August 31, 2009

Wind Cave and Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary

Wind Cave National NP was only fifteen miles south of our campground so we got there in plenty of time to sign up for the first tour of the day. 

Ranger pointing out natural entrance.  We entered through larger manmade opening a few feet away.

Wind Cave is the fourth longest cave in the world in terms of mapped passages.  Fourth largest in the world but second largest in its’ own county because of Jewel Cave a few miles away.  Wind Cave  is somewhat different in that most of the cave is located within a one square mile area which means that there are many layers and many, many inter-connections.  This cave has a unique formation called box-work. It is all over the cave.

With most caves the cave decorations form after the cave is formed.  The formations are laid down over a long time by evaporation of dripping water leaving deposits of various shapes (stalactites, stalagmites, flow stone, ribbon, straws, etc.  Box work is different.  Minerals fill cracks in the ground and solidify.  The ground around the filled cracks then erodes away (as with all caves) leaving the solidified cracks behind. 

Wind Cave is a pretty dry cave so none of the traditional cave furniture has formed. Wind Cave NP above ground has wild life.  Driving in we went by very large herds of buffalo.  Far more animals per acre than Custer SP just north of it.  It shows.  The land looks over grazed.  The concept of letting nature alone is fine if the space is unlimited.  It is not.  The National Park Service needs to do a better job of managing the herds to protect the animals well being and protect the land.

From Wind Cave we headed south to the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. 

I have wanted to visit here for twenty years.  It being 1500 miles from home made that not practical ‘till now. I have known the founder of the sanctuary for over 55 years.

Here is Dayton ‘Hawk’ Hyde working with a colt to gentle it so it can be turned over to the buyer.

My brother and I spent many summers while we were growing up on a ranch he and his wife own in Oregon.  The sanctuary is 17000 acres in southwestern South Dakota.  It is home to hundreds of wild mustangs who are free to roam the land much like they did  years ago.  There are even descendants of the first Spanish mustangs on the sanctuary. 

We got a nice tour of a portion of the ranch and some of the many historical sites.  There are sacred Native American ceremonial grounds and historical areas as well as several homestead sites.  There are areas of petrified forest and areas of fossil beds.  All this in some very beautiful country. 

Quite a place.  We had a good visit and spent the night parked in their mini RV park.  They have about seven sites for volunteers to park their rigs.  The sanctuary is a non-profit organization that relies a lot on donations and volunteer help.  To help fund the operation they also have horses and colts for sale and run some cattle.  It was fun to see a place I had wondered about for a long time and would consider returning for a while to do some ranch work. 

Little Horse on the Prairie  :)