Wind Cave National Park

*This is an archived journal entry from August 26th 2009. I'm dividing it up into two post as it was a crazy day with lots of activity from a trip to Wind Cave National Park, Hot Springs SD and an overheated car! I hope you enjoy the entries...

August 26th 2009:

Woke up this morning at 6:15 a.m. and loaded everything into our car. It looks to be a brilliant day with blue sky and relative humidity. Our plan is to drive south to Wind Cave National Park, another large cave in Southwestern South Dakota, and then onto the historic town of Hot Springs. Wind Cave is situated approximately thirty miles south of the Legion Lodge. The park boundaries of Custer and Wind Cave overlap, making for a gorgeous drive through a wide range of topography ranging from mountains to prairie.

As we headed toward Wind Cave we encountered an abundance wildlife including wild turkeys, mule deer, bison, and an entire herd of Pronghorn! I have noticed that the best time to encounter wildlife is early in the morning, close to dawn or late in the afternoon, close to dusk. As always be respectful of wildlife and admire them at a distance.

On the way to Wind Cave we stopped for breakfast at Blue Bell, a tourist area of Custer with lodging, food, and a gift shop. Blue Bell is situated at the base of Mount Coolidge, and straddles French Creek and a sea of Ponderosa Pine. It was built in the 1920s by a Bell Telephone executive, and named for Bell's company namesake - its 'Blue Bell.' The owner of Blue Bell deeded over the land and his ranch to Custer. Blue Bell is picturesque, and another great spot for families wanting an old-west experience. The campground and cabins are very nice and on-site activities such as ranger talks, hikes, horse-back riding and western chuck wagon ridges.

We were seated in a corner booth in Tatanka Dining Room. The Dining Room, which was recently remodeled in 2008, offers delectable and affordable breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for any palette. Specialties include burgers, steaks, salads, and trout. The dining room is perfect for families with plenty of comfortable seating and ambiance. The decor reminds me of an old west hunting lodge with hardwood floors and a stone fireplace. An adjoining lounge offers live music at night and an gorgeous oak bar for adults to indulge in a glass of wine and appetizers.

For breakfast my mom and I split a cowboy breakfast of steak and eggs, homemade hash browns, orange juice and coffee. It filled us up for an jam-packed day ahead. The service was upbeat and friendly.

After our scrumptious breakfast my mom I continued south to Wind Cave. The topography changed drastically from mountains to high grassland prairie. It took about twenty-minutes to exit Custer's boundaries and reach the entrance to Wind Cave. The area is quiet, except for the rustling of the wind, which is strong and ferocious at times. It whispers like a melody. The sun is harsh and the sky takes up one's entire peripheral vision...It's a tapestry of color, geology, and wildlife. Wildlife teems here with elk, bison, pronghorn, mountain lion, coyote, bobcats, foxes, and prairie dogs. The grasslands are filled with wildflowers and grasshoppers, so as lonely as the seemingly endless prairie may seem it is full with life.

Prairie dogs are abundant in the grasslands surrounding Wind Cave. Prairie Dog towns line the roads, and you really need to be careful not to hit them as they often cross the road. They need prairie dog crossing signs! Prairie dogs are the most amazing creatures, the way they interact and look after each other!

About seven minutes after entering the National Park we reached the cave entrance and Visitor Center. Wind Cave was discovered by the Bingham Brothers in 1881 after they heard a loud whistling noise from a small hole in ground, which subsequently knocked Jesse Bingham's hat off his head. It is now known that the tiny hole was the only natural entrance to Wind Cave. The wind whistling out of the hole begged curiosity so a few days later Jesse returned to show his friends. Oddly enough the wind switched directions and this time his hat was sucked into the cave. It is known today that the direction of the wind is related to the difference in atmospheric pressure between the cave and the surface.

The first person reported to have entered the cave was Charlie Crary in the fall of 1881. In 1890 the South Dakota Mining Company filed a claim on the cave and J.D. McDonald was hired to manage the mine. The McDonald family quickly realized there was no money to be made in mining at Wind Cave, however they could make a profit by giving cave tours and selling formations from the cave. They filed a homestead claim over the opening and worked on improving a man-made entrance and enlarging passageways for tours.

J.D.'s son, Alvin was intrigued with the cave and spent a majority of his time exploring its maze and mapping out its passageways. He kept a diary on his findings, which is still referenced today.

In the summer of 1891, an investor named John Stabler formed a partnership with the McDonald's to form the Wonderful Wind Cave Improvement Company. Cave passages were widened and wooden staircases were installed. A hotel was built near the cave entrance and a stage coach provided rides to the cave. In 1893, Alvin died of typhoid fever and a feud ensued between the the McDonalds and the Stablers.

In December 1899, the Department of the Interior decided that since no mining nor proper homesteading had taken place, neither party had any legal claim to the cave. In 1901, the land around the cave was withdrawn from homesteading.

Wind Cave National Park was established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, making it the seventh oldest National Park in the world and the first cave to be designated a National Park. Wind Cave lies underneath a vast prairie with the mountains of the Black Hills cradling its core. Wind Cave is very unique in the fact it has a special kind of cave formations called 'boxwork' and 'frostwork.' Approximately 95% of the world's boxwork formations are found in Wind Cave.

'Box Work': Boxwork is commonly composed of thin blades of the mineral calcite that project from cave walls or ceilings that intersect one another at various angles, forming a box-like or honeycomb pattern. The boxwork fins once filled cracks in the rock before the host cave formed. As the walls of the cave began to dissolve away, the more resistant vein and crack fillings did not, or at least dissolved at a slower rate than the surrounding rock, leaving the calcite fins projecting from the cave surfaces.

'Frost Work': is a type of speleothem (cave formation) composed of acicular ("needle-like") growths almost always composed of aragonite (a polymorph of calcite) or calcite replaced by aragonite [1]. It is a variety of anthodite. In some caves frostwork may grow on top of cave popcorn or boxwork.

It is a three-dimensional maze cave, recognized for having the most passage volume per square mile compared to any cave system in the world. It is the second longest cave system in the world with 119.58 of charted passageways, and known length of 151.04 miles (more miles discovered each year). Interesting to note that an average of four new miles of cave is discovered each year. Above ground, the park includes the largest remaining natural mixed-grass prairie in the United States.

The Visitor Center offers a variety of exhibits regarding the cave itself, and its unusual formations. It is also where you sign up for a variety of cave tours. All caves tours cost at least $7 and no discount for park pass owners. Plan accordingly and call ahead to reserve tickets, especially if you have a large family. The fee is worth it however for the magnificent formations.

I recommend taking your time viewing the V.C. history and wildlife exhibits. A twenty-minute orientation film is also a good introduction to the Cave and Park land covering it.

Cave Tours: There are five cave tours varying in intensity, features and duration. I recommend the Garden of Eden tour, which is the easiest to maneuver with only 150 steps and gives a great introduction the cave. It lasts just over an hour. Another good option is the Natural Cave tour with 300 steps and at 1 1/4 minutes offers views of boxwork, popcorn and frostwork.

Hiking: There are three hiking trails within the Park boundary. This is a great way to get off the beaten path, and immerse yourself in the flora and fauna of the prairie. I recommend bringing lots of water for any prairie hike and sunscreen as the sun is strong, even if the temperature is not that extreme.

We finished up at Wind Cave around eleven. We decided to head onto Hot Springs, although we were tempted to detour on a prairie hike...for Part II of this entry look for a subsequent post.

Information on Wind Cave N.P.

*Frostwork is shown in photo above.