I was really looking forward to this tour when I booked it, but I have to confess as it got closer each day, I got a bit more apprehensive, (ok, ok, I actually was freaking out by Thursday.) The tour was billed as “strenuous” with no crawling but more than 750 steps – some “ladder-like”. 750 steps is the equivalent to 40 stories. I knew this when I booked it and thought it would be tough but doable. The problem was I had been struggling with a bit of altitude sickness all week and just could not picture making it.
I talked to the Ranger beforehand, who was originally from Toledo, OH and said she had struggled with the same thing when she got out there. She said with the strange barometric pressure in the cave, I'd do much better in there than above ground. The good news is she was right. I felt much better in the cave and was able to do the tour. Unfortunately, I was still a little freaked out by the whole cave thing so I'm going to have John do a guest blogger piece to describe the tour. He will be much more informative than me.
Heeeere's John!
As Dee said, the tour is intended to re-create the tours offered in 1941, through the “historic entrance”. Which isn't the first entrance discovered in 1900. Jewel Cave is another “breathing” cave where the air rushes in and out as the atmospheric pressure changes outside, and equalizes through the miles of cave. So the discoverers found a small entrance, and dynamited a larger way in. In the 1970s the Park Service sank an elevator to another part of the cave and installed nice walkways, stairs and platforms, and most visitors see that part of the cave. Not us.
A little on the “miles of cave”: Jewel Cave is currently the 2nd longest cave in the world, with more than 150 miles of known passages, all within just a few square miles of ground on the surface. The ranger said it takes about 19 hours to get to the farthest known points (yup, that means overnight expeditions) although there are unexplored (at least, unmapped) passages within a few hours' travel of the entrance. The approximate volume of air in the cave can be calculated by the volume the cave inhales or exhales as the pressure changes...and the 150 miles of known passages only account for about 2% of the estimated volume of the cave. That's not a misprint. Two per cent.
The current indication is that Jewel Cave is probably not connected to Wind Cave, which is almost 20 miles away as the crow flies, but the ranger said that recent research has indicated that a connection is more likely than was previously thought. Still not very likely, but...
Jewel Cave is in a limestone formation. Water seeps in from the surface, makes its way through cracks, and erodes the limestone. Because this area was part of an ancient seabed, the water had a great deal of calcite in it, which helped dissolve the limestone, and also built up on the cave surfaces as crystals. In some parts of the cave, the crystals are glittery—hence the name Jewel Cave. In the historic part of the cave, not so much. The early explorers used dynamite to open things up to allow public tours in the early 1900s, plus people weren't all that careful about touching things. The ranger said in the other cave tours they were very picky about telling people “don't touch the cave walls” because it would damage the cave over time. Here...not so much. The ranger said this part of the cave is pretty “impacted” and if we needed to put our hand on the wall to keep our balance as we went along, to feel free to do so. But to please not just wander around touching things for sport. Fair enough. But this part of the cave isn't particularly sparkly. Maybe the part with the less adventurous tours is more sparkly.
We met at a cabin at a completely different area of the park from the main visitor center, about 1 mile away. The cabin was built in the 1930s by the CCC and was used as a residence by the first ranger assigned to the park. It was also the park office. It's a sturdy little log cabin with a huge woodburning stove. It was also special in that it had running water indoors, at a time when only a fraction of houses in the United States could say the same thing.
The ranger passed out our lanterns—they looked like old railroad lanterns or from old western movies, rather than modern Coleman lanterns. They used wide, flat cotton wicks rather than mantles. Since Maddie was under 10 years old, she was typically supposed to use a LED light rather than a real lantern, but the ranger gave her a choice. Maddie wasn't sure, but accepted the LED with the assurance that Dee would switch with her if she wanted to try the real lantern.
I should mention that you can't bring anything on this tour, except a camera that can fit in your pocket. You need one hand to hold the lantern, and one hand to hold the railing as you navigate the steps, so that leaves zero hands to hold other things. Backpacks? Nope. Water bottle? Uh-uh. (That struck me as most odd, after a few days in the Badlands I didn't go anywhere without water.)
Then we hiked down a trail into a gulch (see how I worked that word in without calling attention to it...except for this?) Lots of stairs. It makes sense that a cave entrance isn't just on top of the flat ground, I suppose, and this one isn't. We passed the original entrance (maybe 16” across) and then came to an iron gate across a person-sized entrance. The ranger unlocked the gate and led us in about 50 feet, and probably down about 10', into the first room.
We hung out there for a while and she talked more about the cave and the tours that were offered in the old days. She didn't say so, but I think part of the reason for this stop was to let people kind of settle in to the concept and calm down—or decide that this wasn't what they bargained for and back out. After 5 minutes or so she said she had to go back up and lock the gate behind us and asked if that was OK with everyone. Nobody tackled her or ran out into the sunlight screaming, so she locked the gate and then in we went.
