Wind Cave National Park, SD

June 27
We wanted to get up very early in the morning to go on the 4.5 mile loop of Lookout Point Trail combined with parts of the Highland Creek and Centennial Trail. Esther was up before 5 and watched the sunrise. Eventually the others stirred and we hit the trail at 7:15am. Much of this trail runs across the gently sloping prairie, then dips into Ponderosa pine forest, then follows the Beaver Creek through a rocky valley. It was beautiful. We saw many bison trails crisscrossing the grass and many, many bison chips. We managed to step in a few of the fresh ones despite our best efforts, which the kids thought was hilarious. At the junction of Centennial Trail we saw a dead bison in the grass. It had been dead a long time and looked like a mummy. Of course we had to have a closer look. The hide was rock hard and the skull and teeth were interesting. Liam investigated a tiny cave. Further along we saw yet another old carcass.
Nearly back at the parking area, we were confronted with a large herd of bison, bulls, mothers and numerous light brown calves. They were blocking the valley we had to pass through. A few of the more cocky bison came closer to check us out or to warn us, snorting in the process. We attempted to hug the slope along the creek but were cut off by a mother and calf. We retreated as much as we could on top of a lone rock. Behind us was a very steep wooded slope with much poison ivy, in front, the bison. The bison came to the creek to drink and moved around a bit. After about a 1/2 hour and a snack, it became obvious the bison weren’t in a hurry to leave the area. We weighed our possible escape routes. We carefully headed back down the trail and cut up the side of a hill to rejoin the trail at a safe distance. In the middle of the field was another, fresher carcass. This one must have been a big adult. Its bones were at least twice the size of the others’.
In the afternoon we put on our long pants and sweatshirts for our cave tour. We saw 2 wild turkeys and their little chicks at the Visitor Center where our tour began. Wind Cave has only one natural opening, which is only about 1 ½ ft by 1ft and was so named as a wind flows in or out of this small hole depending on the barometric pressure. Wind speed has been clocked at over 70 mph. Currently about 140 miles of passages have been discovered and documented under only one square mile of land. Scientists estimate that only about 5% of the cave passages have been discovered, potentially making the entire cave over 2800 miles long. Whoever discovers a new passage gets to name it, hence names like Pee Bottle Hall, Ear Wax Corridor, Big Butt Canyon, Vomitorium, and Deep Sea Transvestite, among others.
The Candlelight Cave Tour is offered only twice a day and is limited to ten people. This is a special tour into an unlighted and unpaved part of the cave. It is a constant 53 degrees. We had to wear gloves to protect the delicate formations from the oils on our skin if we touched the walls. We each carried a little metal pail with a candle as our only source of light. It simulated how the cave was discovered by a 16 year old boy and initially explored in the late 1800s. We saw lots of the famous boxwork, popcorn, and the very special frostwork which looks like incredibly fine coral or needle-thin branches. Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed.

Here are the pictures.