CARLSBAD CAVERNS N.P.
NEW MEXICO
*Thursday, April 21: After overnighting in Fort Stockton, just off I-10 in West Texas, we headed north on US-285 toward Carlsbad, NM. We had traveled this route many times in order to go to Albuquerque, so this time, I insisted that we visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Neither one of us had ever visited the park before plus we also needed to buy a Golden Age Passport for Ron.
Just after entering the city limits, we turned southwest on US-62/US-180, the highway to the Caverns, and settled in at Carlsbad RV Park. Since the Park closed at 5P, and the time was already 1P, we wanted to get to the Park right away. The drive was some 20 miles to the turnoff and then 7 miles up the mountains to the Visitor Center. We purchased Ron’s Golden Age Passport for $10 and paid nothing else for the self-guided Big Room tour. Instead of walking the strenuous trail down, we took the elevator. I knew that Ron couldn’t walk that trail, and I really didn’t want to go by myself.
As we started our walking tour through the Big Room, all that I could say was “WOW”, over and over again. This was a totally awesome experience!!!! Everywhere, we saw stalagtites, stalagmites, columns, and spires in huge rooms, some dimly lit and other totally lit up!!!! It’s so very hard to even describe what I saw....totally awesome!!!! We walked slowly, holding on to the handrail, looking everywhere. I took many, many pictures, but many of them didn’t turn out very well because the flash went off even when there was backlighting. Despite the ups and downs of the path, Ron seemed to be doing very well with all the walking, although he was quite tired by the time that we finished.
Here are some of the “good” pictures:
Here is our first view
of the stalagtites and stalagmites
on our walk through the Big Room.
That formation hanging
from the ceiling is
called the Lion's Tail!!!This is Crystal Spring Dome,
a very large,
creamy white formation.
Named the Doll's Theater,
this formation consists of
of very small stalagtites and stalagmites.
Besides the Big Room Self-Guided Tour, there are other Ranger-Guided Tours, but of course, there is an additional cost for those. Another feature at the Caverns is the evening Bat Flight, which occurs at dusk. Because of our already long day, we opted out of staying for that.
For more information about Carlsbad Caverns, check out the following government website: http://www.nps.gov/cave
