Devil's Tower

Steven Spielberg secured his first Oscar nomination for Best Director in 1977 following the release of his science fiction film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The film received seven Oscar nominations in total and went on to win two. It was Spielberg's second box office blockbuster, grossing an impressive US$435 million in two separate releases.

The film portrays the UFO obsession of Roy Neary, a character played by Richard Dreyfuss. Roy is drawn to Devil's Tower, a remarkable land formation in Wyoming, by a premonition he cannot explain. The unusual granite butte adds an air of mystic to the film and forms the backdrop for its climatic finish. In the closing scenes an alien ship lands at Devil's Tower and establishes contact with the human race.


Last weekend I stood at the foot of Devil's Tower myself. I could hardly believe I was seeing it with my own eyes. Without a doubt the tower is as dramatic in real life as it is in Spielberg's movie. Technically, Devil's Tower is geological formation known as an igneous intrusion. It's effectively an ancient volcanic bulge that formed 65 million years ago. Once buried deep underground, erosion has progressively exposed its form. Today it rises 386 metres above the surrounding area.


I spent several hours at the tower last Saturday enjoying gloriously warm, sunny weather. The base of the tower is an alternating cascade of fallen rocks and sweet smelling pine forest. A paved track provides a wonderfully refreshing trek around its base. As I walked, the smell of pine and and dappled sunlight playing through the trees did much to restore my soul. It was easy to understand why Devil's Tower became the USA's first national monument in 1906.


The tower also draws a steady stream of climbers. I spotted dozens and dozens of people scaling its heights. A local rancher, William Rogers, is the first recorded person to climb Devil's Tower. He reached the summit on July 4, 1893 after erecting a ladder of wooden pegs driven into the rock face. While remnants of the ladder are still visible, today's climbers make the ascent using ropes.


While the climbers were fascinating to watch, I was more captivated by prairie dogs that lived on a nearby open field. In the shadow of the mountain these energetic creatures were hard at work grazing on spring grass. I watched them for ages, laughing each time they scurried for cover whenever a car drove by.