THE Trip, Riding Through Wind Cave National Park, Hot Springs, South Dakota

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

July 8, 2011.  We spent part of the day down in the cave at Wind Cave National Park, but, it is time to turn Big Butt towards Custer and our last evening in the Black Hills.  First though, we extend our time and visit here just a little bit more by riding around the prairie of the park and enjoying a leisurely ride back to Custer.

Now, Man knows this, and some of you may remember me mentioning it, I have this "thing" for prairie dogs.  Poor Man, every time I would find a colony of prairie dogs, I was taking photos, making him stop so I could do so.  Now, yes, I know that for ranchers and those that must make their living off the land, prairie dogs are considered a huge bother.  Yet, I still cannot help myself, I want more photos of them.

So, I was taking photos of prairie dogs:

And, of pretty weeds:

When I got a bit of a surprise.  I was concentrating on getting "the shot", had my head down, macro on, macro off, zoom, zoom some more.  And, I looked up and noticed I had a friend (and a couple of riders) sauntering by.  Now, I know that some of you will remember my close encounter with the bison at Yellowstone, I was not looking for a repeat of that experience, once WAS enough!  This big guy (well, I think it is a guy??) was just walking where ever his little (big) heart desired.  Like who is gonna stop him??  Not I!  Oh, this is the second time something like this happened, where I was minding my own business, my nose and Sony in the flowers, when a bison walked very near by.  These huge animals can be VERY quiet, and sneak up on you.

Back on the road again, the scenery is lovely, easy on the eyes, and for some reason we become enthralled with the clouds.

More poofy white clouds, nice rolling hills, deep green pines contrasting the prairie grasses, I ask, what is NOT to like here?

And much to my delight (not someone else's, eh??) another prairie dog colony, and yes, I got out of the truck in that heat (around 95 degrees) to take more photos of prairie dogs (there just is NO explaining some fascinations, is there?)

This guy is sending off a warning, Carol is here, Carol is here, and she has that stinkin Sony AGAIN!  Geeesh, lady, give us a break (Man needs one too).  Chatter, chatter, warning all his buddies underground to just stay there so maybe this nutso chick will go away!

OK, I got the hint, how bout a drive down a quiet back road:

As we approach Custer, one last photo of the clouds and the beautiful Black Hills.

When we got back to Tana we hooked up, first, getting stuck, but, of course.  I was driving this time, we filled in the holes and I ran Big Butt back hard, through those ruts and stopped in time to not hit Tana.  Actually, I got very close to the exact position we need for hooking up, which, made us very happy!

Next, Nebraska.  THE Trip is winding down, gonna be a hot finish though - -




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THE Trip, Wind Cave National Park, Hot Springs, South Dakota

Copyright 2012, CABS for Reflections From the Fence

July 8, 2011. Our last day in the Custer area.  It will be hotter than hades, 94 real temps (give or take) and I caught 107 on Big Butt's rear view mirror thermostat after Big Butt had been parked for a while.  So, we decide to go visit some caves, where it will be considerably cooler (45 degrees in the caves).

According to the Wind Cave National Park web site, "Wind Cave was discovered by two brothers, Jesse and Tom Bingham. They heard a loud whistling noise, which led them to a small hole in the ground, the cave's only natural opening."

In the museum at the Visitors Center they have an old diary kept by Alvin McDonald.  Alvin was one of the first systematic explorers of the cave.  I was able to get a fairly decent photo of the diary, and then zoomed in on this tidbit, all my researching friends will surely enjoy this:

Our guide started our visit to the caves at that small hole that was the source of the whistling sound, the sound of discovery.  She explained to us how sometimes the wind blows out of this cave and sometimes air gets sucked into the cave.  It all has to do with barometric pressure.  The day we visited, we could feel the air blowing out of the cave, it was distinctly chilled.

Again, from the Wind Cave National Park's web presence we learn:

"The cave is one of the world's longest and most complex caves... known for its outstanding display of boxwork, an unusual cave formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs."

Here are a couple of photos I took of the boxwork, and, no, they do NOT do it justice.  Remember, I do not use flash in situations like this, nor do I carry a tripod, so, I capture what Sony can.  For the most part, boxwork hangs from the ceiling.

We had to do a bit of ducking:

Another take on the ducking, Man was on the other side:

Going down:

This photo is stunning, look at that huge slab of broken rock.  OK, this photo is underwhelming in this interpretation.  Those slabs were very long, and guessing, 6 to 12 inches thick.  Rather unnerving to look at that split, isn't it?  

A pool of water.

Our guide told us, and I cannot remember the exact numbers, that more of this cave has not been explored than has been.  What we were allowed to visit is just a very, very small portion of this huge cave system.  According to this page on their web site, 100 miles and 3000 chambers have been explored.

As with most caves Man and I have visited, this one was different, fascinating, and ya, cool!

Our visit to Wind Cave National Park would include a picnic lunch at the campground area and a lovely ride. A few more photos, coming soon.