LA to NJ Road Trip: Day 5
8/1/16. We arrived at Wind Cave about 10 am on Monday morning and we were surprised to see the parking lot quite full already. We were thrilled to have to stop on our way in for a group of buffalo who were making their way across the street and up the hill. There was even a baby! There were also hundreds of prairie dog mounds all over the prairie lands around the park - it really looked fake there were so many little heads popping up!We were able to get tickets to the 10:40 Garden of Eden cave tour (for sissies). We took an elevator down to the cave and had a wonderful tour of a few of the rooms and passageways.
Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and a great teacher. We had good opportunities to learn and observe how this cave system is unique - especially the boxwork that forms here. This formation is created when calcite is formed in the cracks of the rocks, then the rocks are eroded away, leaving only the calcite in lacy patterns.
The wind in the airlock entering the cave was also amazingly strong. The cave was warmer than typical: 52 degrees instead of 48 because of thermal activity in the area. Everything at this park is very well done and we're glad we chose this one for our cave tour - the National Parks (as compared to National Monuments) are better funded and it often shows!
Next we drove an hour and a half to the Badlands National Park. We'd seen photos of the park and had been told it's great, but we were blown away by how incredibly unusual the landscape is - like you are on another planet! 
We decided we needed a new scale by which to measure the WOW factor at National Parks after visiting the Badlands. Not only are the formations incredible, but the sheer size of the park is unimaginable.
We drove slowly, stopping at various look out points and we took about 2 hours to get through the park. Every turn had a new vantage point, or new formation to impress us again and again. It's truly other-worldly and NOT TO BE MISSED!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment