Day 2 - Wind Cave National Park and Graywater Wildlife Preserve

It began as many days do, with the sun shining in my eyes, waking me up. Except this time it was through The windows of my 2003 Mazda and not my bedroom. Today's itinerary was to check out Wind Cave National Park and camp in the area, allowing myself to relax a bit. I ended up getting to Wrinkled Rock Trailhead campsite about 12:30 the night prior. The drive from Rapid City to the campsite last night was interesting. First, after about 11 PM in Rapid City, apparently most of the stoplights just flash yellow, turning hem caution signs so as to not require one to stop and wait for the light to change (very convenient). Second, the drive snaked through the mountainous terrain that surrounds Mt. Rushmore, which in the dark took some serious concentration. I've been to the 4 big heads a couple times already so I didn't add it to this trip, but I drove right by the entrance. I also had to periodically stop for deer that were just chilling in or around the road as I tried not to overuse my brakes going up and down the winding roads of the Badlands national forest.

The next morning was pretty lax, a couple with the baby had parked near me and set up their campsite. Turns out they're from Wisconsin and spending a couple days hiking and climbing the area. There was a big rock formation next to where I camped, so I spent a little time climbing. It made me feel like the video game "the climb". A few times that I had to navigate over large crevices reminded me of the guy who got his arm stuck in a boulder for three days.​​..

Perception:
The Badlands National Forest is a beautiful area, I liked it more than I expected, and would love to go back and climb all the big rocks. When I got to the Wind Cave National Park it turned into a Prairie and the amount of wildlife surprised me. Bison, Pronghorn, and prairie dogs were scattered throughout, alongside the worlds nearly 5th largest cave system, the wind cave.

The only natural entrance is barely big enough to fit through, and resembles a Bison head (I found alot of resemblances of things in the shadows of the cave as I point out in a couple photos in this post's gallery). Only 147 miles of the Wind Cave have been discovered so far, with potentially 100-900 miles more based on are pressure tests. However the cave so far only inhabits a square mile of land, making it the most compact cave system in the world. I took a guided tour, heard the stories about how the cave breaths and accurately predicts weather better than any new station as the cave's air current relies directly on the change in barometric pressure.
Most of the guided tour part of the cave was lit. At first this took away from the "cave" experience, but when it came to photos it actually helped incredibly.
I volunteered to be the last person in the line since I knew I would be taking my time with how much there was to take in with the 1.25 miles hike we took into the cave.

I played some guitar on a bench outside the visitor center because the birds singing in the background was just too marvelous. I got some compliments from passing groups, then hiked the short Lookout Ridge Trail. Just over a mile hike, it offers a view that stretches out to the edge of the Badlands. As I reached the end however, a hailstorm started, so I briskly walked/jogged back to my car (See more on my Snap Story).

As I left the wind cave national Forest and noticed all the wildlife, I had a flashback to Ilex Forest in Pokémon Silver which is the only way your character could get to the next town. Since I was driving to Hot Springs, SD it felt like that was the main way to get to the town and therefore why I had that flashback. It was an odd feeling and brought me some nice nostalgia.

I drove to Hot Springs and filled up my water at their natural 87° mineral fed spring spout. Instead of staying in the area that night, I decided I had enough time to start making my way to Denver, and settled on the Grayrocks Reservoir in Wyoming as it was listed as a free camping site on freecampsites.net which is also how I found my campsite the night prior. The drive there took a little bit, but I enjoyed the view of the Wyoming even in the rain.

The Mineral Water Analysis in Hot Spring, SD

For some reason Google maps took me through a couple ranches to get here, which were bumpy dirt roads where I drove 15 to 20 miles an hour, and occasionally I had to navigate herds of cattle... A true pioneer. When I got to the reservoir I parked right next to the water, made some dinner and a little fire, then as it started to snow, went to sleep in my air mattress cubby of a car.

Then it happened, around 3:30am...I noticed a rustling of a bag somewhere in the car. At first I thought it was underneath my mattress and just readjusted...But then it happened again, and again, until finally I realized it was happening even when I didn't move a muscle...I wasn't alone in my car. DUN DUN DUN!

I quickly grabbed my flashlight and looked around. out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. I Iooked but saw nothing...so I waited, and sure enough, a field mouse scampered into view on my passenger seat, 2 feet away from my face. The whites of its beady little eyes caused a fury of rage as I realized I would have to get up and out of my warm cacoon...the worst...

I spent 20 minutes reorganizing the front seats with no mouse to be seen. I hoped he had jumped out (Also how I hoped he had got in). Then after crawling back into my sleeping bag within a few minutes it happened again. I looked up towards the shifter, and eventually the mouse ran back down through the passenger footwell up towards where the foot air vents were...that sneaky bastard...(Honestly taking my shoes ona nd off annoyed me the most)

I spent another 15-20 minutes stuffing paper towels in the various places I thought the mouse could come into the vehicle from. Then finally settled back down into bed close to 5am, over an hour of sleep lost as the sky was beginning to lighten,

Lesson: When you invade someones home, they may try to invade yours.

Introspection:
I love exploring. I did this growing up, usually through my experiences with Boy Scouts. But climbing the rock formation this morning made me feel alive. After, as I was driving, I stopped at a lookout and took a picture. An Asian gentleman in a Volkswagen going the opposite direction stopped as well and we exchanged brief introductions. Then he was also on the guided tour of the wind caves a couple hours later. This made me ponder about coincidences and what brings people together at different points in life, making me also consider the people I am interacting with now and what significance they will hold in my future.

The biggest thing I noticed today inside of myself, was that while exploring the cave (although a part of a guided tour) I felt free. Like exploring an unknown land with no preconceived notions or boxes to get stuck in. Hearing the stories of how they discovered it, seeing the beautiful corrugated cardboard looking boxwork deposits (which can't be found anywhere else in that number as they're as fragile as a potato chip), and being hundreds of feet under the earths surface seriously peaked my interest. 

Box Work Formations of Wind Cave

I began asking a lot of questions about how they discover new things and the process of getting involved with those groups. It requires some certification, and then your resume of cave exploring gets reviewed to see if you're capable of navigating it yourself. I decided I'm going to do some research when I return about finding local chapters of the National speleological Society for cave discovery and exploration. During the summer there's a spelunking tour you can do of the wind Cave, and I may just have to return in the future to do so. Jack of all trades, master of none…

Lastly, because climbing above and below ground made me feel so free, I realized what's been happening with the mindset of my career and creativity the last few years as I was driving to my next destination. I've been following a standard career path which has led me to think in the lines of the picture that society wants us to color in. I used to thrive on coloring outside the lines (being homeschooled I think helped in that regards), thinking outside the box, not being restrained creatively...not that I can't come up with a good idea every now and then, but I definitely feel like I've developed too much association with these boxes. I need to start approaching my career and life mentality again from an "outside of the box" method, because I think that's why I've been having difficulty with my creative side the last few years. "

Out of the box, out of the box!"...

... for those who love the cardboard world created by the Nick Jr. show "Out of The Box"...