We got up early to be at the Wind Cave National Park visitor center when they opened at 8:00 AM. There were a few people already there, but we got tickets for the first tour of the cave. We spent just over an hour walking through cave tunnels and going (mostly) down around 300 stairs. This cave is known for its "boxwork", which is common in this cave, but rarely seen elsewhere.
After that, we drove again along part of the wildlife loop in Custer State Park, and saw the same wild turkey hens with chicks....this time a little closer. We also encountered more bison on the road. At another spot, there were several stopped cars, and someone had spotted an antlered deer or elk buck sitting in the opening of a cave on a distant hill. We could see him with binoculars, but can barely pick him out in my picture.
We stopped back by the campground and picked up the dogs for an afternoon ride through Lead, Deadwood, and Sturgis. We thought that Deadwood would be packed, since it's a holiday weekend, plus the legislature has approved their use of keno, craps, and roulette just two days ago. But the traffic wasn't too bad. There are a lot of bikes in the area, but Sturgis won't really get cranked up for another few weeks.
This is the original hole where the cave was discovered.
The wind blows either in our out, depending on the air pressure outside.
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