Nature Geek Vacation Destinations - Custer State Park, Custer, SD

One of the highlights of our recent vacation in South Dakota was a pair of visits to Custer State Park.  Our first visit to Custer State Park was preceded by a trip to Mt. Rushmore National Monument.  From Mt. Rushmore, the shortest route into Custer State Park is US Route 16A.  Also known as Iron Mountain Road, this route passes through three tunnels and multiple switchbacks and loops that frame views of Mt. Rushmore.  There are also several scenic turnouts and parking areas that allow you to see panoramic views of the Black Hills and the plains to the east of the park.

At the eastern edge of the park Route 16A joins up with South Dakota Highway 36.  SD 36 will lead you east out of the park.  If you continue west on 16A, you will need to purchase a South Dakota State Park entrance permit.  As of July 2017, annual permits cost $30; Custer State Park also offers the option of a 7-day pass for $20.  We chose to purchase the 7-day pass as we did not intend to visit any other South Dakota State Park.  A short drive from the entrance gate is the east end of the park's Wildlife Loop Road.

Nature Geek Vacation Destination - Devil's Tower National Monument (Crook County, WY)

On Monday I wrote about how a visit to Badlands National Park left me completely awestruck.  There was one other location that we visited during our vacation that had the same effect on me - Devil's Tower National Monument.

Devil's Tower as seen from the road entering the Monument

Devils Tower a monolithic rock structure composed primarily of an igneous rock known as phonolite porphyry.  Like granite, phonolite forms when magma below the surface of the earth cools slowly allowing visible crystals to form.  Phonolite contains many of the same minerals as granite, but largely lacks quartz (a prime component of granite).  Instead, the bulk of phonolite is composed of potassium feldspars.  The phonolite at Devil's Tower is a type known as phonolite porphyry.  To say that a rock is porphyritic means that it has both small and large crystals.  At Devil's Tower, the phonolite porphyry cooled at a rate that caused it to contract and form vertical columns of hexagon rock up to 15 feet across.  These columns give the surface of Devil's Tower its unique look.

Devil's Tower - note columns of igneous rock and boulders littering its base

There are several theories of how Devil's Tower formed.  The simplest theory is that a column of magma pushed up from the earth's mantle through overlying layers of sedimentary rock.  This magma probably cooled and solidified before it broke the surface - there is no evidence to suggest it reached the surface.  Over time the layers of sedimentary rock eroded away, exposing the harder igneous rock that forms Devil's Tower.  The tower itself is slowly eroding away as evidenced by the broken boulders of phonolite porphyry scattered around its base. 

Devil's Tower rises 867 feet (265 meters) from its base to its summit.  Completely isolated from any other peaks, it rises above the surrounding prairie and pine forests.  Awesome (in the sense of causing or inspiring awe; inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration or fear) barely begins to describe Devil's Tower.  It is little wonder that all Native American Tribes from the region consider it a sacred place.  Many of the trees at the base of  the tower are tied with prayer bundles.

Devil's Tower - note the prayer bundles tied to the tree at the right of the image

Because of the site's sacred nature and its unique geology, in 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt used the newly passed Antiquities Act to declare Devil's Tower our nation's first national monument.  Administered by the National Park Service, Devil's Tower National Monument protects the tower and approximately 1374 acres (a little over two square miles) of surrounding prairie and Ponderosa Pine forest.

If you want to visit Devil's Tower, from Mid-Michigan it is approximately one thousand two hundred eighty mile (or nearly nineteen hours) of driving away.  Obviously, this is not a weekend trip, but when combined with other sites such as the Badlands and Black Hills this is a can't miss vacation destination for any nature geek!

If you do choose to travel to Devil's Tower, here's a little hint:  the best views of the tower are not the one's you get by visiting the base of the tower.  The base of the tower is crowded, with approximately 400,000 visitors each year.  Do yourself a favor and after leaving the visitor center parking lot, turn onto a gravel road that lead to the Joyner Ridge Trail.  This road lead to a gravel parking lot about one mile northwest of Devil's Tower.  When we arrived there, there were only two other cars in the lot.  Here is the view you are rewarded with...

