Wednesday, June 12, 2013 (Whitehall, MT)

We slept in a bit this morning, today was a relaxing day. We did our jog/walk routine, got our showers and had a late breakfast. We spent the rest of the morning reading and entering our June expenses into our budget worksheet. We decided to go check out the caverns that are here in the park, so we grabbed our sweatshirts and headed out.

We got up to the visitors center and purchased our tickets and a tour was just getting ready to leave, good timing except we had to run back to the pickup and grab our sweatshirts and camera. We got to the starting point and they had already left but the ticket guy said go ahead and catch up with them. It was very warm and very steep and I had put my sweatshirt on at the truck – wrong move. I had to stop and take it off or I was going to have heat stroke – it was pretty warm out. Here are some pictures of the view on the hike up to the entrance of the cave. The view was spectacular and yes we did catch up with the tour.

that circle of trees in the valley is where we are camped

We had talked to the camp host yesterday and asked his impression of the cave and he wasn’t overly enthusiastic, though he did say that they were worth seeing, so we didn’t know what to expect. After the tour, we were both very impressed with the tour. Our tour guide was very informative about the history of the cave and the different formations we were seeing. At one point in the middle of the cave, during one of her talks, she shut down the lights and only had a candle which is how the "old timers" saw the cave. It definitely changed your perspective as it was very dim and you couldn’t see the colors as well. I guess I forgot to mention that the cave is lit with electricity. Then she blew out the candle so we could experience the actual darkness of the cave. At one point in the cave, we were 1 mile high above sea level. The tour was a good 2 hours long and you went up and down a lot of stairs and had some tight spots where you had to duck. There was even one part called the Beaver slide in which you had to slide on your bottom a few feet. The original cave you could only go so far and then had to turn around and retrace your steps but now they have blasted an exit so you don’t have to retrace your steps which was nice. If you are ever in the area, I would definitely say it is worth the entrance fee and your time. We were glad we decided to take the tour.

Entrance to cave

  

End of tour

After we got back from the tour we had to run into the nearest town of Caldwell to fuel up the truck as we are heading out in the morning to Gardiner where we will stay for 3 nights while we tour Yellowstone. We so far have been able to avoid having to fuel up with the fiver attached, it just makes it easier not to have to maneuver around tight spots and low clearances found in some stations. Well I can tell you there is not much to Caldwell, pretty much just the gas station/café/store/bar/rv park – and it’s all together on one little piece of property next to the freeway. We did see a two story school – I assume an elementary school based on the playground equipment. Not much happening in Caldwell. We got our fuel and an ice cream treat and headed back to camp.

Back at camp we spent a couple hours lounging around with our books and spent a little time looking at information on Yellowstone. Then it was time for dinner. About that time, the wind came up and the sky got dark. It got so windy that we had to pull in two of our slides because the slide toppers were flapping around so much we were afraid they might get torn off. After dinner, we took a walk with Gracie (she didn’t get to go on our cave tour) in the wind, boy that wind can blow around here. The rest of the evening was spent downloading pictures from today and writing up today’s adventures and of course reading. It’s a good thing Rich and I both love to read.