Great Plains Road Trip Part 5

Thursday May 16, 2019
Early that morning I was up before Amber and the weather forecast was beginning to take a turn for the worse.  We had planned on camping at Wind Cave the next night, but there was a lot of rain and intense thunderstorms coming in the forecast.  So we decided to locate a cheap last minute motel option in Hot Springs, SD.  It added a bit extra cost, but not being flooded out on the exposed rolling prairie during the middle of the night was a pretty motivating factor.

Before packing up and leaving our rental behind, I made sure to cook up our dinner we had planned on cooking at our camp.  We at least would have a microwave in the motel to reheat it.  Then we loaded up and set off for our third and final National Park of the trip, Wind Cave.

Wind Cave was designated a National Park in 1903, and thus was the 8th park in the system.  It was also the first cave to be designated a National Park- even thought most people think of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.  Wind Cave is unique for two main reasons.  1. It is the world's largest barometric cave, which gives the cave it's current name.  The air between outside and inside is always trying to equalize which either produces a wind into-or out of- the cave.  2. Wind Cave is one of the few caves in the world that features the highly unique "boxwork" formations.  Currently, cavers continue to push new leads in the system and it's listed as the 6th longest cave in the world.

Since we were vacationing in the shoulder season, the only tour being offered was the Natural Entrance Tour.  We started out by seeing the original and very small entrance found by the Bingham Brothers in 1881.  It's where the wind blowing from the small opening famously blew one of the brother's hats off and thus named the cave.  Nowadays, all the tours use man made entrances due to the tiny openings that actually exist in the large cave system.

After the interesting tour and getting a glimpse of the box work that is EVERYWHERE in the cave, Amber and I had a nice picnic lunch at the park (enjoying the entire area completely to ourselves.  Then it was time for some prairie dog spotting.  Only this time, as we realized early on, the prairie dog towns at Wind Cave were filled with cute baby pups.  We easily spent an hour watch them and trying to get good pictures.

Eventually we loaded up and drove up north through the park and entered back into Custer State Park.  We took our time driving the Wildlife Loop Road, seeing plenty of bison, pronghorn antelope, and a few deer.  The rolling prairie and scattered forests of ponderosa pine is very beautiful in the spring.

We made a final stop near the main state park visitor center to watch a very well done film about the park that features Kevin Costner as the narrator.  Also nearby was the State Game Lodge.  They had two historical rooms set up available for viewing.  Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Dwight Eisenhower had stayed in them when they used to vacation in Custer State Park.

By that point it was getting late in the day so we headed down to Hot Springs to buy a few groceries and get checked into our motel room for the night.  Hot Springs would be a neat place to explore more of in the future.  They also have quite a few attractions (including an indoor water park/pool using the naturally warm springs in the area).  The name is misleading, however, since there are actually no "hot springs" in Hot Springs.  They are all warm springs (in the 80's).

Friday May 17, 2019
We woke up to booming thunder and lots of rain.  It didn't seem like it was going to let up, so we hastily packed up our car in an attempt to keep as dry as possible.  It was beginning to feel like the end of vacation with the absence of our nice weather and today was the day we began making our way back home, but not without some detours.

Our first stop was only 1 hour away, at Jewel Cave National Monument.

It was a great morning to be underground, but we did have to stand outside in the cold for a while.  I had done my research and Jewel Cave is very popular, and they don't offer many tours.  For this reason tours sell out very quickly.  In order to ensure we got a spot on the scenic tour, we were in the first group of people in line to buy tickets.

I didn't bring my camera into the cave on this tour.  But Jewel Cave was perhaps more fascinating to me than Wind Cave.  It is a barometric cave just like it's counterpart Wind Cave.  Currently, there are over 200 miles of mapped cave passage.  This currently makes it the 3rd longest cave in the world.  The NPS and cave researches have been doing quite a bit of scientific study and based on their measurements of air volume flowing out and they believe only about 5% of the total cave system has been explored.  5%!!!!  So 200 miles is only 5% of the cave.  Even more fascinating, is there is a strong belief based on what they have discovered that someday it will probably connect with Wind Cave National Park.

Jewel Cave is very special, in that it is covered, and I mean COVERED with calcite crystals growing on every wall, ceiling passage, and dome.  There are places where it has broken away from the limestone walls, revealing your typical rock cave passage.  Also very noteable is a giant piece of bacon that's been growing it's way down a wall.  Here is a link from the USGS for a photo of it.
Cave Bacon

After our cave tour ended our next stop was into Wyoming to try and visit Devil's Tower National Monument.  We realized we were starting to get behind on our plans, but it's vacation.  Amber and I were staying with friends, Chuck & Kathy, in Forsyth, MT.

We arrived around 2:00 in the afternoon, and it was a torrential downpour.  We scurried into the Visitor Center to buy some post cards, get our stamp, and read up on the history.  By the time we were done and had eaten a quick lunch the rain had turned more to a cold drizzle.  But since it might be years before we return to Devil's Tower, we were determined to follow through with our plans.  We put on our rain gear and set out on the 1.3 mile Tower Trail that lets you hike around the base of the rock monolith.

The weather was very moody, but it added a different touch to the scenery.

When we finally left Devil's Tower, we realized we were going to miss our dinner plans with Chuck & Kathy, but they were willing to have food ready to heat up for us when we arrived.  They are the parents of my former roomate in Spokane, Alex.  Amber and I got to spend time with them while we were dating, and they would be in town visiting.  Their love of good conversation, and simplicity has led us to become good friends and we enjoy our time with them.

When we finally arrived around 7pm that night in Forsyth, MT, we were spoiled.  We were given plates filled with fried chicken, mashed potatoes & gravy, and veggies.  We spent the evening catching up, telling stories, and just enjoying company until we retired for the night.