument. we told the ranger what had happened, and she told us to go on ahead without paying, and to walk up the 3 mile driveway to our car.
thanks so much!
after about another mile of walking, a ranger finally picked us up and drove us to the parking lot hahaha.
you can check out the map here.
so, all of tower trail, then we started at red beds trail at the visitor center. then we probably hiked up to that peaked point in red beds trail, where we saw joyner ridge trail, and walked up to it. then we followed it as a loop, hiked to that grey thing, which is a highway, and turned around to follow the other side of joyner ridge trail. then went back down to red beds trail at the peaked point. then we followed it down, past the belle fourche river. we went up past valley view trail, following the red beds trail, trying to get to visitor center. but since that whole area past valley view trail is uphill, and we had ran out of water halfway through joyner, we just couldn't do it, and turned back to valley view trail, which crosses over the 110. then we followed the 110 to get some soda at the entrance station, then back to our dumbass car at the visitor center.
thank god for the hippie ranger who picked us up!
the prairie dogs at prairie dog town were so cute and right next to us when we hiked up that dumb ass road back to the car. :I
and that's our story. next time, TAKE MORE THAN 1 BOTTLE OF WATER AND EAT MORE THAN 1 BOWL OF OATMEAL/1 GRANOLA BAR.