Wind Cave

Just chilling out, the cave was closed awaiting elevator repairs; walking here is quite difficult as the bison keep sleeping by the trail and the rivers are too hard to cross other than at the bridge. In 6 miles we could hear the bellowing of a herd and could see that they were probably a safe distance away. The large male bison next to the path meant we diverted down a slope and through some trees. He was happily wallowing in a dust bath and we reappeared on the other side of him. A prairie dog then started yipping and we are sure the bison understands prairie dog predator warnings as the bison got up and started staring at us. We actually got quite close to a sleeping bison that was hidden from view just past one of the bridges. It certainly adds a little frisson to your walk, when you have to undertake bison avoidance tactics.

We have stayed 4 days at the campsite as we have the whole loop to ourselves until our last night. Many places in and around Custer were closed as 5-7inches of rain fell causing flash floods. We received a severe storm warning on Murray’s Storm Watching app.

Jewel Cave was closed as their elevator was also broken, except the lantern tour which we took.

Caroline is now becoming addicted to her Junior Ranger badges, she added a National Monument, National Park and Cave Specialist badge to her collection in the last 4 days.