Devil's Tower Boon-docking (WY)

"Be getting' over, till the Big Sky Country; We be kissing' time, be kissing' time goodbye." ~ Chris Whitley; Big Sky Country

Confident that we had enough infrastructure and experience, Kristy and I began preparations for our top-shelf goal--boon-docking.  Boon-docking--also known as "dispersed camping" by the U.S. Forest Service folks--is the practice of setting-up your camp on public lands.  This create-a-camp methodology requires the camper to bring ALL of the infrastructure and basic needs that are commonly found inside traditional campgrounds.  It also means that the dispersed campsite will likely be a rough, unimproved piece of land that may pose significant access and RV leveling challenges.  These two challenges are the reason scouting is such a vital task, and why we opted to utilized the nearby Reuter campground.

With the recently acquired U.S. Forest Service map in-hand, we climbed aboard Hank and began our scouting adventure.  The map is similar to most, with the exception of small dots lying adjacent to existing roadways, signifying where approved dispersed camping areas are located.  The good news was that there seemed to be hundreds of dots covering the map--giving us a wide selection to choose from.  The bad news was that dispersed camping also includes hikers carrying a one-person tent in their ruck.  We'd need a little more acreage to accommodate Glory's massive footprint.

The rules are fairly simple.  Find a location that is approved for dispersed camping, and set-up your camp within 300' from the center of the road; and don't stay more than 14-consecutive days in that location.  This means that you can actually camp on the side of the road as long as you do not impede the flow of traffic.  This may seem like an easy solution, but it would be a bit unnerving to awake to 4-wheel drive headlights racing towards the bedroom slide that protrude towards the edge of the roadway.

Our plan was simple: start driving backroads.  The first road we explored was a gravel passage that wound through the adjacent hills, varying in width as it made its way through the forest.  Our roles were vastly different, but equal in importance and necessity.  While Kristy was peering up to 300' into the adjacent woods looking for potential campsites, I was imagining pulling Glory down this rocky path.  With every "ooh" and "ahh" that the scenery invoked from Kristy, there was a matching "ooh, that's a tight turn with a 20' drop-off" and "ahh...think that tree branch hangs a bit too low."  

We found a side road off the main side road that looked promising.  The map had this road leading to a hill-top outcropping with elevated views towards the east.  The road was narrow, but navigable...for a short distance.  The rough and rocky road quickly became a two-rut pathway that was littered with large rocks and crowded by trees and stumps.  We proceeded to the terminus where we found the beautiful overlook that the map had accurately displayed.  We also found a few things that weren't on the map: a make-shift camper that may or may not have been occupied; and no place to turn around.  This last finding really drove home the importance of scouting, as backing an RV down the path we'd just travelled would've been virtually impossible.  I put Hank in reverse and we began our slow retreat through the rocks, stumps, and trees.  We eventually found a very small clearing where--with Kristy as an outside spotter and Hank in 4WD--I was able to make a 12-point turn-around.  

Emil Reuter: Pioneer, Prospector, Hermit & Local Legend

For a moment I was getting discouraged.  If that last site was what the "average" boon-docking site looked like, we're probably going to be hanging out in developed campgrounds.  The next road was wider and not so tree-laden; but it didn't have any sites that we could get Glory into.  It did have two interesting features: an abandoned gold mine, and the grave of Emil Reuter--a famous prospecting hermit who lived in the nearby hills and whose name adorns the Forest Service campground where we were staying.

Walker Campground; Black Hills National Forest

We jumped back on the paved thoroughfare and kept moving northward.  At Bear Lodge Mountain--site of the USFS fire tower--the pavement abruptly ends.  We pressed onward for another mile and decided to take a short side road and give The Boys a little run-around time.  At the top of this side road was a big...level...mountain-top...gravel pad. Once the site of a radio transmission tower, this abandoned tract had 360-degree views and a 15' concave berm that blocked the strong northwesterly winds.  The western slope was covered in native grasses--an ideal spot for observing grazing wildlife; and the northern slope had an unobstructed view of Devil's Tower--fifteen miles away.  J-A-C-K-P-O-T!!!

We returned to Reuter campground and made preparations for our off-the-grid journey.  After emptying our tanks (for a small fee) at a RV park in Sundance, we filled our 70-gallon fresh water tank and headed to our remote and exclusive campground.  With an abundance of space, Hank easily pulled Glory onto a level area adjacent to the berm.  After a routine set-up and deployment of "Three Mile" and "Chernobyl"--our twin Honda Power Plants--we sat on the top of Our Mountain and took in Our View.  The Dream had become reality.

Darkness envelopes Devil's Tower behind a lava-red sunset

From Walker Campground we set out on daily drives to further explore the Black Hills  National Forest (WY), and of course...Devil's Tower.  Instead if taking the Devil's Tower tourist highway (US 14), we opted for a leisurely trip through the backroads that traversed both public and private lands.  The scenery was spectacular, and we were able to stop Hank at any place we wished to capture these memories.  

