I had a very fitful sleep last night. I insisted on putting my tent in a meaningless saddle between two slight rises in a huge heavily grazed pasture. On the walk in from the track I rode in on, I noticed a lot of prickly pear cactus. I double checked for any cactus where I planned to put my tent, and set everything up without worry. My sleeping pad was very deflated right before I turned in and I thought that I had just neglected to pump it up fully. But I woke after a couple hours and it was deflated again and I knew that I had a puncture. So at 1am I did my best to find the leak and it weren't obvious at first. I ran my hand over the floor of the tent and found my problem. A little cactus plant escaped my inspection. I got out and pulled it out rather than move the tent. With a more specific area to search, I found the hole. Many. I put two patches on and it seemed like they were holding so I pumped it up and went back to sleep. I woke a couple of times because I got cold when it deflated. I pumped it up each time and went back to sleep. I woke just after sunrise and scrambled to break camp with the wind increasing each minute. I got everything put away without losing anything and rolled away. I ate a hasty breakfast and so soon I found a shade tree that acted like a wind break and ate some more food. The temperature by 8:30 was already like 65, and not a cloud in the sky. On the several miles to start the day till I got to US 212, I saw an incredible number of antelope, they outnumbered the cows. Lots of turkey and deer also. I stopped at the little store at the highway crossing after about 27 miles on the day, and in my hunger probably bought too much but I don't like riding around with a minimal amount. The next road towards Hulett was paved and the wind helped me a bit although at times it was a direct crosswind. I climbed gradually into a pine forest after crossing into Wyoming, and saw even more wildlife. A recently killed porcupine, first one I've ever seen. A bunch more antelope. A lot of roadkill. Traffic was sparse and I had a decent shoulder. The descent to Hulett was wonderful, 40+mph for a couple miles, yay for coasting. I rode around town and the only park was in the downtown with all the bars and restaurants the bathroom was locked and the faucet had a padlock on it. Drat! So was forced to buy all my fluids at the little grocery store. Which was fine, just silly. I rode the 9 miles to Devil's Tower very fast with a tailwind on the highway, and as it turned out, there was almost as much town right there at the entrance. It had a post office and a red light. Several stores and restaurants. It was pretty packed with people although not nearly what it would be on the weekend I'm sure. It was very early and I felt great so I decided to just ride up to the base. As a bicyclist I was entitled to a lower fee. Slightly. 15$!!!? If I had walked in it still would have been the same. Crazy. Anyway it was worth it though. There was a little climb up to the trailhead and what little traffic there was was very courteous. I actually spotted the tower from about 30 miles away when I was up high on a hill on the ride over. It really was awe inspiring. It was just so surprising, the ridiculously huge rock looked like it didn't belong in the landscape. Like if someone placed a potted orchid in the middle of a peanut field. It just appeared to sprout right out of the ground like a flower. But up close it really made you appreciate the immense geologic time that worked on it to make it appear the way it does today. It was surrounded at the base with a vast boulder field. I walked the main loop around and was so glad I did. The weather was just perfect. It was a bit strange to be among such a large group of people again, after riding through such sparsely populated lands the previous few days. But I rode down the hill and turned off the main road to gravel and instantly was alone again. I climbed partway up until I reached the Black Hills National Forest, went up a side gated road a ways, and found a suitable place well away from anyone. Surrounded by forest again!