Spelunking Through South Dakota: Part 2

Located just 30 miles from Jewel Cave National Monument is the completely different underground world of Wind Cave National Park.

Wind Cave became the United States' seventh National Park in 1903. It was discovered only a few decades earlier in 1881 by Jesse and Tom Bingham. The brothers were on the prairie when they heard a loud whistling noise. They approached a small opening in the ground and Jesse's hat was blown off his head - hence the name Wind Cave. As was mentioned at the beginning of the video in the post on Jewel Cave, this wind is sometimes known as the cave "inhaling" or "exhaling" and is caused by changes in atmospheric pressure between the cave and the outside world.

Much of the early exploration of Wind Cave was done by teenager Alvin McDonald. Alvin's father, JD McDonald was hired by the South Dakota Mining Company to manage the mining operations at Wind Cave. However, it was soon discovered that there was nothing worth mining, but that a profit could be turned by selling tours through the cave. The McDonald family homesteaded at the entrance to the cave and widened the openings and natural passages within the cave for tours. My tour guide told a story about a large barrel shaped opening in one of the cave rooms. The McDonald's, acting as tour guides, told guests that this hole was so deep that they could throw a coin in and never hear it hit the bottom. They challenged people to try it and many did and were struck with the truth of how deep it must be when they never heard their coin land. In reality, the hole wasn't all that deep, but a sheet was stretched across it part way down to keep the money from ever reaching the bottom and making a sound. At the end of the day the McDonald's would climb in and retrieve all of their extra money.

The first explorer to enter the cave unwound a piece of twine as he went so he could find his way out. However, Alvin took to painting his initials as he went. But not his actual initials. Alvin developed a secret code to notate his adventures through the cave's passages and rooms. It's a complex eight step process that begins with ordering the name "Last, First Middle," involves two separate codes, and ends with a -8 rotation which eventually turns the initials for Alvin Frank McDonald into ZUQ. My initials VDP would be WOP. (I wish I could say I cracked the code. I didn't. But there is a website that runs the algorithm for you: https://zuq.curiousconcept.com/#). ZUQ can still be seen throughout the cave today.

There are other initials within the cave and people are still working to determine the meaning of all the markings.

Sadly Alvin died at age 20 of typhoid fever. Two years earlier (and only one year into his cave exploration) he wrote that he had "given up the idea of finding the end of Wind Cave." That's probably a good thing. Over 100 years later it's estimated that still only 5% of the cave has been discovered.

A room in Wind Cave

On my visit I took the Fairgrounds Tour that travels only half a mile out of the 100 miles of mapped passages. Unlike my lantern tour at Jewel Cave, the Fairgrounds Route is mostly paved and lined with electric lights - a very different experience. The abundance of light allowed me to see the features of the cave much more easily.

Wind Cave's most well known feature is its boxwork. These thin honeycomb like fins of calcite are found in very few caves but is found in abundance within Wind Cave.

The nearby Jewel Cave is known for its shimmering calcite crystals, a feature clearly lacking in Wind Cave. I asked my tour guide how the caves could be so close but so different. He told me that it all has to do with the geology of the Black Hills and the different regions where the caves are located. Wind Cave has some bling of its own in the form of popcorn and frostwork formations.

Not all of Wind Cave National Park is found underground. It is also home to nearly 30,000 acres of wildlife sanctuary where I found bison, deer, pronghorn, and turkeys.

My visit to Wind Cave was another reminder of how much exploration there is yet to be done in the world. It was also a reminder of how it's possible to get a lot done in a little amount of time - Alvin McDonald only got to explore the cave for less than three years, but his contributions to the park are legendary. My visit also humanized our National Park System. Our parks aren't just beautiful areas and geological wonders, but they also represent the people that discovered them and worked to understand them, even before they were National Parks.

What's your favorite National Park story? Where are you going to explore? What are your initials using Alvin's code?

Go. Live.

For more information on Wind Cave National Park visit: http://www.nps.gov/wica

Spelunking Through South Dakota

Did you know that many of the world's largest caves are found in the United States? The third largest is in South Dakota - Jewel Cave National Monument.

Jewel Cave got its blinging name because of the calcite crystals that cover the walls and ceilings of the cave and shimmered in the lantern light of the cave's first discoverers. The calcite crystals remain today, but electric lights have replaced lanterns in most areas. However, I chose to take the Historic Lantern Tour to explore the cave in much the same way the original discoverers would have experienced it.

It looks like the place where Indiana Jones may have found the Crystal Skull, but Jewel Cave is a national treasure in itself. And it's constantly growing. Exploration of the cave system continues and it's believed that only a fraction of it has been discovered. Cave explorers spend as long as four days underground and the furthest explored areas of the cave take about 11 hours to reach. So far, 180 miles have been discovered, but explorers are adding about 3 miles to that each year. All of this sits below just 3 square miles of land area. Exploration isn't something just for space or remote jungles. It's at our back door and under our feet!

