[Posted by Sarah] We had reservations for a scenic tour of Jewel Cave at 11am. We made breakfast at the cabin then hopped in the car for the short drive to the cave.
Jewel Cave is the second longest cave in the world with over 140 miles of cave mapped. It was an absolutely amazing place. The scenic tour was about an hour and a half. You start by going down an elevator and then walking the 700+ stairs and concrete paths.
Jewel Cave is covered in a calcite crystal called dogtooth spar with lots of cool formations like flowstone and soda straws and draperies (see pictures above). Where the dogtooth spar has fallen from the walls it leaves large exposed edges of crystal. It was definitely one of favorite places on the trip so far.
Jewel Cave is the second longest cave in the world with over 140 miles of cave mapped. It was an absolutely amazing place. The scenic tour was about an hour and a half. You start by going down an elevator and then walking the 700+ stairs and concrete paths.
Jewel Cave is covered in a calcite crystal called dogtooth spar with lots of cool formations like flowstone and soda straws and draperies (see pictures above). Where the dogtooth spar has fallen from the walls it leaves large exposed edges of crystal. It was definitely one of favorite places on the trip so far.
Jewel Cave also happens to be a "breathing" cave such that when the barometric pressure is high, wind blows into and through the cave; and when the barometric pressure is low, wind blows through and out of the cave. Scientists who have measured the amount of wind flow in the cave think that the amount of wind indicates that only about 2% of the cave has actually been discovered!
After we toured Jewel Cave we came back to the cabin for lunch and then drove to Custer State Park. We hiked the Stockade Lake trail and it was quite the workout. But we got pretty high up and had great views of the surrounding area and the lake (see pics above).
Sweaty and tired we got into the van and Beau cooked us up an awesome dinner at the cabin. Christopher and Beau get to do a trail ride in the morning and in all likelihood we will pack up and head out Wednesday night so we don't have so far to drive on the next couple of days before Yellowstone.
Hard to believe our trip is half over. Only 8 more days and we'll be in Seattle again.
After we toured Jewel Cave we came back to the cabin for lunch and then drove to Custer State Park. We hiked the Stockade Lake trail and it was quite the workout. But we got pretty high up and had great views of the surrounding area and the lake (see pics above).
Sweaty and tired we got into the van and Beau cooked us up an awesome dinner at the cabin. Christopher and Beau get to do a trail ride in the morning and in all likelihood we will pack up and head out Wednesday night so we don't have so far to drive on the next couple of days before Yellowstone.
Hard to believe our trip is half over. Only 8 more days and we'll be in Seattle again.
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