Jewel Cave

To complete our tour of the Black Hills, we decided we needed to see what it looked like underground. Jewel Cave National Monument is the second longest cave in the world, behind Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

There are 150 miles of cave winding around under about 3 square miles of above-ground space. According to our cave guide Ranger, based on how much air is coming out of the cave, only about 1/5 of the cave has been explored.

We started the morning with a walk above ground.

Oh yes, there were blooms. This is pink cone flower or echinacea.

The boys and H take a break on the Canyon Trail.

Yarrow

We then went underground.

Waiting in the first big room.

They say there isn’t enough room to carry a child through the cave, but we proved this wasn’t true.

Anders climbs out of the abyss.

Cave bacon.

Finn and I descend into the depths. Ah ha ha ha…

The next section of our trip involved a long drive to Fort Collins, CO. Something like 6 hours. There were moments of bliss….

Finn takes a little rest.

…and moments that were unphotographable. I’m trying to block them from my memory as I write this.

But eventually, we made it to Ft. Collins– chosen for its location, not because there was anything we particularly wanted to see there, although I am sure there is much to recommend it. We stayed at a cheap motel and were thrilled to be out of the truck.

This is seriously how they slept. And they didn’t wake up when I used the flash on the camera.

This is who I had to, I mean got to, sleep with. Later, he really took more than his share of the bed.

Wish you could find all the posts from this roadtrip in one place? You can! (Right here)

Roadtrip!
Little Bighorn Battlefield
Devils Tower
Mt. Rushmore
Jewel Cave
Friends and family
Bierstadt Lake
Junior Ranger program and s’mores
Mt. Chapin and Dan turns 30
Ute Trail and Cache La Poudre
Wild Basin and Bear Lake
Night Rangers
Breakfast, friends and going home