Beneath the Black Hills
I woke up and went through my usual morning routine before heading off to Wind Cave National Park for my 9:30 a.m. Natural Cave Tour.
The drive there was beautiful. Rolling hills stretched out in every direction, with bison and pronghorn grazing in the grass along the way.
I arrived at the visitor center and walked inside to check in for my tour.
And then I saw it.
The line.
Holy crap! Do I have to stand in that?
Luckily, I had the sense to ask the rangers at the front desk where I was supposed to check in. Turns out, I didn't have to stand in the ridiculously long line at all. I showed them my reservation, and they gave me a small ticket that I would need to hand over to the ranger leading the tour.
The people in that long line?
Walk-ins.
Good thing I asked.
I had some time before the tour, so naturally, I headed to the gift shop to get my National Park stamp and a few souvenirs. Because apparently, visiting a national park isn't complete without buying something to prove you were there.
I also walked around the exhibits to learn a little about what I was about to experience.
One thing really caught my attention: how much of the cave has been explored.
It used to be 169.5 miles.
Then, that morning, the ranger told us it had officially reached 170 miles.
Holy moly.
INTO THE CAVE
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Just before the tour started, I walked over to the covered area outside the visitor center.
Our female ranger was very nice and gave us a lot of information about the history of Wind Cave before we headed inside.
There were also a few things I needed to know before entering.
You can't bring bags of any kind on the tour. No purses, backpacks, fanny packs, or anything else you might normally carry around. No tripods, either. And no food or drinks.
Basically, if it doesn't fit in your pockets, it stays behind.
So I packed my pockets with extra camera batteries and brought my camera and GoPro. Camera equipment also has to have a neck strap because you'll need both hands available to hold onto the railings as you make your way through the cave.
And those stairs can be slippery.
The cave stays around the low 50s, but honestly, it felt pretty comfortable. I was wearing hiking pants and a fleece pullover, which turned out to be perfect.
Then we reached the entrance.
There are two doors. You have to wait for the first door to close before the second one can open.
It's all about equalizing the air pressure before entering the cave.
And then we went through the second door.
Except...
Apparently, some people were really excited to get inside.
Have you ever watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when all the kids start pushing and shoving to get through?
Yeah.
It was kind of like that.
People were pushing to get ahead, and I remember thinking, Seriously? We're all going into the same cave.
Eventually, we made our way down the stairs and into the cave.
Got my steps in this day.
We walked through the cave, stopping along the way to look at the formations and listen to the ranger explain the history.
There was one little problem, though.
A screaming toddler.
I don't want to sound cruel because, well, toddlers are going to toddler. But when you're inside an enclosed cave, every sound seems to echo and amplify. It became pretty difficult to hear the ranger over the screaming.
I tried my best to focus on the tour, but there wasn't much we could do about it.
Eventually, it was time to leave the cave.
As we made our way toward the elevator, I noticed people climbing over some of the large rocks that had broken off from the ceiling and fallen onto the floor.
Wait. What?
Isn't there a rule about this?
Rule #1: Don't touch anything or walk on anything.
Apparently, that rule didn't apply to everyone.
I just shook my head and kept moving toward the elevator.
And finally, it was time to head back to the surface.
It was interesting, but honestly, I didn't enjoy Wind Cave nearly as much as I would Jewel Cave.
But I had another stop planned.
And before heading to Rankin Ridge, I had a very important task to take care of.
Eat my PB&J sandwich.
A QUICK STOP AT RANKIN RIDGE
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After my Wind Cave tour, my stomach started to growl.
Good thing I packed some food.
My Jewel Cave tour wasn't until 2:20 p.m., so I had some time to burn. I pulled out my PB&J sandwich and hoarded it down because I figured I had enough time to check out Rankin Ridge.
I was sitting in the car trying not to look like a complete goober when, of course, the jelly decided to make a run for it.
Had to my PB&J sandwich
Fill the tummy before the next adventure.
Right down my hand.
And onto my shirt.
And my pants.
Now I looked like a total slob.
They're never going to let me into the next tour looking like this.
Luckily, I had wet wipes.
Crisis averted.
After cleaning myself—and my dignity—up, I made my way toward Rankin Ridge.
It was a beautiful, but warm, day. I drove toward the ridge parking area, and along the way I noticed an older couple at a nearby overlook. They were bent over the ground collecting rocks.
The man was actually digging them up with what looked like a collapsible knife.
Why?
Why would you do that?
They should have known better. Collecting rocks in a national park is illegal and violates federal law, but apparently that doesn't stop everyone.
I just stood there staring at them and shaking my head.
It honestly angered me.
I eventually continued on and took a short path where I spotted a bison in the distance.
Of course, I snapped a photo.
Then I continued toward the ridge.
When I arrived at the parking area, I felt a little unsettled.
I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it was the trees. Maybe it was the trail leading toward the lookout tower. There were a few other cars there, so I wasn't completely alone, but something about it just made me a little uncomfortable.
So I turned on my new Garmin inReach Mini 3 Plus so my husband could see where I was.
By the way, that little gadget is great.
I'll talk more about that in a later story.
With that taken care of, I started hiking.
I believe it was only about a 200-foot elevation gain, which doesn't sound like much.
But coming from sea level just a few days earlier?
There was a lot of huffing and puffing.
I had to stop a few times to catch my breath, but I kept on trucking.
And I'm glad I did.
Because the view was beautiful.
Rankin Ridge Fire Lookout Tower
53 feet and at an elevation of 5,013 feet and built in 1956.
The view from Rankin Ridge.
A pano view from Rankin Ridge.
From the top, I could see Wind Cave National Park stretching out below me.
