On our last day in the Black Hills area, we traveled south to Hot Springs to visit the Mammoth Site. During the ice age, there was a hot spring that had steep sides. Because the water in the spring was warm, vegetation would grow around it year-round. Animals would come to eat, fall in the spring, get stuck, and die. As a result, there are tons of bones from various animals in one spot. This is an active dig site which has uncovered bones from 61 different mammoths so far. There are bones from other animals as well. I'd never heard of a short faced bear before visiting this site, but this ancient animal would have been terrifying. I'm glad it's extinct. We had a nice visit and then headed to Rapid City so that Brian could catch his plane the next day. We really enjoyed our time in South Dakota.
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