I should note that the cave is chilly, about 50 degrees. But you are moving around. I wore jeans, an undershirt, long-sleeved shirt (a little heavier than a dress shirt but not quite a flannel shirt), and a mid-weight fleece jacket and for me that was a little too much on my torso. (Since we'd been out in 90-100+ degree weather most of the time, I thought 50 would feel chillier to me than it did.) One of the other tour members wore a t-shirt and cut-off jeans; he didn't say anything but I wouldn't go that far. I'd say a fairly heavy flannel shirt would be fine, or better yet a light shirt and light fleece jacket to give you a little flexibility. Good shoes are important, we all wore Merrill or Keene hiking shoes that we loved. The tour says “no sandals of any sort”, and I have in my head that someone mentioned a reason why they considered even “technical” sandals like Keenes or Tevas unsuited to the cave (not just flip-flops) but that is escaping me at the moment. We love our Keene and Teva sandals but think genuine hiking shoes were better for this tour.
She said there were two choices for the tour: the “dungeon” or the “heavenly tour”. Dee asked which one was more strenuous; the ranger said the dungeon tour was more strenuous. (Dee here - strenuous - my eye! - you had to drop through a trap door on the dungeon tour! I'll do 40 flights of stairs any day over free falling in a cave!) We voted 4-1 for the heavenly tour (Maddie dissenting, unsurprisingly).
So, the tour said more than 700 steps. “Steps” is pretty generous. They were wooden structures, in fine repair, and mighty sturdy. Sometimes they approached what you would think of as “steps”, but most of them were akin to a ship's ladder. But not as large in any dimension: narrower side to side, less depth in the tread to stand on, and typically a pretty short step from one ledge to the next. And sometimes they scooted sideways in the middle of a run, and you had to figure out which foot needed to land on Step A so the other foot would be available to sidestep onto Step B.
An annoying characteristic of these lanterns is that they don't really throw light up or down—you know, in the area where your feet are going. Especially on a ladder! If any of our Gentle Readers should find themselves schlepping along in a cave, carrying lanterns, keep an eye out for your buddy: you might not be able to see where your own feet are going, but you can probably light the way for the person behind you so at least they don't fall on you. If your compadres are alert, they may note this and do the same for you. They'll probably be preoccupied with fears that the cave is going to pick this hour, of the last 60 million years, to collapse or suddenly fill with water, or that the stories about giant bloodsucking bats or even CHUDs are true. If nothing else, it gives you something productive and socially responsible to do while you're trying not to fall down the ladder, and you'll feel better for it.
Bats? Yup. But not many. We saw three or four bats roosting, individually. They were Little Brown Bats (seriously) or Townsend's Big-eared Bats (which have ears about 1/3 of their body length...they really do look like little Batman masks). Tiny bats, just a few inches long, way smaller than the ones that occasionally infiltrate our family room. We also saw three or four flying bats. Conveniently, we'd just bought (and read) a book on animal myths. Most of you probably know that bats don't fly into your hair. If they are fluttering around your area, it's probably because mosquitoes or other insect beasties are attracted to you, and the bats are munching away. The bats know darned well where they are and what they're doing, and have no interest in crashing into you. (And really, it's a wonderful thing if they are making a meal of the mosquitoes that would otherwise be dining on you!)
There were four or five serious sets of “steps”, usually mixed sets going both up and down. We stopped in a few of the larger chambers on the way for the ranger to tell us more tidbits (and catch our breath). Some of the chambers were “large bedroom” sized, the largest was “McDonald's dining room” size (although that's misleading because only a little of the floor was flat, most of it was rocks sloping up to the far end of the room.) I could stand up in most of the passages, although several short sections (up to 10' long) were only about 4 ½' tall and required stooping or ducking. Some of the stairs passed through holes that felt quite small but when you're basically on a ladder you can go through a pretty small hole. Just be alert to duck if the ranger tells you it will be necessary.
We finally reached “the heavenly room”, so named because the early explorers saw a rock formation that reminded them of the Madonna and child. After more chatting, the ranger asked if folks would be comfortable putting out the lights. Sure, I was comfortable—although alert for the sound of ranger boots scampering off. (Even then, I knew I would be fine, having had the foresight to toss a headlamp and multi-tool in my pocket....just in case.) So the lights went out...
The ranger said that if we were waiting for our eyes to adjust to the darkness, we'd be waiting a long time. We were far enough into the cave that we were in the “dark zone”. There simply is no light. You could put your hand right in front of your face and see...nothing. If I'd known about this in advance, ideally I'd have arranged with a companion to wear obviously different shirts and to quietly swap them in the dark and then pretend nothing had happened. We stayed in the dark three or four minutes (no longer, no matter what others may tell you) and then re-lit the lanterns and started out.
At the farthest, we were about 160' below ground. Coming out was easier than going in, at least for me. I found it was much more physically stressing to slowly lower myself than to climb the ladders. We stopped two or three times to catch our breath, chat a little, and close up the column (even 6 people can get strung out), and then we were back to the beginning. The ranger unlocked the gate, and we went out and extinguished our lanterns. The whole thing took about 2 hours, maybe 90 minutes actually in the cave.
Maddie loved it. And why shouldn't she? She's maybe 60 pounds soaking wet, has tiny muscles of steel, the vigor of youth, and the steps were her size. She traded lanterns with Dee about halfway through and was fine with the “real” lantern—even said she preferred it. Dee preferred the electric lantern: she said on the way back out the lantern somehow kept hitting things and at least she didn't have to worry about starting a fire.
