Number Twelve

Today we entered our 12th state since the trip started - we are now in South Dakota.

 

We headed to Wind Cave National Park (one of the many National Parks the you never hear about) where we took the cave tour, did a couple of hikes and are spending the night. The hikes were notably for a couple of reasons - first, we hiked to the tallest point in the park (5013 feet) - second, we managed to turn a 4.5 mile hike into a 1.5 hike (we found a previously undiscovered shortcut - i.e. we took a wrong turn) which is very unusual, because as everyone knows, we are very skilled at taking the long way. We did, however, maintain our perfect record of not being lost on the trip - we found the van!

Down into Wind Cave - 295 feet

Wind Cave

View from the Rankin Ridge Trail

 

We also did a little dirt road travel in the park. Wildlife sittings are becoming more common but it's always exciting.