Weekend Three, or Lewis & Clark Caverns, or Pushing Our Luck

We never set out to camp three weekends in a row, we just did it: Yellowstone, Craters of the Moon, and now, the closest to home at not quite 70 miles away, Lewis & Clark Caverns.

Rock-climbing opportunities at Homestake Pass

Homestake is what I call a 'complex' mountain pass; it's not a simple winding up and down. It goes up and down and up and down and up and down while twisting a few times before finally emerging here, near Pipestone. (Reverse the description for East to West.)

We made it. The park is kind of two things: a visitor center and campground at the bottom, the caverns at and another visitor center at the top.

We had enough time to drive up to the caverns and catch the last tour of the day. The road up the mountain is excellent. (E claims it was a real barfer but she didn't heave even once.)

We'd been by the park several times on our way to other places and seen that the campground had never looked very busy. When we got to the top we realized that most people probably just come for the caverns; the parking lot was almost packed. The license plates were from all over.

I'm thirsty.

Into the 1960s there was a train that took you to the cavern entrance. Now it's a shade-free 3/4 mile slog up a South-facing hill on the hottest day of the year so far. There was nearly a mutiny.

The cluster of white things at lower right is one loop of the campground.

Exploring a 50-degree cave is probably the best thing to do after a walk like that.

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