We had the notion that we did not really want to do Jewel Cave on the weekend so (it was 20 mins from the campground) we drove over and tried to book the scenic tour…..but they were fully booked …they only take 20 people at a time. So…doing it on a Saturday made sense again…we booked it for the Sat…and the Ranger in the office recommended Hells Canyon for a hike.
Its the surface part of the park…..so off we jolly well went. We did it anticlockwise…. a winding path up the canyon, then a steep hike up to the ridge and following the edge of the ridge back to the start again. This park had the biggest wildfire on record , the Jasper Fire, in 2000…the damage is absolutely incredible…even 22 years later….
As we are finding with the U.S National Parks, they don’t remove the trees…it’s so dry in the Blackhills that burning actually releases the nutrients back to the soil faster than rotting. It makes for a very dramatic scene up the aptly named Hells Canyon. We were definitely glad that it was so early in the year….later in the summer this trail would be a cauldron.
…and Yes Bill…I did end up in the water…!!!
The trail weaves up the canyon floor……it’s very …….dramatic…!!
Hells Canyon it is indeed.!! It is absolutely incredible how slow the breakdown of the burned trees is here…it demonstrates just how dry the environment of the Blackhills is…even tho it was relatively green while we were there.
…and then there are the little signs of spring pushing through…there was a multitude of Pasque flowers around…..
The climb was not too strenuous…certainly compared to some of the grades that we have tackled…
The trail back along the ridge was….well interesting….for anyone who remembers the cliff edge path that I refused to cross in Skaha Bluffs last year..!!! This path was multiple kilometers of path along the cliff edge. I have learned to look ahead of me, not overthink it…and just go…!!!
My photographer was up to his usual antics….wandering out onto some of the craggy edges “to get pictures for the blog..!!” (argh)
To emphasise the scale here…again WaldMho is in all of the next three pictures….can you spot me?
Even scarier…their were horse tracks along the path….I was bad enough on my own pins…I cannot imagine riding that path on something a bit taller…..
I was pretty pleased with myself trucking along on this one…..
Up on the ridge, as you get closer to the little trees that are starting to take hold…its another lesson on this arid place. The new trees are small…..but looking at the trunks….they are not that young. With the limited moisture around here…it just takes them many many years to become big trees.
Once we got past the ‘rock ledge along the cliff’ phase……it was the ‘walk out across the open rock ridge’ bit…….
…and the long descent down the loooong switchbacks……it looks like you are done about 2km before you are…..because of the switchbacks getting down…….we made a good choice going up the other way…!!!!
It was spectacular tho….
Another successful day out following the Park Rangers’ recommendation. They really are a wonderfully knowledgeable lot and delighted to share their expertise.
I’m not any more a fan of caves than I am of precarious high places. We opted to do the ‘Scenic Tour’ its about an hour and a half. It was one amazing experience. The walkway is well done…and the tour guide was great.
The caves were like entering another planet…..and quite spectacularly alien.
The formations and features have to be seen to be believed. I have attached the link for the NP website…..it has some great explanations of the various formations in this particular cave system.
Our favourite was the Cave Bacon……..it really has to be seen with your eyes…..photos really don’t tell you the whole story here.….Its very difficult to get pictures…..its dark down there. The first picture was Scott’s of the bacon…the next is from the web.
You can do four day cave tours here.…(not me..!!!) but to go deeper in to the caves you have to fit through this block………Neither of us fit…..!!!! (Not disappointed…!!)
We took a short drive up the road to the historic entrance to Jewel Cave. Interesting history to the whole thing….click ..if you are interested.
Some mountain sheep made an appearance at the entrance….
Please note that if you want to see any of the pictures more clearly, they are all clickable. Any additional links for more information will appear as underlined text.
Extra Pix
OsteoPraxis on the road 
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