So the next morning, we went to Wind Cave. The boys were very excited about going into a cave. Wind Cave is known mostly for its boxwork formations, which aren't as spectacular as some other cave formations, but very cool nonetheless. It was cool and dark in the cave, which was a welcome relief. Thing 2 was a trooper, but needed to be carried up several of the sets of stairs. Thing 1 earned yet another Junior Ranger badge.We next moved on to Jewel Cave. On the way there, we drove through a storm that dumped rain and hail on us. It was pretty violent, and made driving on those mountain roads all the more exciting. We arrived to find out that our only tour option was the Jewel Cave Discovery Tour, which we thought should be renamed the Cruel Tease Tour, since the tour consists of descending to the cave, but staying in the first chamber for 20 minutes. This tour was made more exciting for us when the power went out above (due to the same storm system), and our ranger got trapped in the elevator. They eventually sent us down a second ranger, but apparently poor Shea was stuck in elevator for about 3 hours. The boys were very disappointed that we didn't get to descend the tempting staircases that led to the lower levels. So we decided we would try to return the next day and take a longer tour. But now it was time to head on over to our hotel for the evening.
We drove to Keystone, SD, which is right next to Mount Rushmore. The weather was still rainy, and the clouds had descended to the point that we couldn't see the faces when we drove by. That night we ate a a local cafe. Sweetie had bison ribs and I had a bison steak. Quite tasty. The boys swam in the pool after dinner, while Sweetie did some laundry (which was sorely needed at this point in the trip).
The next morning, the sun broke through the clouds. We drove up to Mount Rushmore, and enjoyed breakfast in full view of the four Presidents. For being a bit of a one-trick pony, the folks at Mt Rushmore have really put together a great park. They have exhibits on both the building of sculpture and the historical significance of the subjects. 
We didn't spend too much time there, however, as we wanted to get back to Jewel Cave. This time, we got on a much longer tour that was spectacular. We saw all sorts of groovy cave formations, and the Things were fully satisfied (as were Sweetie and myself). I liked the cave bacon. Thing 1 liked the walls covered with nailhead spar, and Thing 2 liked his 'cave kiss' (a drip of water fell on his face). Sweetie like the soda straw and some of the wet formations. We all agreed it was definitely worth the return trip to take this tour. And Thing 1 earned another Junior Ranger badge. 
We now drove over to Devil's Tower. Interestingly, the name Devil's Tower is due to a mis-translation of the Native American name (which, of course, I can't remember). We picked out a lovely campsite in the shadow of the Tower, and then decided to go on a hike. Devil's Tower is really, really impressive. I was shocked by how massive and geometric and beautiful it is. We hiked around the base of the tower on a nice shady trail (did I mention that we happened to be traveling at a time when temperatures were predicted to be 10 to 20 degrees above average?). The Things really enjoyed jumping around on the rocks, even though that behavior was driving us nuts at the time), and we saw some good wildlife - mule deer, rock doves in their native habitat, turkey vultures and squirrels. Back at camp we had lovely light on the tower as we ate dinner. It's a good day when you eat breakfast in full view of Mt. Rushmore and dinner next to Devil's Tower. That night Thing 1 and I attended a ranger program. At one point the ranger was talking about the stone that makes up Devil's Tower, phonolite porphyry. He said something about how it was a rare type that occurred mostly in Africa and that there was only a little bit in North America. I nudged Thing 1, pointed to the Tower and said "Yeah, only a little bit."The following day was a traveling day. We packed up and drove all day to Yellowstone. We took a very scenic route through the mountains to get there, and entered through the northeast entrance. This meant that we got to drive the Lamar Valley at dusk. We saw bison and elk and even a momma black bear with her cub. Quite successful on our first hour in the park! We stayed in Gardiner, MT that night, just outside the north entrance.
The next morning we grabbed a campsite in Indian Creek, and headed off for a short hike up to Mystic Falls. We drove down to Biscuit Basin and saw the springs there and then headed up the trail. Did I mention that they were experiencing record heat? On top of that the fire in 1988 killed many of the mature lodgepole pines in the park, and the replacement trees are only about 8 feet tall, meaning that there is little shade in much of the park. So hiking uphill in the heat of an extremely hot, dry day with two small Things can have some unpleasant moments. The falls were pretty, though and we had some fun climbing up a rocky slope we found. At times, the Things (Thing 2 in particular) found their hiking rhythm and were pretty good, but at other times, it was like pulling teeth. Occasionally, a hat was thrown to the ground as we were informed that it was "very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, hot!"We next headed down to see Old Faithful blow. May I say here that the Old Faithful area of Yellowstone is completely overdeveloped and an absolute nightmare. The area immediately surrounding the geyser is okay (how pretty is a geyser basin to start with?), but the stores and the lodge and the huge parking lots and wide roads and loads of people were god-awful. We had a good view of the eruption, and I think the Things were suitably impressed, but we were glad to be on our way from there.
Our next stop was Grand Prismatic Spring. This, I think, is best viewed from the air, but being able to see the microbial mats changing as the water flowing from the pool cooled and changed chemically was really cool. The colors were stupendous, but every time that hot, sulfurous steam blew across, it was mighty unpleasant. We made a half-hearted attempt to find one of the springs that one of the projects I'm working on was sampled from, but it was getting late, so we headed back to camp. It's remarkable how large that park is. You can't get as much done in a day as you might think because of the distances involved. The first time I realized Old Faithful was 50 miles away, I was dumbfounded.Well, it's getting late. I still have another day of Yellowstone and a day at Grand Teton to get through, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.
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1 comment:
Gosh, Old Faithful was overdeveloped when I was there ~25 years ago. I guess that's why it's "faithful." Thanks for blogging, it brought back many memories.
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