Wind Cave National Park

Monday August 8th-  OK, I must admit, I really love these road trips.  It took a few days to get the hang of things again, but I now remember why we are doing this.  Maybe it is the people we meet- the guys with the Harley Davidson shirts on their way to Sturgis that we talked to in the bar, or the Dad with his young son driving in a Jeep Renegade on their way to their first time in Badlands National Park.  They were so excited.  Or maybe it is the scenery- for me, every road is a scenic highway.  You never know what you will see.  For example, today driving in South Dakota, there were fields and fields of sunflowers on both sides of the highway.  Seeing the great Mississippi again was another thrill...
Anyway, we made our way across Wisconsin and into South Dakota, stopping over in the town of Chamberlain, about half way across the state.

Tuesday August 9th-  We continued our drive to the western edge of South Dakota, through rolling prairie and some dramatic gorges when we neared the Badlands.  We arrived at the park early enough to book a cave tour, then grab a quick picnic lunch.  We opted for the Natural Entrance cave tour, which takes you in near the original opening.  I must admit, I was prepared to be disappointed after seeing Carlsbad Caverns, but really enjoyed the visit.  Every park has something special and individual to offer.

Wind Cave, one of the longest in the world, was originally discovered in 1881 by 2 brothers noticed some shrubs shaking even though there was no wind.  Investigating, one found a hole with enough wind coming out to blow off his hat.  The wind can be blowing out or in , depending on the barometric pressure.  It is the cave's way of equalizing the pressure within the cave.   When the barometric pressure is low, the air moves out of the hole. When it is high, the cave sucks air in.  Mother Nature breathing!  The brothers never explored the cave, but later adventurers, including Alvin McDonald, explored a large part of it beginning in 1890 using only a candle and leaving string behind him so he could find his way out.

Wind Cave is considered a "dry" cave, meaning there is not a constant drip of water from above down into the cave.  As a result, there are none of the stalactites or stalagmites.  However, it does have some other interesting decorations including boxwork, which is a lacy-looking deposit, popcorn, and flowstone.

The other part of this park is above ground.  Over the cave are beautiful grassy plains supporting a variety of animals including bison, prairie dogs (they do sort of go together...), pronghorn antelope, and elk.  We were lucky enough to see all but the elk, though the bison were not very close to the road.  We drove the scenic road into the park, and opted to take the loop portion, which is gravel- the first "gravel in our travel"!  We saw lots of prairie dogs, but no more bison.  It was on this route that we saw a group of about 12 antelopes, grazing fairly close to the road.  It was upsetting to see people out of their cars walking over to the animals, trying to get close, and making them move away.  Not good...  That's what telephotos are for!

We stayed in Custer and will head for Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument in Montana tomorrow.