Ellsworth AFB - South Dakota; Wind Cave National Park

We visited Wind Cave National Park and were lucky enough to get tickets for the Entrance Cave tour. The Wind Cave is one of the longest and most complex caves in the world. It is named for barometric winds at its entrance. The passages are home to boxwork which is a unique formation that is rarely found in any other caves. On our way down to 210 feet, there were narrow pathways and many times we had to duck our heads. 

The cave was discovered by in 1881 when brothers Jesse and Tom Bingham were drawn to a small hole in the ground by a loud whistling noise. In time, scientists would determine that the wind blowing in and out of the cave is caused by a difference of air pressure between the inside and the outside of the cave.

The Wind Cave gained national attention in part due to an adventurous 16-year-old teenager named Alvin McDonald. The Alvin family moved from Iowa to South Dakota in 1890, and while his parents worked, Alvin would frequently skip school and venture out to explore the area when he found the opening of the cave. 

Alvin began exploring the cave carrying a candle and tying a ball of string to help him find his way back to the entrance. He spent hours exploring and kept a journal. He named the passageways and drew the first map of the cave. He also gave tours of the cave to the locals and charged a fee. Unfortunately, he died of typhoid fever at the age of 20.

The cave is known for its delicate boxwork, popcorn and frostwork cave formations. which a quite different from the massive stalagmites of caves in the East. 

The wind cave became a National Park in 1903 and is the 7th oldest National Park.

The pictures are pretty dark but...

Boxwork

Popcorn