There were two activities I wanted to do in Hot Springs before we hit the road headed for home. First, I wanted to visit the actual hot springs, and second, I wanted to go to the Mammoth Site.
The hot springs aren't actually hot, they are warm, about 87 degrees, which is as warm as my mom's pool most of the time. They are delightful to swim in, and we had a lovely morning dip at Evans Plunge, opened in 1890 and the oldest attraction in the Black Hills. They have a couple of water slides, some rope swings, a hot tub, and sauna. The water in the pool comes from a mineral spring and 5,000 gallons of water flow through the pool every hour, completely refreshing the water in the pool numerous times a day. It has a pebble bottom and is incredibly clear. I loved it! Brandt kept complaining that it wasn't really hot, but I thought it was terrific. There were very few people there, so we practically had the pool all to ourselves. We stayed about an hour and a half, went down the slides over and over, and enjoyed moving our bodies before sitting in the car for hours.
See? Practically the whole pool to ourselves.
You can see hanging rings that go across the pool.
Both Kent and Brandt tried to cross on them.
I've got incredibly funny video of their efforts and both cracked me up.
Kent spent nearly two minutes working himself up to start,
and when he finally swung out, he missed the ring and plunged into the water.
Brandt did the same thing, but in about twenty seconds.
We stopped for an ice cream after our swim and then went on to the Mammoth Site, the world's largest collection of mammoth bones. It is WOW! The museum encloses a prehistoric sinkhole that formed and was slowly filled with sediments during the Pleistocene era. Here is what Wikipedia says about the site.
Likely enticed by warm water and pond vegetation, mammoths entered the pond to eat, drink or bathe. Because of the steep sides of very slippery Spearfish Shale, mammoths were occasionally trapped as they were unable to find a foothold and climb out of the sinkhole during periods of low water. Trapped in the sinkhole, the mammoths ultimately died of starvation, exhaustion, or drowned in the pond.
The majority of the mammoth remains have been identified as those of Columbian Mammoths, although the remains of three Woolly mammoths have been found as well. Mammoths that slipped into the sinkhole found it difficult to escape. Researchers measuring the pelvic bones of the remains have determined that most of the victims were young males.
The excavation is amazing. Paleontologists have dug down 60 feet in some places, unearthing whole skeletons in some spots. It was fascinating to see the bones lying all jumbled together and to think about how the animals all got there. There were recordings you could listen to all around the sinkhole with fascinating details about what you should take note of at that spot. I was astounded by the whole thing.
Brandt is only as tall as a Pygmy Mammoth.
Most of those at the Mammoth Site were the size of the fourth one up,
the Columbian Mammoth.
The second and third ones are Asian and African elephants.
This is the side of the sinkhole where the mammoths fell in.
It has steep slopes.
Many skeletons were found here, including other animals.
The site remains an active excavation and research site.
The skull with full tusks to the right of our heads is the same one we were
looking down on in the picture above.
Brandt is as tall as a modern American Bison.
The mighty Brandt, lifting huge bones!
This stream table was quite fun to play in.
Water trickled in from the top, acting as a river,
and you could divert it through the sand.
Having seen the mammoths, we began our five-hour drive home. When researching what to do and where to go on our trip, I discovered there is a Provo, South Dakota, just off the freeway at Edgemont. How funny is that?! "We must visit our sister city," I told Kent and Brandt. So at Edgemont, we turned off the freeway and made a visit to Provo, South Dakota.
There wasn't much to see in Provo, which Wikipedia describes as " An unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fall River County, in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The population was 10 at the 2020 census. A post office called Provo was established in 1904. The community's name is derived from Bill Provost Sr., an early resident." We did not see any of the ten people who live in Provo, or much else. Lots of abandoned homes, several large groups of rusting cars and tractors, and prairie grass was about all there was there. We didn't see the post office or any other sign of habitation anywhere.
We left Provo and drove and drove and drove, passing prairie and not much else. Wyoming is boring, at least the part we drove through. We headed to Rawlins, but it didn't feel at all like we were going in a direct route. Turns out, there isn't really a direct route from Hot Springs, SD to Rawlins, WY. But we did make it, eventually. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant and drove around the neighborhoods near our hotel (another dive). We saw many deer sitting in yards which looked fake, but were actually real.
Tomorrow, we're for home.
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