We visited Carlsbad Cavern National Park today. Wow! For those that have seen it, you know why it's a WOW. This is not your run of the mill cave. The Big Room can hold 14 football fields and is a mile and 1/2 around. There are stalactite, stalagmite, popcorn, and drapery formations of all shapes, sizes, and colors. The photos included don't come close to displaying the beauty. A big surprise to us was that it's underground by 750 feet and you ride up and down in an elevator, although there is a walk in entrance we are taking tomorrow. Once down there, you'll find bathrooms, real ones not porta-potties; a lunch/snack bar; and a gift store. Its like a city down there. The paths are paved and in most areas of the Big Room, wheelchair accessible.
The cave was discovered in the 1890s by James Larkin White ( a 16 year old), and became a National Park in 1930. It is named after the city of Carlsbad, NM. Carlsbad was named for its mineral springs after the German town of Karlsbad. The Caverns became of commercial importance for the collection of Guano, bat poop, which is supposedly an excellent fertilizer. They extracted 100,000 tons of the stuff, until the Park Service shut it down. Now folks, that's a forty foot deep pile; 100s of yards across. So, as you might surmize they have lots of bats here, but they tend to follow the bugs and have gone elsewhere for the winter.
The lighting in the cave is spectacular. It was setup by theatrical lighting experts in the 70s, to accentuate the formations. It does an awesome job and setting this up had to have been a really big deal. They are preparing to redo it using LEDs which are more energy efficient and does not promote additional heat and algae. They figure 3-5 years to complete.
We're going back tomorrow to take a lantern hike and to hike in from the Natural Entrance, no elevator. We are also going back to the Big Room with a tripod to get better pixs.
October 16, 2012
What would a stop in New Mexico be without visiting Roswell? This little town got it's notoriety from an incident in 1947, where allegedly a Flying Saucer with Aliens crashed during a big thunderstorm. In town is the International UFO Museum and Research Center where they give you the true story. It describes the government's coverup in detail. It will make you a believer. Now it is time to point out that this balances the PIMA Air Museum, as this was Lynn's stop, as shown in the picture. However Dan found it interesting also.
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