One of the stops I made between Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rushmore was at the Jewel Cave National Monument just outside of Custer, South Dakota. This adventure was a real treat to say the least. After descending about 420 feet below the earth’s surface, I followed a guide through underground trails and was amazed and in awe, the shapes and colours that surrounded me were exquisite.
As of March 11th, 2013, 169.9 miles of cave have been discovered with approximately 3 new miles per year being explored. It is currently the 3rd longest cave in the world and airflow studies indicate that there is a lot more to be discovered and explored. A base camp was established deep inside the tunnels that takes about 6 hours one way to reach, the explorers spend about 4 days at a there while finding new caves. I am not too claustrophobic but I couldn’t live down there!
Absolutely incredible!
i’m a huge fan of caves and your photos captured the details. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! Some amazing shapes and colors.
How long was the tour? Was it cold down there?
If memory serves me correctly, the tour was about 90 minutes. Yes, it was quite cool down there but since I had made the trip in late August, it was quite refreshing to be there. At one point, the guide turned out the lights so the guests could see what true darkness really looks like. I have been in the dark before but not like this, it even seemed to mess with your equilibrium and I felt like I wasn’t going to stay upright.
Yes DrF, that is a “bacon strip” formation. Water running down a limestone cave wall or along a ledge will deposit calcite into delicate draperies. When minerals like iron oxide make stripes in the drapery, it is called cave bacon or bacon strip. It is hard to tell from the photo but this strip was about 4 or 5 feet long I think.
Thanks for sharing these interesting photos and for bringing back memories.
I was last in Jewel Cave in 1982, when there was much less known about how extensive a cave network it was. I found the beautiful rock formations to be absolutely fascinating! Travel Luver, I seem to recall that the cave was quite cool, but maybe Still Country Photo can elaborate for us.
Also, I vaguely seem to recall that the last formation in your series of photos was called the “Bacon Strip” or something similar? Do I remember this correctly?