We spent a little time this morning rearranging things after 10 days out. Now we know what we use the most that need easier access. We have also decreased the amount of food we are carrying having eaten a lot of what we brought from home. The freezer only has homemade bread dough in it now and icecream. Having more room to carry drinks in addition to constantly refilling our waterbottles is paramount as it is so hot here.
The mornings are cool and luxurious but by 11 am the sun is at full blast. It is supposed to be a little cooler today only going into the high 80s as opposed to the high 90s so maybe we can do a little more walking. The haze on the Black Hills is less than it was yesterday so photography might be good. One of my SLRs has a sensor problem and will need to be repaired when we get home. Fortunately I have a backup with me.
Wind cave NP
I am so glad we don’t plan our ‘wandering days too much ahead of time. We left camp this morning heading south towards Hot Springs and the Mammoth Site but ended up at Wind Cave NP and have decided to spend our time here. It is one of the the largest cave systems in the world (157 miles as of this week) and not all of it has been explored yet. Theodore Roosevelt declared this as the first cave site in the NP system in 1903.
This is sacred ground to the Lakota who believe there ancestors came out of the ground here. They thought the Black Hills took the shape of a bison lying down facing east. The settlers managed to destroy their way of life in less than a generation.
We are exploring the caves later. We just completed a shortish prairie walk which revealed a tiny glimpse the vast teeming plant and animal life on the prairies.
The Wind Caves
Below the remnant island of intact prairie sits Wind Cave, one of the longest and most complex caves in the world. Named for barometric winds at its entrance, this maze of passages is home to boxwork, a unique formation rarely found elsewhere
The only reason we are comfortable with a tour is because NPs are under federal government regulations and everyone must mask regardless of vaccination status.
We needed groceries and were pleasantly surprised at finding fresh sushi. We haven’t done any animal photography today so we are checking into our campground and then going off in search of wildlife.
The weather is a ‘pleasant’ 87 rather than the high 90s we’ve had for the last week.
The forever day
On every trip we seem to have one day that goes on forever… by choice. This might be the day. We are doing a late day run of the wildlife loop of Custer State Park.
We stopped at a pullout overlooking a meadow and had a cold ice tea sundowner watching the prairie dogs across the stream chasing each other. We spotted a couple of mule deer. We don’t stop for deer.
We did spot a herd of several hundred Bison but too far away to photograph. In all we saw mule deer, prairie dogs, pronghorn running from the storm, Bison herd, wild donkeys, and a flock of wild turkeys feeding along the road.
And at the end of the forever day. A beautiful sunset as we enjoy wine with our sushi. I even packed chopsticks!
Fresh baked bread
Since the beginning of Covid-19, I have baked all of our bread minus a few specialty items like Naan or bagels. Not wanting to break the baking streak I made 3 kinds of dough and froze them in small loaf sizes: spelt, whole wheat and cheese dough. I take a frozen loaf out in the morning and leave it in the fridge all day, let it rise in the evening and bake it just before bed. This is the second one I’ve baked on this trip.
Louise and Brian McLeod Travel Blog 
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