Tickets for the cave tours often sell out in the morning, so I was careful to get there just after they opened. In the high season people sometimes have to wait hours between getting their tickets and taking their tour. Much to my delight there was still room on all the tours - even those starting in a few minutes. I was torn between the Scenic Route and the Historic Lantern tours. Most people take the Scenic Route and enjoy its paved walkways and electricity. The Historic Lantern Tour not only requires you to carry a lantern, but there is no paved walkway. There are a few railings and stairs throughout, but there are also rocks to scramble over, tight spaces to squeeze through, and few places where you can stand upright.

Only five of us were the early birds that snagged tickets for the first lantern tour of the day. Due to our small group we took the Dungeon Route instead of the more popular Heavenly Route. I have no idea what the difference is, but our guide kept saying how lucky we were to come on that day and get to do the Dungeon Route. I think it might be a slightly longer route so we got more time to explore.

This brief (3 minutes) POV video gives some background on Jewel Cave and a quick look at the Historic Lantern Tour. You'll see a new friend we made along the way. Watch to the end to see five tech-savvy millennials that can't figure out how lanterns work.

I LOVED this tour and consider it one of the highlights of my trip through the Dakotas. To be honest, I was apprehensive about booking this more difficult tour. What if it's hard? What if everyone is more fit than me and I can't keep up? What if there are bats? Okay, well, that last one was true. And as far as guided National Park tours go, this one was pretty hard. But I also think it was a lot more fun than walking on a sidewalk.

My only regret for the day was that I put on clean clothes that morning. Note to self, crawling around in caves is dirty.

Go. Live.

Return to Mt. Rushmore

When I think of mountainous states I think of Colorado. Or even the Sierra Nevada of California. Or the Appalachian of the east. But I don't think South Dakota.

I always found the term "Black Hills of South Dakota" puzzling because I didn't think there were hills there and Mt. Rushmore is white. I paid closer attention on this trip. I not only found hills that are black, but I had my breath taken away by the beauty of the Black Hills.

Despite being on a National Park trip, I stayed in Custer State Park. Custer has many beautiful features and scenes to itself, but it is also centrally located between Mt. Rushmore, Jewel Cave, and Wind Cave. So it was a perfect base camp for me.

Despite having visited Mt Rushmore years ago, I decided to visit it again. To be honest, I was disappointed on my first visit. Yes, it was cool to see it in person, but it looks exactly how it does in photographs. There are places like the Grand Canyon that cannot be appreciated in a photograph, but Mt. Rushmore isn't necessarily one of those places.

For a different experience, I decided to visit at night and stay for the lighting ceremony. As dusk descended the hills a ranger took the stage in the outdoor amphitheater at the base of the monument and introduced a film. The film provided history on not only Mt. Rushmore, but also on the presidents it features.

At the end of the film, 6 veterans came to the stage to the lower the American flag. Before they began, the ranger called all veterans in attendance to take the stage. Each hero introduced him/herself and indicated the branch in which they served. This was one of the most powerful moments of the entire trip. The stage was lined with people who have fought to uphold the ideas and ideals of the four men featured on the mountain behind them.

I'm glad I gave Mt. Rushmore a second chance. And I actually gave it a third chance. The parking pass is good for a few days, so I decided to stop in on my way out of town and hike the .6 mile Presidential Trail that took me even closer to the mountain.

There is more to parks than what is observed at a first glance. There is always more to see, do, and explore.

Where are you exploring next?

Go. Live.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit

Visiting the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park from the North Unit also involves a bit of time travel. The Units are an hour apart. The North Unit operates on Mountain Time. The South Unit operates on Central Time. I arrived the same time I left. Whoa. Mind blown!

Behind the Visitor’s Center is Theodore Roosevelt’s Maltese Cabin, a small structure he called home in his early days in North Dakota.

His original writing desk and trunk (complete with his initials) remain.

After the tour of the cabin, it was time to check out the 36 mile scenic drive. The landscape is more diverse in the South Unit, but it’s also much more crowded as it’s not as far off the beaten path as the North Unit.

The Scenic Drive starts by passing through a prairie dog town.

These industrious little creatures are so rapidly expanding, that they’re even burrowing up through the road. But aside from the prairie dogs, I found it harder to see wildlife in the larger expanse of the South Unit when I first arrived.

However, I was up with the sun the next day. I saw a coyote and heard another one while I was hiking.

I drove to Buck Hill, the highest point in the park. I hiked to the top of the hill and thought, “It’s really quiet here.” Then an elk bugled. Sadly, I never saw any elk. But they’re fun to hear. I saw a few deer on Buck Hill, but no bucks, oddly.

I saw lots of bison throughout the day. 

A small heard created a large traffic jam at the Painted Canyon Visitor Center that afternoon.

My favorite place in the South Unit is Wind Canyon. The effects of erosion and wind are obvious in this small canyon. A short trail leads out to the Missouri River. Even though I was camping along the Missouri River in Cottonwood Campground, the view from here was much more majestic.

View from my campsite

Horseshoe Bend at the edge of Wind Canyon

On my final night in the south unit I drove the Scenic Drive again right before sunset. I pulled over when I saw this buck.

