If you have watched the videos then you will notice that I do not stop for lunch and usually rely on a substantial breakfast to last me until dinner. I rarely consider the day of the week and sometimes this catches me out. Today, for example, is Saturday but I never thought about that as I headed for breakfast at the local diner until I found the parking lot full and a 45 minute wait to be seated. I left and sought another place using my GPS but, by the time I had eaten, it was after 10:30. Luckily my drive was short but I was concerned about getting on a tour at Jewel Cave National Monument as they do not accept reservations. However, the day worked out very well.

It has rained a lot in the past few days but much of that rain has come overnight and the days have been kind to me. Yesterday it was cloudy and cool for most of the drive to Badlands NP but, once there, the sun broke through and it became warm and sunny as I drove the scenic loop. Today it was warm and sunny to start the day and I had the brightest of blue skies as the background for my photos at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. However, as I drove to Jewel Cave National Monument the clouds moved in and temperatures dropped.  By the time I arrived the climate above and below ground was almost identical – outside was 42^oF with drizzle while the cave was 41^o and 90% humidity. My concerns about ticket availability proved unfounded and, unknown to me, it was National Public Lands Day which meant my tour was free. I signed up for the 80 minute scenic tour which takes you to six of the seven levels of the cave and “involves walking up and down 723 stair steps”. As always, it was very informative and the natural sculpting by carbonic acid was as amazing as the man-made efforts on Mount Rushmore. Luckily, most of the steps were actually down and the Park Service returned us to the surface from the lower level of the cave by elevator. The pouring rain as I drove to Sundance, Wyoming for the night could not dampen a great day.

The map, and a somewhat boring road video, are here.

The classic Mount Rushmore view from the main viewing platform. The sun angle was good for capturing all of the faces.

The context of the sculptures in the 65 million years old rock of the Black Hills.

Details of Washington and Jeffersonand Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln.
Unfortunately, without a tripod, it is almost impossible to capture the wonders of cave sculptures as the low light levels leads to blurry images. This shows the typical descent from one level of Jewel Cave to the next.