This Blew Our Minds

But first--- these were obviously planted by the tourism bureau:

We went to Jewel Cave today. You know pictures can't capture what is so neat about a cave, so only one picture here:

Our tour lasted about an hour and a half. But this cave system is really big. They discovered that as the weather changes "high pressure, or low", the cave breathes to equalize the pressure in its system of caverns. Winds in the cave can reach 35mph! So they started exploring in the 1950s. Here's a section of the cave map showing each chamber, its features, size, etc.

Fifty years later they've added to reach 153 miles of a suspected several thousand miles (based on air flow as the cave breathes).

To go beyond the tour area for recreational caving or to explore new areas, each and every person must get through a passage with a cross-section 8.5" x 24". Incomprehensible! Teams exploring/mapping go in for 4 days and camp. It takes one day in and one day to get back out. Two days measuring, diagramming, etc. to create the map and detailed notes.

This afternoon we relaxed by climbing Harney Peak. over 7000ft high (though the trail starts at 5000ft).
The views had to be approaching 100 miles and were spectacular, though all the picture shows is the high winds trying to blow me off the fire observation tower at the top.