Today we toured Carlsbad Caverns National Park. There are in fact 2 different cave systems that are open to the public inside the park. In fact there are a number of other caves have been discovered inside the park as well. The other caves, are not open to the public. Our theory is that the reason the other caves are not open is that visiting the other caves require real spelunking skills; like being willing to crawl through tight spaces in the dark.
Given timing we only allocated one day, so chose the more famous cave, Carlsbad Cavern to visit, than the Slaughter Canyon Cave tour.
Carlsbad Caverns were discovered by Jim White in 1898, and the cave complex was established as a national monument by President Calvin Coolidge in 1923. In 1932 elevators were constructed to enable visitors to reach the main rooms with out walking the long serpentine path into the caves.
We chose to take advantage of the elevators, and save our walking for inside the caverns. We were very glad we did as we spent about 2 hours touring the main cave sections.
The short version of our impression of the caverns sums up as “Oh My Goodness, HOW AMAZING!”
Our favorite formation was a pair of stalagmites that we named “The Mummy” and “The Mountain Man”.
After coming down the elevator, visitors reach a gift shop and cafe. The lighting is dim, giving your eyes a chance to start adjusting to the darkness. You leave that area and start down a short tunnel into the first section of the cave. The first area is very dimly lit, so that your eyes have a chance to adjust.
As you can see from the photograph below, the cave has been illuminated with carefully chosen lighting effects. However, in general there is not an enormous amount of light. Our cameras were able to adjust to the dim light, just like our eyes. Deryl found that she in fact got better photos with her iPhone when she did not use the flash, and just was patient, letting the camera use a long exposure.
Visitors have a long paved loop around the cave. Part of the paved path is even accessible by wheelchair. Not that we needed a wheelchair, but it was interesting to see one or two visitors being assisted along the pathways.
There are a wide range of kinds of formations. We found the “Lion’s Tail” formation fascinating. It is a stalactite which has had “cave popcorn” form at the end. Cave popcorn, is often caused by evaporation rather than dripping water.
As we continued the loop around the cavern, we would have several vantage points to see The Mummy and Mountain Man.
This view gives you a sense of why we named the two formations. The Mummy wrapped up in ghostly white. The Mountain Man trying to break out of the cave walls which have him trapped.
The National Park Service has done a wonderful job, presenting the caverns and making them accessible. The paths inside the caves are paved and have handrails. The lighting inside, while dim, is quite sufficient to enjoy the spectacular formations, and also navigate the trail.
Another fascinating formation was formed when calcite flowed across a stream and solidified. The result is flowing stream like ribbons, which you can see in the photograph above. It really reminded us of finger painting.
The calcite formations have taken on a variety of colors based on the other minerals it has picked up as water has moved the dissolved limestone around. The photograph below shows you some of the colors, along with how carefully the National Park Service has worked on the lighting effects.
After spending our time viewing what water and time can form, we returned to the surface.
As we were driving back to our trailer, we noticed the signs for the dirt road trail around the Walnut Canyon wilderness above ground. Since Clyde is 4 wheel drive, we decided that we could drive that trail. It is navigable by car, but you do need a vehicle with a little ground clearance, 4-wheel drive was not required.
Just a short way onto the wilderness trail we were greeted by this Buck!
Along the trail, we were able to view the mountains from this vista. Well worth the drive!
We returned to the trailer, before Quarantinie time, and enjoyed our cocktails beside the trailer watching the beautiful sunset.
Rob and I cooked up Chicken Marsala and sautéed spinach for dinner.