Day 5: Jagged Caves and Smooth Remains

Last night I slept like a baby. The nighttime temperature was the warmest we have had all trip, which meant that I didn't need to bundle up in multiple layers within my sleeping bag to stay warm. In fact, it was so warm that I was able to sleep without socks! For those of you who don't know my normal "feet habits" this may seem like an odd thing to be excited about, so I'll give a brief overview: I do not like having my feet enclosed, be it by socks or closed-toe shoes or even blankets. When I sleep I am even more sensitive to things being on my feet and usually I sleep with my feet completly outside of the sheets and blankets. So being able to sleep with naked feet last night greatly improved my quality of sleep. For those interested, my new sleeping bag gets two thumbs up. It is spacious AND warm which are two qualities that are difficult to find in a relatively cheap bag. The only downside is that it is a bit bulky, which may cause issues later on with getting it back home. But I'll worry about that when the time comes and will just enjoy it for now.

In other news, today we visited Wind Caves which, at 121.5 miles, is the 6th largest cave system ine world. The cave was given its name due to the "wind" that is blown out of or sucked into the cave at its natural entrance. The direction and intensity of the wind at the entrance is regulated by barametric pressure, and in the late 19th and early 20th century the direction and power of the "wind" from the cave was used to predict the weather. The interior of the caves are nothing like the other caves I've been in. Wind Caves have not been active in a very long time and most of the caves were not carved out directly by water (unlike the caves I have been to) and instead were the by product of the regional uplift associatd with the building of the Rockies and the Black Hills. Wind Caves is known worldwide for its impressive examples of boxworking, cave popcorn, and frostwork. In terms of exploration, it is thought that as little as 10% to as much as 50% of the cave has currently been discovered.

Example of Boxwork found in Wind Cave

After doing an above ground and an underground tour of the caves, we headed to Hot Springs to the Mammoth Site. The Mammoth site is an active paleontological dig site, were 61 individual mammoths have been discovered. The site has a very interesting geological history that explains the presence of the large number of mammoth skeletons. The area was once a sink hole that stayed warm in the winter and hungry mammoths would brave the slippery ledge in hopes of getting some food. However, there were many mammoths that would slip down into the sinkhole and not be able to get back out, and so they would die, leaving ther skeletons preserved in the sediments along the (at that time) bottom of the sinkhole. Over time sediment accumulated within the hole, and the shale surrounding the sedimentary formation eroded away. If it had't been for a housing development project in 1970's, this incredible collection of mammoth skeletons would have not been discovered. The excavation of the site is ongoing, and South Dakota Geologic Survey drillings suggests that there are still fossils and bones present down to at least 65 feet below the top of the dig site. Only 22 ft have been excavated so far, so there are still plenty of mammoths and other remains, such as the Great Short-Faced bear, to be unearthed.

The mammoth site dig in Hot Springs, SD

My favorite fact about the mammoth site is that all of the skeletons found thus far have been adolescent males. It is believed that like the modern elephant, mammoths had matriarchial societies amd that at a certain age, the young males either left voluntarily or were forced to leave by the matriarch. The current theory is that the young, imbicilic males, no longer within the care of their mothers and grandmothers were less cautious and more desperate for food and water, they would approach the sinkhole, slip in and then get stuck and starve. Poor dumb male mammoths...

Extra-ordinary Observations
1. It's nice to know that homo saipens are not the only species with idiotic adolescent males.
2. Buffalo are pretty spectacular, even when they block the roadway and you fear for the life of the motorcyclist in front of you.
3. There are few things more satisfying than capturing a decent image of a beautiful sunset.

First sighting of Elk on the trip

Roadside Buffalo with Calves

Sunset over the Black Hills

Posted via DraftCraft app