Wednesday 10 October 2012

Close Encounters of the Plevin kind..

We had mash potato for tea the day before our visit to Devils Tower, in homage to one of, if not the best sifi movie ever made. If the location and the reference have eluded you as to which film i am referring then may i suggest you stop reading, turn off and unplug your computer and return to the dark depths of whichever vault you have been locked in for the last 35 years........

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, for me at least, encapsulates all that is sifi. Steven Spielbergs vision of our first extra terrestrial encounter and the lives of the people caught up in it was mind-blowing for me. Its images of Devils Tower portrayed in the movie, weather they be in mash potato, mud from Roy Nearys (Richard Dreyfuss character) garden or the mountain itself where forever imprinted on my mind. To visit it , well what can i say....i was so excited a little bit of pee krept out....

It is actually a very sacred place to the Native Americans that come from miles around to honour the legend of the mountain. Trees surrounding the rockface have prayers and cloths tied to them for just that reason. Its said that a great bear was accidentally conjured up by a young girl and her sister. It killed everyone in their village and chased the girls and their remaining brothers (who where off hunting) to a clearing. The Earth god tried to save them buy pushing the ground under their feet up high out of the reach of the beast. In his efforts to climb the huge barrier before him his claws shaped the unique rock face of the mountain.

The Visitors centre was really interesting and explained the geological reason for the strange rock formation. I preferred the Indian stories myself....

We got to the mountain just before lunch. It had been quit cloudy and overcast where we where staying  but we reckoned as the mountain was over an hour away it would be ok.
Well it was pretty bleek when we arrived, and bloody cold, but we where not to be put off. The walk around the base of the mountain was only about 1.5 miles and paved and we had extra layers with us so we set off in high spirits....ok, we set off with me grinning like a cheshire cat and squealing periodically...(thats where the peeing bit came in to it). sorry.

The view didn't disappoint though. The pics dont do it justice. Its completely understandable that the Native Americans find this an amazing place. The tower has a twist to its base, an example of the exertion of force used to push the great rock out of the ground. Words cant do it justice either. It may sound silly but i felt very honoured to have been in its presence.

 The weather held good till we reached the far side of the mountain and then it decided to show us just what it was made of....The clouds dropped, the wind blew and the rain started to fall... and if im honest it made it even better, even more exciting to be there. In fact im grinning again while i type. Can you not see my grin floating in mid air just in front of you... no face, just my huge grinning smile?


Visible from miles away (squeal)

Closer (bigger squeal)

Closer (Squeal and loss of bladder control)

Close (oh dear)


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