The trees rustled in the wind, the sun was beating down on my face, and everything was surprisingly peaceful. There were a few other people up there eating lunch, but everyone seemed to be doing the same thing—taking in the scenery and enjoying the quiet.
It was exactly what I needed.
Eventually, it was time to head back down and make my way to Jewel Cave. It would be about a 30-minute drive.
ANOTHER APPLE MAPS ADVENTURE
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I got into the car and headed off.
At the end of the road, before turning onto the main road, there were prairie dogs everywhere.
Then I followed Apple Maps' suggested route and, once again, it decided to send me down a gravelly dirt road.
Mostly residential.
What the heck?
At this point, I just said screw it.
It was a nice drive, and it ended up being a shortcut anyway.
I'll give Apple Maps that one.
JEWEL CAVE
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As I got closer to Jewel Cave, the road became increasingly winding and, eventually, the cell service disappeared completely.
I finally arrived and checked in.
I still had about an hour and a half before my tour, so I went inside to explore the exhibits.
Jewel Cave has about 200 miles of cave passages, which is pretty mind-blowing when you stop to think about it.
A man at the front greeted me and suggested that I watch a 23-minute movie in the theater located in the other building.
Why not?
So I walked over and watched the film.
It was actually pretty interesting and informative, and it gave me a good overview of the cave before the tour. Which turned out to be a good thing.
Because once we were underground, our guide would explain different things along the way and ask if anyone had questions.
And people would ask questions that had literally just been answered in the 23-minute movie.
I couldn't help but think, Did nobody watch the movie? 😂
Apparently, that 23 minutes was optional homework.
Afterward, I went back to the other building, got my National Park stamp and, of course, a few souvenirs.
I dropped those off at the car and headed back for my tour.
The same rules applied here as at Wind Cave.
No bags.
No tripods.
Nothing you can't carry in your pockets.
It was time to check in, and wouldn't you know it—the man I had spoken with earlier ended up being our tour guide.
He was a volunteer, but he was incredibly knowledgeable.
Then came the double-door routine.
And apparently, the pushing routine, too.
One woman actually pushed me aside as she went through the door.
I couldn't hold it in.
"No need to push. We're all ending up in the same place. It's not like you're going to get lost from here to our meeting location."
She responded, "I just want to stay with my group."
I mean...
We're all meeting in the same place.
Good grief.
At that point, I decided I was going to be the caboose of this tour.
That way, everyone else could do whatever they wanted ahead of me.
And then we entered the cave.
Oh.
This cave was much colder.
The stairs and handrails were damp to the touch, and I could immediately feel the difference from Wind Cave.
And there were a lot of stairs.
More steps in for today.
The tour took us up and down more than 700 stairs as we made our way roughly 300 feet below the surface.
Up. Down. Up again.
And then down some more.
At this point, I was very glad I had decided to be the caboose. I could take my time, stop to take photographs without worrying about holding everyone up.
I hung back, taking photographs of this and that, letting everyone else move ahead.
And then...
There it was.
The ooooohhh moment.
We were led into a large room surrounded by railings, and our guide told us to hold onto one of them for stability.
What is going on here?
Then he asked us to turn off all of our lights.
One by one, the lights disappeared.
Then he turned off the lights in the room.
Complete darkness.
No lights.
No sound.
Just...quiet.
Well, almost complete darkness.
The only thing glowing was the glow-in-the-dark tape on my camera, which apparently provided enough entertainment for everyone because people started laughing.
Then our guide shined a light onto the ceiling.
And suddenly...the ceiling turned…
“Wohhh!”
Phosphorescence.
Then he pulled out a UV light.
And the ceiling changed again.
Green (fluorescence).
It was so beautiful. The minerals glow, no living things involved!
Nature can be pretty damn amazing.
After the show, we continued through the cave, seeing even more of the different formations along the way.
We were getting close to the end of the tour and then suddenly...
The older gentleman in front of me turned to the guide and said he had to use the bathroom.
Well...
There are no bathrooms underground.
That's why you really need to take care of that before the tour. Depending on the tour, you're underground for up to an hour and a half, and there isn't exactly a convenient restroom around the corner.
He turned to the guide again and told him it was an emergency.
Luckily, our guide had a first-aid kit.
And apparently, the first-aid kit included a pee bag.
We were told to wait a little farther down the cave while the guide assisted him with his...emergency.
And all I could think was:
I wonder how many times this has happened.
Eventually, we continued on, and that pretty much brought the tour to an end.
We made our way back to the elevator and began the 90-second ride back to the surface.
After spending all that time underground, that elevator ride felt pretty good.
BACK ABOVE GROUND
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After my Jewel Cave visit, I decided I wanted a decent meal.
I'd had enough snacks and road food, so I stopped for Chinese takeout and ordered General Tso's chicken with vegetables and egg rolls.
They forgot my rice.
Luckily, the woman bringing out my food looked at the order and asked, “No rice?”
“Yes. Fried rice.”
She went back inside and returned with my entire order. Phew!
I was finally on my way back to the teepee with a real dinner, ready to eat by myself and relax.
The food filled my tummy, and I was ready to call it a night.
But not yet.
I still had to pack up some of my belongings and get everything into the car before heading out the next morning.
The next stop would be Custer, South Dakota, for another day of exploring.
Finally, I crawled into bed and turned off the lights.
The teepee was completely dark.
And then I heard it.
THE OWL
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The first night, one had woken me up with its call from somewhere nearby. This time, I could hear one farther away, moving around in the darkness.
And honestly, there probably wasn't a better way to end the day.
Goodnight from the Black Hills.