Here are a few more Devil's Tower photos from the Joyner Ridge trailhead.  I like how the clouds in these images look like a puff of smoke coming out of the Tower.  Enjoy.

This final picture is probably my favorite on of Devil's Tower with the lone Ponderosa Pine, grasses, and the Tower off in the distance surrounded by more pines.

Nature Geek Vacation Destination - Great Serpent Mound (Peebles, OH)

Okay, this is really more of a history or archaeology geek destination than a nature geek destination, but it was my favorite thing about my recent vacation so I am including it here.

As a kid, I remember seeing an aerial photograph of Great Serpent Mound in a book and being amazed.  Finally, the opportunity came up to visit the site.

Great Serpent Mound is located in southern Ohio near the village of Peebles.  It is approximately 6.5 hours away from Mid-Michigan by car.  The site is maintained by the Ohio History Connection (formerly the Ohio Historical Society). The Arc of Appalachia (a local land trust/preserve system) operates a gift shop and small museum on the site.  There is a short, but excellent video showing on a loop at the museum; make sure to take the time to watch it.  There is an $8 parking fee for visiting the site.

Great Serpent Mound - looking south from near the head of the mound

Great Serpent Mound is what is known as an effigy mound - this means it is an earthen mound created in the shape of a person, animal, or symbol.  It is not a burial mound.  There are three burial mound located on the property, but Great Serpent Mound was probably never a burial.  Instead it was probably used for ceremonial purposes.  Various archaeological excavations on the site date the Great Serpent Mound to somewhere between 400 and 1400 years old.  It may have been torn down and rebuild several times.

The largest of three burial mounds located on the site

What makes Great Serpent Mound so special.  It is the largest effigy mound in the world.  It measures approximately just over a 1/4 mile long (1348 feet) and is several feet tall.  The scale can only truly be appreciated from above.  There is a viewing tower, but the slope of the land means that you cannot see the entire serpent even from the top of the tower.  When you remember that this was constructed entirely by hand using wood, stone, and bone tools the achievement of its construction becomes even more remarkable.

The viewing tower at Great Serpent Mound

My map of the Great Serpent Mound showing the orientation of the site and location of the viewing tower (copied from various sources)

Great Serpent Mound from the viewing tower - the spiral tail is to the left and the head is out of sight to the right rear

Aerial view #2

Aerial view #3

Great Serpent Mound is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  If you are a history geek like me, this site is a must-see.  It is quite simply one of the most impressive man-made locations I have ever visited.

Looking northward along the west flank of the serpent

The spiral tail of Great Serpent Mound

Nature Geek Vacation Destinations - Mammoth Cave National Park (Mammoth Cave, KY)

It's been a while since there has been a new post on this blog.  Regular visitors to this site will probably notice a pattern.  I try to publish new posts every week day during the school year and at least three times a week during the summer.  However, every year (typically in July), this site goes dark for a week or two while Shara and I go on vacation.  This year's trip took us south through Ohio, into Kentucky, and back up through Indiana, Illinois, and into Iowa before returning home to Michigan.

We typically do lots of "science geek" and "history geek" things on our vacations - visiting museums, nature centers, public gardens, historic sites, etc..  Over the next few posts I plan on sharing a few of the highlights.

One of the stops on our trip was at Mammoth Cave National Park.  Mammoth Cave is the world's largest cave system.  Currently four hundred five (405) miles of interconnecting passages have been mapped! 

Much of the bedrock in Kentucky consists of layers of either sandstone, shale, or limestone. Mammoth Cave (any many other caves found in Kentucky) formed as a result of flowing water dissolving layers of limestone and leaving the shale and sandstone layers behind.  Many  features in the caves (stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, soda straws, etc.) form as dissolved minerals in the water are deposited on the ceiling, walls, or floor of the cave.

