Day 4 - Cody

We said goodbye to our quaint little cabin and headed to Deadwood. Home to the death of the legendary Wild Bill Hickok, known for his pistol handling and fast draw, his adventures ended in 1876 during a card game in Deadwood’s No. 10 Saloon. Shot by Jack McCall we learned about the trial, his death, and checked out No. 10 Saloon and Wild Bill’s “Deadman’s hand.”

We then headed north to see Mt. Roosevelt Lookout, also known as Friendship Tower. It was a beautiful winding path followed by about a mile hike to the tower. The girls were exhausted by the time we finally found the top, (who am I kidding, so was I), but they did a great job! 

Almost there...we hoped. There were no trail maps to follow, so we were going off blind faith on this one . Eventually, we found the tower and it was worth the effort.

Overlooking Ft. Laramie, Harney Peak, and the City of Deadwood it was a great hike with an even greater view. We all made it to the top...success!

After a much easier hike going down the hill, we headed back to the car to continue west to Devils Tower. Designated in 1906 by Roosevelt as the nation’s first monument, it carries with it many different legends. Most famous comes from the Kiowa tribe where it is said that Native Americans were surrounded by bears and they jumped up on a rock and prayed for the rock to save them, where it then elongated itself pushing them higher and out of the reach of the bears. Hence the ridges on the side of Devils Tower as marks of where the bear clawed at the rock in attempts to reach them. The girls had a fun afternoon working toward their junior ranger status for Devils Tower, learning more about the monument and hiking up to it and climbing around the rocks at the base. The National Parks enforced a voluntary climbing ban for scaling Devils Tower during the month of June, as Native Americans use this month for rituals, sweat lodges, and ceremonies. It was pretty cool to be able to see it in its natural state without anyone climbing it. 

Who knew we had mountain climbers?!

On the way out of the park we had to stop and check out the prairie dogs as well. As we were walking around, this little guy took a pretty keen interest in Norah. I think the feeling was mutual!

 Then, off to Cody through the Bighorn National Forest. We went from 85 degrees up, up, up where we saw snowcapped mountains and got down to 58 degrees. Then back down on the other side where we got back up to the 80s again. In Cody we headed downtown and caught the tail end of a shootout in front of the famous Irma Hotel. We walked around downtown a bit and then had a yummy dinner at Zapatas which came recommended by one of the locals. It was great, but we all ate too much. So, we headed to the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum to walk it off. The museum was closed, but we had fun walking around the grounds and seeing the Teepees. We then headed back to the hotel for a good night sleep to prepare for a big day ahead.