Teddy and the Wind Cave

I won't bore you with any details about the drive across North Dakota, because for the most part it bored me. But at least it was mostly sunny and warming up. It even got so warm that as I was nearing the end of the day, I felt I could comfortably (and at long last) camp out. There's not much in ND, but I ended up at the best of it...the Teddy Roosevelt National Park...it's a return trip for me, but really, I had no other options.

Road Food note: In the book I use that guides me to some of the great meals I have had (Road Food by the Stearn's), the only state with no entries in the lower 48 is North Dakota.

After setting up camp, I figured I had enough daylight to drive into the park just a bit and visit a prairie dog town (they're so darned funny). But as I went along the entry road, I was confronted by a herd of bison (American buffalo). They were littered across the road, so I came to a halt. As they were grazing on their dinner, they were moving toward me. I backed up a bit, but they kept coming. After backing up some more, a pickup truck approached and I hailed the driver.

I informed her of the approaching herd, and she said she had been here in a car as small as mine, and had turned around in a similar situation. But in her truck, she could honk them away, and I could follow. But as she moved slowly through them, they immediately closed the wake behind her and I was stifled again. LOL, I sheepishly returned to camp.

I spent the night completely alone as I was the only camper in the park that night. In a small cottonwood forest, with the babble of the Missouri river, and a few far too close snorts and heavy foot falls of bison, I sat and watched the sky waiting for the clouds to break. This would have been how Teddy experienced the region, other than he probably sought out the bison rather that wishing them away (his purpose in coming here in the first place was to "bag a buffalo").

I awoke with the intention of quickly doing the 36 mile driving loop, and heading for my next destination. It was up at daylight and still before sunrise, as I started the loop. I quickly realised I would be spending a bit more time as the wildlife was out in force. Around turn after turn I stopped to appreciate multiple sightings of (from small to large) rabbits, pronghorn elk, mule deer, wild horses and bison. They were practically posing for me, if not outright obstructing me. The only animals that seemed to sleep in were the prairie dogs. Combine that with the stunning badlands scenery, and I was quickly behind "schedule" by a full hour. But my plan still had a nice margin of error.

The goal was to get to Wind Cave national park by 1PM at the latest. The only way to see Wind Cave is by a guided tour, and during this off season they only have tours at 10AM, 1PM and 4PM. All I had to do was drive due south 200 miles in 4 hours. Knowing there was nothing to see along the route, I had 40 minutes to play with averaging 60 MPH. The first mildly pleasant 75% of the distance put me well ahead of schedule, so I decided to take the more scenic route for the remainder. And that is where the schedule became tight.

While the majority of the final stretch was on roads of 65MPH, the delays and the distractions quickly ate up my advantage. First I surprisingly came to the Geographic Center of America. I had to stop for that, didn't I? Then there was a long slow stretch through Deadwood. The frequent 20 MPH hairpin turns were no help, and I had to stop for a long distance view of the slowly progressing Geronimo-on-horse monster sculpture. Tediously slow drivers, a few pulling trailers, seemed often to pull out in front of me from nowhere. Shockingly, a ram, an actual ram, brought me to a halt as he meandered across the road (I stopped for 5 minutes for him because I'd been hoping to see one since my first trip). He waited near my car for the rest of his family to catch up.

But it was at the very end where I made the mistake that would get me to the 1PM tour too late. With 20 minutes to go, I passed the sign that read "Wind Cave National Park". I then passed the sign that read "blah blah Bison blah blah" or something like that, and as I rounded the corner, there they were in the road, staring me down again. I inched forward. They inched toward me. I inched and honked. And they froze. So I inched and held the horn. And, to my amazement they relinquished the road to me!

I was so thrilled by my victory over the massive beasts that when I passed the sign that said "Wind Cave Visitor Center," with an arrow pointing in the direction, I didn't see it. Five slow miles later I realized my error when I saw the sign announcing my departure from Wind Cave NP. I sped back, but I was too late by 10 minutes. It was the best mistake I could have made.

I entered the Visitor Center, which is also the start of the tours, and the ranger was as disappointed as me that I had barely missed out. I gave her a briefing of my day's tale, as well as my longer journey. I also told her that I was on my way to Yellowstone, and wanted to get a good start on the trip there, and I (honestly) wasn't sure whether I would wait til the next tour. I had expected that I might head out and see the grounds above the caves, which are supposed to be almost as impressive, but after my diatribe, Mary proffered if I were there at 2PM (when the current tour let out) she'd be free to give me a quicker version of the hour long tour of the cave if I would keep pace. I enthusiastically accepted!

I decided to go back to the bison who made this possible to thank them and get a couple of pictures and in the 20 minutes I was out, I saw the bison as well as a herd of pronghorn elk, a plethora of mule deer and even a photogenic and funny prairie dog.

Back at the VC at 1:50, the other tour was done early, and my personal park ranger tour guide Mary and I were taking the elevator down into Wind Cave. Having done Carlsbad Caverns a month ago, I knew I would enjoy it, but didn't expect Wind Cave to match up. And it didn't match up, only because it was such a drastically different kind of cave system. While Carlsbad was about enormous rooms with infinite decorations, Wind Cave was constricting passageways and boxwork. And it was awesome.

Flashlight in hand, frequently crouching and bending to avoid the low ceilings and jutting formations, Mary led me through what she described as "a three dimensional maze." We dallied at all the highlights of popcorn and frostwork, and lingered at the boxwork. Boxwork is a very rare cave formation and Wind Cave has the best in the world. It is a calcite formation sometimes resembling honeycombs...spectacular is what it really is. Mary gave me the full explanation of how it forms (it's the precursor to the caves themselves) but this blog is getting long enough as is. So go see it for yourself.

Upon exiting, and after my many thanks, Mary said, "I'd have made you wait and go on the next tour, but you're exactly the type of guest we like to entertain." I hope to get the opportunity to pass on that service (when) if I become a park ranger.

I sit here tonight in Douglas, Wyoming still thrilled by all I saw today. From TR to Wind Cave, a neighbor to the wildlife, and a special guest of the park it was a wonderful day. Doing this blog, I try not tell too much about what is really coming next. My path does have some randomness, but in general I have a route's big picture and I do a lot of nightly planning for the next and future days. For example, I never mentioned Banff, until Canada turned me away, yet that was really the whole purpose of going to Canada. Now that Banff's out, and I've already mentioned Yellowstone, from where I am, there is only one good way to get there - through the Grand Tetons NP. So that is the goal for tomorrow. It's a grand goal, but perhaps a bit premature. I am not close enough to enjoy it properly, and the weather looks to be incompatible with camping there to permit a full day of exploration. So, I'll probably zoom in close, and play off the cuff for where I end up. Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do between Douglas, WY and the Grand Tetons?