Today was cave day.  

We first went to Wind Cave which is part of Wind Cave National Park.  The cave was found in 1881 when two brothers heard a loud whistling sound.  The sound led them to a small hole in the ground - the cave's only natural opening.  The wind was said to be blowing out of the hole with such force that it blew one of the boy's hat off.  That wind, which is where the cave got its name, is created by differences in atmospheric pressure inside and outside the cave.  

Exploration of Wind Cave did not begin until 1890.  An extensive network of passageways have been found to date containing boxwork, popcorn and frostwork formations as well as flowstone and relatively small stalactites.   The cave temperature is constant at 53 degrees.

Although there is no evidence of Native Americans either living in or storing things in Wind Cave, the Lakota tribe believes it is through the small hole (the cave's only natural opening) that the buffalo first came to be on this earth and that their people followed the buffalo and thus populated the earth.   Therefore, Wind Cave is a sacred place to the Lakotas.

Wind Cave is one of the oldest caves and has more than 130 miles of surveyed passageways. It is said to be the fourth longest in the world.  Barometric wind studies indicate that only 5% of the total cave has been discovered in more than 100 years of exploration.  The cave is still being explored today and is said to be the fourth longest in the world.

After Wind Cave, we went to Jewel Cave National Monument.  Jewel Cave is believed to be the second longest cave in the world, and it is still being explored.  To date, the cave passages that have been mapped and explored total at least 160 miles.  This cave is far different from Wind Cave.  The formations are different and the 'chambers' much larger.  

The original opening to Jewel Cave was found in Hell Canyon (not the one we visited some weeks ago).  It, too, was a small opening; that opening was enlarged with dynamite.

 

Jewel Cave NM was established in 1908 when less than one mile of the cave had been explored and few of the cave's wonders had been discovered.  Explorations in the past 45 years have revealed more of the cave's treasures; and because the cave is a scientific gem, much of it has been set aside for research and is not open to the public.  Calcite crystals are evident everywhere; some are called dog tooth spar - an elongated, many sided crystal that is pointed at the end.  Others are called nailhead spar; each of these crystals is elongated, many-sided and has a flat or blunt end.  The crystals typically cover cave walls in crusts from two to six inches thick or occur in deep pockets in walls.  Pure calcite crystals are translucent white.  When iron oxides, other minerals, or impurities are mixed in, the crystals may be red, yellow or an opaque white.  Large sections of the cave's crystal lining appear gray and do not sparkle.  These are covered with silt left from ancient times when water filled the cave.  Water still seeps into the cave today and is cleansing some crystals of their gray color.  

Other formations found in Jewel Cave include: straw stalactites, flow stone and cave bacon.

Like Wind Cave, there is no evidence of Native Americans having used Jewel Cave to either live in or store things in.