Then we went to the visitor center and Maddie worked on her Junior Ranger program. We found a map on the wall of the known cave system. The map was, say, 4' x 8' (maybe bigger) and the part we'd explored was about the size of a Reader's Digest (not the large-print version).
Now that we're back in the sunlight, I'll return you to your regularly scheduled blogger—Dee!
Hi again! The lanter tour is a tough cave tour, but to do the hardest "Spelunking" tour, you had to be able to fit through the space below. The space Maddie is crawling through is the smallest space on the tour. Aw Shucks! John and I didn't quite fit - no spelunking for us.
Personally, if I were to go again I'd go on the happy scenic walk where no one locks you in and there is an elevator to take you out. Also, if you've never been in a cave, I would start out a little milder. I'm not claustrophobic, but I did not enjoy this like Maddie and John did. Who knows why!
Happily, after the cave we were off to the wide open spaces of Custer State Park!
I had never heard of this place before I started planning this trip, but the reviewers on tripadvisor.com all loved it, so I booked us there for two days. I'm so happy I took their advice. It is a phenomenal park. One, it's huge! There are four separate resorts within the park, all with a different feel. And two, there is tons of wild life and they have their own 1500 head bison herd. Maddie had been anxiously awaiting a wild bison sighting the whole trip. The several at Bear Country USA were cool, but she wanted to “spot” one on her own. Sure enough we spotted a big bull on our drive into the park. Those things are really huge when they pop out from around a corner!
We stayed at the Creekside Lodge in the State Game Lodge area of the park. Booking lodging is very confusing. They have lodges and cabins and sleeping cabins and campgrounds and they all come up at once on the reservation page. After diligent research I booked the Creekside Lodge. I got a winner! This lodge was just down the hill from the main lodge which was originally built for Calvin Coolidge to stay at when he was out west. They even called it the “Summer White House” he stayed for 3 months because he loved it so much. He especially loved learning to fish – which he learned in a well stocked creek, unbeknownst to him.
Anyway, the State Game Lodge is beautiful, but I think the rooms in the Creekside are better suited for families. It is only 2 years old and our room had a king bed and pull out couch, refrigerator, microwave and desk area. Maddie liked that the furniture had elk on the upholstery. The room was almost identical to our room at The Lodge at Deadwood; a staff member told us the same company had the state hotel contract. Same rooms, but no pool and no slot machines.
We had a late lunch at the State Game Lodge, (no restaurant or even coffee bar at the Creekside), and it was very good. This was the highest end restaurant we ate at on our trip. It was very good, but we were happy to be there for lunch. The dinner menu looked very good but was elk and pheasant and each meal gave wine pairing suggestions. Great when eating without a kid. However, they did have a breakfast and lunch buffets.
We got unpacked just in time to make our 3:45 Jeep Buffalo Safari and Chuckwagon Cookout tour. This was a lot of fun. We loaded into a 1984 open air Jeep with Ken as our driver and tour guide. We were with another family who had boys about Maddie's age and they were all in heaven in the very back of the Jeep. Ken is a retiree who has been coming to do these tours every summer season for 15 years. His wife works in the Grace Coolidge Gift Shop and they stay in their RV in the park. I think all the Jeep guides were in similar situations. They obviously love what they do.
He took us all through the park, down dirt roads and up rocky hills that normal cars were not allowed. We had just beautiful views of the park from all angles. The guides were back and forth on the radios pinpointing where the majority of the bison herd was grazing. That was definitely the highlight of the tour. The kids were so excited – as were the adults, just not as boisterous. We saw them in two different large groups with a couple hundred in each. They do a buffalo round-up every October and it's a big event at the Park. (For the record, the correct term is Bison, but buffalo is used a lot. Ken said buffalo's are only in Africa and they are water buffalo.)
On our tour we spotted a couple plumes of smoke that looked like the beginnings of pretty big forest fires. It turned out they were. They had four in the area that evening which Ken said was rare, but forest fire warning had run from High to Extreme since we've been out here. We learned the next morning no one was hurt and they didn't have to evacuate anyone, but the one we'd watched the longest had burned 65 acres about 2 miles outside the park.
On our tour we saw, deer, turkeys, antelope, prairie dogs, bison and hawks – even one owl! We then went down into a canyon for our chuck-wagon dinner. We met two wagons of people (pulled by trucks, not horses), who had signed up for the chuck wagon dinner but not the jeep safari. Dinner was very good. You got your choice of steak or hamburger and they had all the fixins. Cowboy beans, potato salad, coleslaw, corn bread and cookies. It was all homemade and plentiful. They had singing cowboys and the chefs and guides were all telling jokes. It had cooled down and was a perfect night for a cookout.
Ken then loaded us back up, showed us some more Bison and took us home. The tour was about 3 hours of driving and 1 hour of eating. As I mentioned this is a huge park and we were very happy to have an expert show us through. It really helped us make the most of our time. Ken was great, but I suspect they all would be excellent guides.
We prepared for our last day of vacation and went to bed whipped.
