Treasure Above and Below the Ground

Mr. Hawkins

Wind Cave National Park 

We began our day with a 7:30 rise and shine.   We traveled to Wind Cave National Monument to view what it had to offer both above and below ground.   We arrived in time to do one of the early morning tours.   We were directed to the original opening of wind cave which surprisingly was only big enough for a small boy to fit through.  We were instructed by our park ranger on duty that the cave exhibits a barometric wind.   When the air pressure outside decreases the wind blows out of the cave.  On a high pressure day the wind will blow into the cave.  Our ranger explained to us how important it is not to touch the cave walls because oil on the human body can destroy the processes that lead to cave formations.  The ranger then led us down a staircase into the cave.   The stairs descended quickly and we soon found ourselves 200 feet below the surface. 

Frostwork

Boxwork

 Two of the main features we saw in the cave are boxwork and frosting.   Boxwork is the result of minerals, gypsum that expands over time, causing cracks in the rock structure followed by the cracks filling with calcite.  Later when erosional processes take place the softer rocks are eroded away leaving the box-like structures found in the cave.  Think of boxwork like looking up at many empty box sides crisscrossing one another only the boxes are all empty.   Frosting is caused by a similar process like the formation of stalactites and stalagmites.   Wind cave does not have either of these but does exhibit frosting occasionally.  Think of frosting as a rock structure that looks like the ice that forms on the walls of your refrigerator over time.  It has many small points that come out of a central mass.

 There is no animal life within wind cave.   All life that does exist is microscopic.  We did observe a few mold spots as we travelled.  There were no bats in this cave.   There was very little water present in the cave at this point.  Most of the passages in the cave were the result of acidic water flowing many thousands of years ago under the surface.

Wind cave was the 7th National Park to be designated.  It all began with the discovery and mapping of the cave by a young teenager by the name of Alvin McDonald.  Alvin mapped most of the cave with a simple candle bucket and used string to find his way back out when he explored.  Alvin later travelled to the World’s Fair in Chicago in order to raise interest in the cave as a possible money making attraction for South Dakota.  Alvin died when he became sick and returned home to continue mapping the cave.  He refused to quit and it caused him to die a premature death.   The walkway inside the cave is about ¼ of a mile long.  It took workers from the CCC several years to build the walkway using inner tubes filled with concrete that weighed 90 lbs. each and walking them in one at a time.   We were told that a 90 pound load of concrete amounted to only 1 inch of pathway along the trail.   Imagine the immense work that went into play to provide the path that we explore today.   Wind cave consists of over 140 miles of pathways that have been confirmed and mapped below the surface.   There are still parts of the cave that have not been explored.  It is one of the largest continual caves in the world.   There is a water aquifer located below the cave passageways that holds cool water at about 49 degrees.  The average cave temperature above this aquifer including the passageways is about 59 degrees F.

One of the things that people planning a visit to wind cave may not realize is the treasure found above the ground.   Wind cave is home to abundant wildlife.   There is a healthy buffalo herd and we saw large buffalo bulls sunning and even saw one in a buffalo wallow.   This is a place where they scent mark and roll in the mud to control insects etc…..   We went on a nature trail hike within the park and saw elk scat, or poop, and saw a doe mule deer at about 60 yards foraging on the hillside above the trail we were on.    We were able to approach really close to a pronghorn buck with nice horns within the park and got several nice pictures of prairie dogs.   Wind cave shows a cross-over between grassland ecosystems and the Black Hills Forest area.   The bison benefit from the grass and are able to find ample cover in the forested undergrowth when needed.

We learn to appreciate the work of those who have gone before us and the insight of our past Presidential leadership in recognizing the importance of preserving for future generations the beauty of this great land that we call home.  Without regulation Wind Cave and many of our National Park areas would have been desecrated by eager souvenir gatherers who lack the importance of preserving the experience for those to follow.    We must learn to appreciate beauty without detracting from it.   We must appreciate how fragile our ecosystem really is and that man does not always have the greatest wisdom when it comes to changing what nature has designed naturally.  We witnessed many pine trees that have died recently due to boring weevils that were introduced into areas where they were not native.  This is a sad scene to look at.  What once was a beautiful mountain hillside has now turned into a dull brown graveyard leading to worse problems like erosion.  It takes a lifetime to grow a tree to the stature of those in our national parks.

We have already had a treasure trove of experiences on this trip that have broadened our understanding.  We sincerely appreciate the support we have received from the Funds For Teachers program and look forward to what is to come tomorrow.   We can hardly wait to get to Yellowstone.  

There will be more to come in the following days.   Bear country, wolf country, elk country….yeah!!!!!!