Heading west towards Wyoming, Devils Tower & Dinner at Buffalo Bill

04.06. / Saturday / Spearfish-Devils Tower-Sheridan

After an extensive shopping spree at WalMart, we are all loaded up in the car heading towards Devils Tower. But first, we stop by Aladdin.

Aladdin is a mini town with 15 inhabitants and a quirky shop that sells everything from instant soups, trinkets, antique porcelain, brooms, t-shirts, dried meat, bicycles, and old lamps.

Aladdin Shop

Devils Tower is located in Wyoming, east of the Black Hills. It is considered a sacred mountain by Native Americans but is now a National Monument annexed by the Americans. While visitors are encouraged to respect prayers, climbing the mountain and exploring the area is allowed.

According to legend, seven sisters and their brother were playing here when the brother suddenly grew claws and started running on all fours. The sisters took refuge on a tree stump as the brother chased after them. The stump started growing and growing, and the bear claws, which the brother had transformed into, slid off the stump as he tried to reach the girls. Today, the seven sisters are the seven stars in the constellation of the Big Bear, and the claw marks are the prominent vertical grooves on this distinctive mountain.

Climber on the mountain

The mountain rises nearly 300 meters from the ground and was first climbed in 1893 using ladders, some of which can still be seen today. Nowadays, around 5,000 people climb the rock with ropes and hooks each year. There is also a large colony of prairie dogs nearby.

After taking more pictures of the mountain and the prairie dogs (we even managed to capture them with our strawberries), we leave at 3:00 PM. The landscape initially is quite boring, just prairie as far as the eye can see, but soon we encounter gentle hills and an almost uninhabited area for at least 50 miles.

Suddenly, we spot snow-capped peaks on the horizon. These are the Big Horn Mountains, which are an extension of the Rockies, with the main range still about 100 miles behind us. The Big Horn Mountains reach heights of 3,500 to 4,000 meters.

The Big Horn Mountains in the distance

We take a break at one of the few remaining rest areas and enjoy our WalMart haul from this morning. After 20 minutes, we continue towards Buffalo, supposedly a nice Western town. But, like in the past few days, this turns out to be an exaggeration, so we don't even get out of the car and continue straight to Sheridan. The Wyoming Information Center told us that Sheridan is about three times the size of Buffalo. However, half of the city seems to be under construction. The Historic Main Street (does any town ever have a different name for its main street?) is run-down, with many stores bankrupt or seemingly abandoned for a long time.

We check into Motel 6, which is significantly cheaper at $75 compared to the Best Western Downtown at the construction site, which wanted $129 + tax. We drive the 2 kilometers back to the center and have dinner at Sheridan Inn. It is a genuinely historic building where Buffalo Bill recruited performers for his wild west shows.

Sheridan Inn - Buffalo Bill was a guest on the terrace

He used the beautiful, wide veranda for this purpose. Unfortunately, we cannot dine outside, but we decide to have dinner here, which is delicious and surprisingly inexpensive, despite being the most renowned place in town.

Buffalo Bill Bar at Sheridan Inn

We stroll along Main Street and wonder what the locals do on Saturdays. There are 3-4 bars, but they are sparsely populated. We are back at the hotel by 9:30 PM.