The National Park Service offers a number of tours in the cave.  The tours range in distance from 1/4 mile to 5 miles, and vary in time from 1.25 hours to 6 hours in length.  We chose to take one of the shortest options - the Frozen Niagara Tour.  This tour takes place at an entrance to the cave system that was created in 1924 to provide easy access to this portion of the cave. 

Visitors to the cave are not alone.  Other species either live in the caves or use the caves as shelter.  Species include eyeless cave fish that are adapted to life in the dark, cave salamanders, cave crayfish, cave crickets, Allegheny Wood Rats (also known as "pack rats"), and bats.  The bats hibernate in the cave and are mostly absent during the summer months.

An Allegheny Wood Rat nest illuminated by our guide's flashlight - the things on the ceiling are cave crickets

Cave crickets!

While the animals are cool, the focus of the tour is on the unique geologic features.

 

 

Visitors to the cave are asked to not use touch any of the cave's surfaces.  Natural oils from human skin can actually disrupt (and stop) the process of mineral deposition.  In the past, before the cave became a national park, visitors were allowed to write their name on the ceiling of some portions of the cave.  While this "historic graffiti" is preserved, anyone that does this today will be given a hefty fine and potentially receive jail time.

Humans can have another catastrophic effect on the caves.  We are a major cause for the spread of White Nose Syndrome.  This fungal disease has killed millions of hibernating bats across eastern North America.  Humans spread the disease by visiting caves that are infected and then failing to properly decontaminate before visiting other caverns.  The spores from the fungus travel along with us and infect bats in the new cave.  After leaving Mammoth Cave, visitors are required to walk across disinfecting mats to treat their shoes with a fungicide.

Shara in her #Save the Bats t-shirt from the Organization for Bat Conservation

Mammoth Cave is located about eight hours from Mid-Michigan and could easily be visited during a long weekend excursion.  If you want to take one of the cave tours it is recommended that you reserve a space on the tour ahead of time - some of the tours sell out.

I don't have a cool #Save the Bats t-shirt (yet)

Nature Geek Vacation Destinations - Aldo Leopold Shack

If you are ever near Baraboo, WI make sure to stop and visit the Aldo Leopold Center and more importantly the Aldo Leopold Shack. 

The Shack

 
Leopold is widely regarded as the father of wildlife management and is one of the pioneering figures of environmental conservation.  In 1935 while working as a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Aldo Leopold purchased a tract of worn out farmland near the Wisconsin River.  For the next 14 years, this piece of land would become Leopold's personal experimental station where he and his family sought to repair the damage done by deforestation, wildfire, and poor farming practices.  Included on property was a run-down chicken coop that Leopold repaired and expanded to use as a cottage during weekend and summer stays at the property - this building became known as "the Shack". 

The land around the Shack looks very different than it did during Aldo Leopold's lifetime

 
Many of the ideas that Leopold formulated on this site were condensed into his only commercially published book "A Sand County Almanac".  This book is required reading for students of natural resources across the country and should be on everyone's reading list.  Unfortunately, Leopold died of before the book was published; he suffered a heart attack while helping a neighbor fight a grass fire.  The conservation ideas that Leopold championed during his lifetime have inspired generations to conserve and improve natural resources around the world. 

As someone who works to educate others about the natural world and conservation, Aldo Leopold is one of my personal heroes.  It was exciting to visit the site described in "A Sand County Almanac" and see the legacy of Leopold's work.  A special thrill was to sit in a "Leopold bench" in front of the Shack.  Leopold benches are so-named because there are several photographs of Aldo Leopold sitting in benches of this design that he constructed at the site out of scrap lumber.  I have built several of these benches in the past for schools and plan to build more in the future.

Being a nature geek at the Aldo Leopold Shack - near Baraboo, WI