Caves in the Black Hills

August 24

Dog tooth spar--Jewel Cave

In Jewel Cave

Hiking at Jewel Cave

This was our day for caves!   We started by taking the long, beautiful drive through Custer City to the Jewel Cave National Monument.  This is the 2nd longest cave in the world (Mammoth Cave in KY is the longest) at 162 miles.  Jewel Cave is named for its many rooms and passages covered with jewel-like crystals that sparkle like gems when illuminated.   Most of the calcite crystal formations are known as dogtooth spar and nailhead spar, and this cave has the most extensive display of them yet discovered.  It was a very interesting cave, and we also took a nice hike on the park trails while we waited for our tour.

Jewel Cave

Popcorn formation-Wind Cave

After leaving Jewel Cave, we headed for Wind Cave National Park, some 25 miles away.   Both caves are called "breathing" caves because they react to the atmospheric pressure by "inhaling" or "exhaling" wind.   Wind Cave was discovered when two brothers heard a loud whistling noise.  The sound led them to a small hole in the ground, (about the size of a park ranger's hat) the cave's only natural opening.  The air "exhaling" from the cave blew the hat off of Jesse Bingham's head!  When he came back another day to show this phenomenon to a friend, his hat was sucked into the cave!  This cave contains an extensive network of box work, popcorn, and frostwork formations and other irreplaceable features.

Boxwork formation--Wind Cave

Also at Wind Cave NP, we saw a some bison and a prairie dog village.   Those little prairie dogs are really cute popping in and out of their holes.

Prairie Dog

Prairie Dog

We finished the day with a trip to Rapid City to go to Wal-Mart to stock up on some supplies.   We enjoyed seeing the Main Street Square and the bronze statues of former presidents that decorate the street corners.