We spent the day in search of Rocky Raccoon. No, not really but we certainly canvassed the Black Hills. Last night found us at a campground near Mt Rushmore. We had planned to skip The Four Heads but since we were so close we decided to stop by. John and I were AMAZED at how close we were!! I don't know where we viewed it from 18 years ago but we NEVER saw it so close! We were more impressed than the kids.
From there we stopped for Hobbit's second breakfast since we had a tour reservations for 12:20 at Jewel Cave. We learned that Jewel Cave is the 2nd longest in the world--now measuring 151,11 miles long. Every few weeks folks go down to do more exploring and measuring and remain there for about 4 days. They even have a staging area where they keep sleeping bags and they get their water from the cave. What we found even more amazing is that just to get to this area, they had to pass through spaces only 8 inches tall. Now that is a tight fit! Jewel Cave was named for the calcite deposits in it. We saw some very cool formations including two called Bacon and eggs!
After leaving the cave, we headed to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. We arrived in time to pop into the visitor's center and hike around the tower. Falcons are nesting around one face and we could see them soaring. There is a voluntary "no climb" period in June to honor a sacred period for the American Indians. We saw many prayer bundles and cloths tied to trees.
We are settled into camp for the night and off to Yellowstone tomorrow.
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