Scenic backroads to Devil's Tower

Designated as America's first national monument in 1906 by President Teddy Roosevelt, Devil's Tower received a boost in notoriety as the UFO airstrip in the 1977 Steven Spielberg movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."  This monolithic monument is also sacred amongst the Native American population, with the creation of the tower being a part of tribal lore. 

Classic Devil's Tower; Western slope in full afternoon sun

Walker Campground served as our bed-down location for six wonderful nights; enjoying the scenery, solitude, and sunsets.  Well...five were wonderful.  The one thing missing from Walker Campground is a reliable cellular signal. Without a strong signal, we are mostly blind to any weather conditions that may spawn during the night.  On one such evening--predictably around 2 AM--I was awoken by shaking and paparazzi-like light flashes.  The shaking was being generated by Callie--who had relocated his astraphobia-rigors to the safety of my pillow; and the light flashes were from a continual lightening event that was passing dangerously close overhead.  

Massive thunderhead illuminates the evening sky as it prepares to illuminate the late night sky.

One of the many benefits of camping on top of a mountain is that you have an unobstructed view of the lightening as the clouds pass through your camp.  I grabbed my iPhone and saw that it could only muster 1-bar of service, with an occasional leap into 2-bars.  I opened up my "go-to" weather app--Storm--to see if I could get any info on the blinding light show that was transpiring around us.  Storm loaded up the radar, and it appeared to be just an all-purpose thunderstorm passing by.  I relayed this to Kristy, and told her that it should pass without issue in about 15-minutes.  

I retrieved the weather radio to see if any additional information could be gleaned.  Upon my return to the bedroom, I found that the Storm application had received enough data to update the very outdated radar that I had previously viewed.  We now had a severe thunderstorm with 60-MPH winds and the possibility of damaging hail five minutes away.  The 60 MPH winds were of concern, as the Forest Service employee at the fire tower informed us that winds "up top" are normally 20 MPH higher than what the weather service reports for lower elevations.  We were now faced with the potential for 80 MPH winds and hail only monuments away.  

After informing Kristy of the impending weather, we decided to seek better shelter.  Being no strangers to bad weather on this trip, we have a "bug-out bag" at-the-ready for such events.  We grabbed our essentials and tried to coach The Boys out of the trailer.  The lightening was intense and there was no need for a flashlight, as the habitual flashes in the low-hanging clouds overhead kept the mountain-top area well lit.  Begrudgingly (and probably a bit confused considering the outside weather), The Boys exited Glory and jumped into Hank.  We really had no place to go, but knew 1) we didn't want to be completely exposed on top of the mountain; and 2) we didn't want to be next to anything big (i.e. Glory) if the winds decided to start "moving things around." 

"I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees.  Asked the Lord above for mercy, 'Save me if you please.'" ~ Robert Johnson; Crossroads

The road in front of our campsite traverses down to lower elevations and into a denser forested area.  We headed to lower ground, hoping that the trees would provide some reprieve from the wind and hail, but also realizing that they could be a hazard if the wind starts blowing them over.  We drove to an intersection of Fort Service roads, parked off to the side, and waited.  And waited.  And waited.

After midnight.  Alone on a desolate dirt road.  Waiting at the crossroads.  Devil('s Tower) nearby.  Robert Johnson would be proud.

Using our best guestimation, we waited for an hour as the winds and rain increased and then tapered off.  We headed back up to Walker Campground, hoping that any damage to Glory would be minimal.  With the exception of our front patio mat being wrapped like a scarf around Glory's front landing gear, there was no damage whatsoever.  We watched the storm as it continued eastward--with the continuous lightening illuminating the massive cloud formation--and a clear, star-filled sky in it's wake.  Confident that the danger had passed, We hauled our tired bodies back inside and quickly fell asleep.

The weekend came and we were fortunate to visit with The Hayes family for the 4th time in as many weeks.  It was great to sit on top of our private retreat and break bread with such great friends.  I had built an in-ground fire-pit at the apex to enhance the sunset experience, but the reliably constant Wyoming winds kept us from christening the newest campsite feature.  We again said our goodbyes and prepared ourselves for the move.  

Kristy & The Boys watching The Dream become Reality

Our first attempt at boon-docking was a great success; and it whetted out appetites to seek-out additional dispersed camping opportunities.  More bad weather was rolling in.   The storm-front with its curtains of precipitation were clearly visible from our mountain-top retreat, and it was rapidly closing in on us.  The wind increased to where I could not keep my sunglasses on my face.  We broke camp with great expediency and drove westward through high winds and spawning storms.  After a long day of battling headwinds that kept Hank averaging a meager 8 miles-per-gallon, we arrived at our next scouting camp: Buffalo, Wyoming and the eastern gateway to The Big Horn.

wWw