Devil's Tower

I did not spend much time planning our trip to South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. My son wanted to see Mt. Rushmore, and I wanted to do some rock climbing. First, we met with a group of friends from Fort Collins in Vedauwoo, but the weather was horrible (pouring and pouring), so we decided to try some rocks in South Dakota, and guess what - it was pouring and pouring. So, our last day of vacation, soaked and dirty, with muddy tent a wet sleeping bags we ended up at Devil's Tower.
I hired a guide for this trip (my son was not up to climbing), and it turned out to be a wonderful experience.
My guide's name was Andy Petefish, and he knew every corner of the Tower. He took me on Durrance since he had no idea about my skills, and it was just fine with me. I was not feeling so good that day. The first pitch was really easy. 2nd pitch got more interesting and higher we climbed, better it was. I was surprised how quickly we progressed. I guess it took us less than 3 hrs to the top. I am not really sure since I forgot my watch, but it seemed very fast. We took a nice break on the top, sign in the log book, had lunch and rappelled down. I really enjoyed having a guide, did not have to worry about the logistics of the gear and finding the right rappel on the way down. We finished our day having a beer with the view of our accomplishment!

Addendum 1.5 years later - I would not hire a guide again. I feel comfortable alone, and enjoy trad leading.