The Lows and Highs of our Day in the Black Hills

Thursday, September 30, 2021

With our last visit only a year ago AND extending our trip a few days this year we were able to be more relaxed and not feel the pressure to be on the go all of the time. Today I gave myself permission to not set an alarm and have a more leisurely morning enjoying my coffee. Bob (as usual) decided the morning gave him the time to hike up the hill by our cabin. On his hike he had a "small world" moment when he ran into a couple who had originally lived not too far from our home but retired and bought the house right across the road from the AirBnB where we were staying. (Stay tuned for an even "smaller world" moment coming up tomorrow!)

There were no concrete plans today so after a bit of a discussion, we decided to drive into Wind Cave National Park. Our AirBnB is right on the border of the park so we had been on the back roads on our wildlife quest but had not yet entered the park "officially". This time we went through at the park entrance, but used our America the Beautiful pass so there was no fee. 

From our son's experience and reading reviews online, I knew taking a cave tour meant showing up at the crack of dawn to get a ticket. So when we stopped at the visitor center at 10:40 am we expected to just go through quickly and look at the exhibits. Besides, taking a cave tour with a group of people was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to be doing in a pandemic.

BUT...as we entered I heard the guy behind the counter saying that they still had a couple of tickets left for the 11 am tour. A little voice in one ear was saying "no way...why would you want to be in such a confined place with a bunch of strangers!" while the other ear was hearing "go for it...you know how much Bob loves caves!" 

Bob has been a "spelunker" since our college days. In more recent times, he has been involved in exploring and mapping caves for the state of Minnesota. To say he loves caves is probably an understatement. Even though I could feel my anxiety level rising, we bought 2 tickets for the tour.

The tour was totally full at 30 people. To get down into the cave, the ranger took us down in the elevator ten at a time. Everyone was required to wear a mask but I will admit it nearly sent me over the edge when one man began coughing in the cramped elevator!

In my opinion, the tour was just "OK", but Bob did enjoy it. To be honest, he could have led the tour and done a better job than our guide. A few people asked questions during the tour and I got the feeling that she was making up vague answers to cover up what she didn't know. For those of you who do enjoy exploring caves, Wind Cave is quite unique with some of the best boxwork formations in the world.

Kinda hard to get a decent photo in a cave!

An example of the boxwork formations in Wind Cave.

After looking at the All Trails app we found a trail just a little north of the Wind Cave visitor center that was rated as "easy" and had good reviews. Unfortunately because of road construction, the direct route to get there was closed. This forced us to literally back track all the way to our apartment and go around another direction.

We got to the Rankin Ridge Trail around noon and ours was the only car in the small parking lot at the trail head. We got out our folding camp chairs and ate a picnic lunch sitting by the car. Another car arrived before we finished and the couple started up the hill. The trail was a loop and most of the reviews suggested doing the hike in a counterclockwise direction. Our destination was the Rankin Ridge lookout tower at the top of the hill. Going up was on a gravel road, but it was quite steep.

The trail leading up to the lookout was a gravel road.

Rankin Ridge Lookout Tower is located on the highest point in Wind Cave National Park.
The stairway was blocked so climbing the tower was not an option.

It was a half mile of constant elevation gain to get to the top, but the views were incredible! According to a sign by the tower you could see for 40 miles...all the way to the Badlands. The day had started out cloudy but the sun appeared about the time we reached the peak.

The sign...

...and the actual view.

In contrast to the trail going up, coming down had us on a narrow, steep path with roots and rocks...the perfect scenario for tripping or spraining an ankle. My trusty hiking poles served me well. We met two other couples coming up on this trail but other than those two brief encounters this part of our day was certainly more socially distanced than our experience in the cave.

The trail going down the hill.

Life is always interesting with Bob!

As we were hiking down to our car we could hear the "barking" of the prairie dogs from below. There was a large prairie dog "town" along the road leading to the trail head and we stopped and watched the little critters for quite some time as we were leaving. Some of them have such cute "expressions" on their faces!!

Looking back at Rankin Ridge.

This field was filled with prairie dogs!

Driving back to the AirBnB, we stopped at the old Cold Spring School that we had discovered last year. Built in 1897, it is one of the oldest log school buildings in South Dakota. At one time the school was also a dance hall, meeting house, and church. The school closed for good in 1949 following a major blizzard. Behind the school is the Cold Spring cemetery. We spent some time looking at the tombstones, some of which date back well into the 1800's.

Cold Spring School

The entrance to the cemetery.

When we returned to our apartment I treated myself to a nap but Bob once again hiked up one of the nearby hills. Clearly what I had considered a strenuous hike at Rankin Ridge had just been a warm-up for him. 

We ate an early dinner of leftovers and decided to go out for another evening of wildlife hunting. This time we took the same route that we had traveled two nights ago, but in the reverse direction. We hadn't gone far before we saw a car pulled over to the side of the road (a good sign that wildlife has been spotted). Sure enough. There were about a half dozen pronghorn antelope. The evening sunlight was perfect for photos and we were rewarded with two of the antelope putting on a "head butting" show.

Our light was fading as we turned onto the gravel roads and we had not yet spotted any bison. What a surprise though to see a coyote right by the side of the road! I had my camera ready and was able to get some photos of him as he scurried away!

Eventually we did encounter a small group of buffalo, but not near the numbers we had seen on our last outing. By then the light had faded to the point that it was hard to get any decent photos.

The road back to the apartment took us high upon a hill where we caught the tail end of the sunset. Fortunately we did not encounter any deer as we drove the last few miles in total darkness to get back to our little home away from home. (Quite the opposite to what we experienced two nights ago!)