For this trip, each of the explorers in the Granola Group had to write a research paper on an assigned topic. For example, future roomie Pheobe Ferguson Furman Former Freshman From Florida wrote her paper on the stratigraphy of the Badlands. I wrote my mine on Devils Tower.
Bittersweetly, going to Devils Tower means that we had to break camp and leave the land of gold for the land of cowboys- Wyoming. We woke up at our usual 6 am and packed our gear. The sadness of leaving the promise land and all of its nice modern day amenities was slightly softened by the storm we had slept in the night before and in now in the early morning. With small rain drops hitting the windows of the Geologic Van of Discovery, we departed from Custer State Park, and the Black Hills region.
On the way to Devils Tower National Park, most of our group slept. Despite the early morning wakeup, I was wide awake and eager to see the United States first monument that I had researched ever so thoroughly.
I do not know how to relay this in a proper manner so I'm just going to say it- Devils Tower is freakin awesome. I haven't gotten this excited for a geologic feature this whole trip, which is evidenced by how much I spent in the gift shop. Because this way my topic, I had to present to the group. The Tower has a contested origin amoungst geologists, but it is no surprise there that geologists are disagreeing! The 867 ft tall tower is composed of the igneous rock phonolite and various sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, shale, gypsum, and limestone. The defining unique feature of the rock are its columnar joints, or vertical fractures. These columns encase the entire tower. Oh and back to the origin! The most popular theory states that the tower is the neck of an ancient volcano. It represents the erosional remains that emerged to the surface through several hundred feet of sediments and rock debris. Despite such scientific evidence, I prefer the Native American's orgin of the tower. After all, they were the ones who had lived around the tower fort thousands of years before General Custer invaded the Blackhills. According to legend, a group of children were playing away from the village when they stumbled upon a large bear that chased the children. When all hope seemed to be lost, the children stopped on a large flat rock and began praying to the gods. Then, the rock lifted towards the sky our of reach of the bear. The bear kept trying to climb the tower and reach the children, but it would always fall back down. The claw marks are what made the unique vertical fractures.
When I was hiking around the Tower, I felt like it did have a strong sprititual presence. I'm not trying to sound like some weirdo taping into the spirits here, it was just very beautiful. Despite being called "Devils" Tower (which was a misinterpretation) to me the formation was pleasant and teeming with life. In the gift shop, Pheebs and bought matching hats which guarantees our coolness.
We traveled further into Wyoming to visit the Eagle Butte Coal Mine. There, geologist Dave Olsen gave us a tour and history. It was a great experience because Dave took us around the site in a Suburban, which allowed us to get a miners perspective of an active coal mine. Of course, I called shotgun. Since it was just Dave and I sitting up in the front and I have had 2 semesters of sustainability to give me confidence, I had to ask him about the environmental impacts of our nation being so dependent on coal. Dave told me that he believes Global Warming is a farce. That the outlook for coal was grim mainly because of a switch to more reliance on natural gas. I told him that I was not sure of the full extent of the impacts of fracking. He said that fracking is not new however horizontal fracking is not as reliant as the coal system. I did not feel like arguing because he was just stating his opinion and that calls for respect. Besides, he was a super cool guy and did a great job at answering all of our weird questions.
We have now arrived in the city of buffalo where the professors have decided to treat us and cook dinner tonight. (We always do it because we have cooking groups). TOMORROW WE SLEEP IN A HOTEL. I am holding out. Everyone send me good vibes.
Devils Tower!!
Look at the small white van at the bottom!!
The tires on a coal truck dwarf the van.
That is me emulating Dave
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