The Best of Devils Tower: Climbing, Hiking and Stargazing – Howdy Neighbor S1 E1
Experience the iconic Devils Tower in Wyoming. Join us as we explore this majestic national monument – from hiking around the base to climbing the tower’s massive walls – and the nearby towns. Our hosts, Jim and Shawn, set up camp to stargaze under the Milky Way, hit the trails around the base of Devils Tower and learn about its Native American history. And for the ultimate thrill-seekers, they prove that even beginners can take on the challenge of rock climbing its other-worldly formations.
We were just saying even before we got to this spot this is one of the more scenic areas of Wyoming. I mean there’s no you know you don’t think of this as being a mountainous area but the Black Hills yeah are mountains
just not you know massive sure yeah countryside’s incredible
really if you’re just kind of whipping through you don’t get to see it off the interstate
I think this is great yeah um big question we’re here you know you had my curiosity now you have my attention yep um I would like to know though what we’re going to be doing to celebrate this spectacular adventure sure kind of what’s the uh what’s the itinerary yeah exactly for the days if you will
so we uh we’re definitely good to do the kind of hike around the base okay cool classic yep cool um Loop all right paved so not done not super strenuous yep not super strenuous that’s easy so we’ll do that um we’ll do some night sky action oh awesome okay yep just gonna hang out kind of on the west side of the tower a little time lapse a little photography yep time lapse see the Milky Way okay um and then get a real nice treat for you what’s that last day yeah last morning I’m gonna climb that bed boy that yeah yeah get out of here yeah the whole thing not the whole thing um it’s about six to eight hours to do the summit so we’re gonna do kind of some lower stuff okay yeah it’ll probably be four hours or so that’ll be all right yep why not but yeah and then that’ll uh they’re gonna be the be the tour the campground is obviously a nice a nice perk we’re able to set up here and be right at the front door of the tower right there yep right in the window yep that’s uh that’s the agenda cool awesome Good Eats let’s get this up and get some pizza yes
all right old Sunday at the Sundance Square all right this is great yeah super nice Museum right next to it you ever heard of the Sundance Kid I have you have anything to do with this place I think a little bit a little bit I’ve never been here that’s a cool cool town it’s a nice Town small town kind of quintessential small Wyoming towns it absolutely we got wild bus espresso here that’s cool great morning spot yeah and from here only like 20 30 minutes to the tower that’s really cool I can see why this is appealing it’s beautiful
here we are here we are
made it you know what that is Tower America First National Monument
I don’t know if you know this might be but once I uh went climbing Story Wyoming yep spent well over an hour I’m doing it okay so I’m ready for this yeah this should be a cakewalk then this is a simple this is considered a easy climb yeah I’m assuming sure well that’s what the guides are for what’d you say it was over 400 kilometers to the top 400 meters oh yeah sounds good to me yeah the guys will get me up first and then you’ll you know struggling at some point whatever helps you sleep at night I guess but I’m just visioning myself on top encouraging you to join me appreciate it so Jim you can probably do it see how it goes I’m sure you’ll make it yeah it doesn’t matter where you stand I mean we can be coming in on the drive and it’s spectacular the hike around the base gives you a different perspective but standing here I think you kind of get a feeling of how massive this is great Vantage Point beautiful you could spot for lunch great spot for lunch pickle Boulder Yep this is gonna be a fun one this is another climbing challenge
nailed it
nailed it got it like a pro yep like a pro it’s a good spot yeah there’s a perfect spot that’s a really good spot yeah great job let’s do this great lunch a stop great little lunch spot right here you are break out the break out the goods get the back what back
at the lunch bag shoot
all right well I’m hungry we can come back yeah
The Gulch restaurant place is fantastic okay so we’ll hit that up have some beers have some burgers cool and then we’ll do some night sky action hello neighbor hey check this out look at this meant to be all right meant to be
okay have you seen my seat I Can’t Take My Eyes Off it’s hilarious because I hope everything it’s really funny if I was from Germany and I walked in here right now I would be pretty excited because this is as Wyoming as this gets yes yep right yup it’s got that Branch feel that’s a Remington I’m certain up top top left no with a picture Rembrandt no that’s that he’s from Norway attends the gun no Remington’s the
artists because you’re not from Wyoming
I uh I’m a little worried to be honest with you I don’t know if this ultralight backpacking chair is rated for my body weight yeah we can trade I wrote like a four-seater I thought that was three or four chairs all right well good spot here I think this is good
I guess uh now we wait
did we wait for a very very long time
here at the tower we have 26 tribes that are officially recognized as being affiliated with this Tower to those 26 tribes you can think of the tower right here as the equivalent of like Saint Peter’s Basilica is in Rome to Catholics or like the great mosque in Mecca is to Islam this place is a very sacred site to them and it’s almost the center of their cultural identity
hey howdy neighbor howdy how’s it going it’s great thanks for having us out here Dustin Gabe um we are just completely thrilled to be with you guys tell us what we’re gonna do today tell us who you guys are right on well uh my name is Gabe and this is Dustin uh we’re guides with Devil’s Tower climbing we operate out of devils towered Lodge uh we’ve been in business doing um commercial guided climbs on the tower for over 20 years wow we’re the longest standing guide service located at the monument here uh so what we’re going to do today is we hiked up the boulder field we’re at the base of the West face of the tower at this point things are going to start to get a little more technical we’re going to start using our ropes and our harnesses and we’re going to climb up to an area of the tower that we call the upper Southwest shoulder okay from there we’re going to do some more technical climbing uh give you guys a chance to see what climbing on the tower is all about and then we’re going to do a big repel back off uh at the end of the day so uh climbing the tower is challenging it’s a hard place to climb with the right mindset and with the proper instruction it’s a doable goal for for most people awesome and Gabe you were saying that it’s not kind of random groups it can be solos it can be People Like Us that are friends so you’re not kind of with strangers you can be very you make it very comfortable for the clients that are coming in absolutely so you know climbing is a personal activity and we want to keep it that way sure so all of our trips are private and they’re customized so you’ll never be put into a group with people that you don’t know um and we keep a really kind of low ratio two climbers per one guide and that allows us to give you guys the best quality of care best instruction and move efficiently through this type of terrain great great I’ll tell you what my friend it’s your lucky day my nickname in high school was low ratio so I’m ready to get after this
and on that let’s do some pilot foreign
how fast can you get there so I’ve always heard smooth as fast fast and smooth okay so whatever that is but smoother and faster than you okay
that’s why that’s crazy am I going any higher make it okay
Gabe was saying on clear days you can see uh the big horns
[Applause] thank you
uh you know what worth it totally worth it totally with it favorite part the ice cream cone at the end or uh that’s a good ice cream it’s tough to be that’s local strawberry rhubarb yes Sir Randy’s wife’s Garden right here in ice cream form uh but no I think the climate Tower once in a lifetime experience because it is something at whatever level anybody can do yep it’s achievable if Wyoming is anything it’s aspirational absolutely get out here get up there do something spectacular yep get out of the comfort zone a little bit but uh ice cream’s close second ice cream’s course close second so uh last question what’s that what’s next we got something planned good to know