A van pulled off along with me. This van and I leapfrogged our way around the Scenic Drive. I was headed to Wind Canyon to watch and photograph the sunset. I pulled in the Wind Canyon parking lot, but stayed in my seat as I switched lenses and gathered my stuff (GoPro, headlamp, baseball cap, etc). I noticed that the van pulled up beside be, but I was focused on prepping for my hike. When I looked up, the driver asked me about what all I saw when I took the above photo. Much to everyone’s surprise, I knew the people in the van!

I met Vern and Judy Essenberg when I was touring with Silver Ring Thing eight years ago. Vern and Judy live in Michigan, were traveling to Montana in August, and stopped by Theodore Roosevelt National Park for the night. Had Vern not stopped to ask a question, we would have completely missed each other! It was great to have a quick roadside catch up on life. Unfortunately for them, I’d been camping in campgrounds without showers for a few days…

The conversation was great and the sunset that night did not disappoint. I was up early the next morning and was out exploring again. Unfortunately, there was too much fog to get a good sunrise. I drove back to the top of Buck Hill hoping to see or hear some elk, but it was so socked in I didn’t even attempt to hike.

However, as I was completing my last trip around the Scenic Drive I saw a heard of wild horses and five pronghorn.

I’d been scouring fields for the past several days and couldn’t be happier to finally find some pronghorn. I think I spent nearly an hour watching these beautiful creatures.

Time to head further south…on to SouthDakota!

Go. Live.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Unit

On February 12, 1884 a 25 year old Theodore Roosevelt became a father. Two days later, his wife died. Hours later, his mother died. Devastated, Teddy soon set off for North Dakota. One of his main goals was to hunt bison, but he became intrigued with the cattle industry and soon bought a ranch and hired his hunting guides to run it.

My desire to go to North Dakota was much different. I certainly hadn’t suffered as much tragedy as Roosevelt, but I too needed to change my routine. I wanted a trip that was completely out of the ordinary, that would let me be outside as much as possible, would provide many opportunities to explore, and contained lots of space to think. Oh, and visit my 49th state and as many National Parks I could fit into a week. And I, like Roosevelt, found comfort in living what he called, "The Strenuous Life."

Theodore Roosevelt National Park is divided into three units in western North Dakota: North Unit, South Unit, and Elkhorn Ranch. Elkhorn Ranch is the site of Roosevelt’s cattle ranch. Only some foundation stones remain and this area as been kept as undeveloped as possible to allow it to remain how Roosevelt would have experienced it. Unfortunately that means there is no easy way to get there. The only road in is a rutted, dirt road. I skipped it as I had lots to explore in the other two units.

The North Unit is in the middle of oil country. I drove for miles through field after field and suddenly there was a pumpjack. Or a fenced in area with a much more elaborate oil drilling facility. And small housing/trailer developments are springing up throughout the region. But in the middle of this bustling economy is an oasis of over 24,000 acres.

I passed through the entrance gate, showed my annual pass, and on my left was a large herd of bison. Sadly, I was paranoid about not getting a campsite in the park’s campground (they don’t take reservations), so I sped past. It was early afternoon and I found the campground less than 25% full. I got a great, level, pull through spot with a path that lead down to the Missouri River. I filled out the registration envelope and learned a valuable lesson: Have exact change when registering for a campsite on site. Enjoy the donation Park Service, you’re worth it.

With my accommodations for the night secure, I set off on the 14 mile scenic drive. Interesting landscapes and geological formations were all around me. As I neared the end of the drive, I rounded a bend and found another group of bison. It was a hot day and they were resting and trying to stay cool.

The scenic drove ends at the Oxbow Scenic Overlook. With so many trees along the river, the oxbow is hard to see, but it’s there.

It was just past this point where Teddy Roosevelt caught two thieves who stole his riverboat. He marched them across 60 miles to Dickinson where they stood trial. Go Teddy!

On a sunset walk, I passed several cannonball concretions. These round boulders formed inside of other, softer rocks. The softer, outer shell eroded away and these concretions mark their spot to this day.

The following morning, I took another lap on the scenic drive and decided to hike the Caprock Coulee trail. I saw pictures of the caprocks in National Geographic’s Guide to the National Parks and knew I had to see these mushroom shaped formations. I didn’t care that it would be a four mile walk in the wilderness, I wanted to see them. So off I went.

Several miles and interesting formations later, I reached the place of the caprocks. But, they weren’t there. They’ve apparently all fallen down. Thankfully, the scenery of the trail was so beautiful that I wasn’t too mad. But disappointed nonetheless.

The trail eventually winds up the hill, crosses the scenic drive and past the Riverbend Overlook. This was one of my favorite spots in the park, and while pausing here along my hike I saw a bison crossing the river far below. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to change lenses in time to get the photo I wanted, but it was a magical moment. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

I continued along the trail and found some petrified wood.

After my hike, I was back in the Jeep and driving to the South Unit.

But not before a stop to visit with the bison herd inside the entrance gate.

Go. Live.