Devils Tower National Monument
Matȟó Thípila – A good place to take a rest
Devils Tower
Lakota: Matȟó Thípila or Ptehé Ǧí, which means “Bear Lodge” and “Brown Buffalo Horn”
An laccolithic butte composed of igneous rock in the Bear Lodge Mountains (part of the Black Hills) rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the Belle Fourche River, standing 867 feet from summit to base. The summit is 5,112 feet (1,559 m) above sea level.
Laccoliths are a type of intrusive igneous formation also called “plutonic formations” or “igneous intrusions”. This means that they were formed as magma cooled beneath the surface. With laccoliths the magma moves into an area beneath the ground, causing the overlying rock layers to dome upward. After the magma becomes rock, it is exposed as the less durable rock above erodes away.
Our first Buffalo!
Busy campsite but still room for our tents
The sky is full of stars
Tomorrow: Explore the park!