We drove on Route 54, which was a fairly scenic road, for over 2 hours and 100+ miles.We forgot that we would be on Mt. time when we got to Carlsbad, so we were there in plenty of time. (I could have enjoyed another hour of sleep!) I wasn't sure what to expect, but the cave was magnificent. Chuck and Melissa had been to Mammoth Cave in Tennessee and weren't sure how this would compare. They were shocked by the size of the "rooms" in this cave, the beauty, and how huge it was.
 |
| The sun was just starting to rise! |
 |
| The drive was pretty amazing! |
 |
| Our arrival at Carlsbad Caverns |
 |
| They have a very large visitors center! |
We went down in the elevator for 750 feet to the bottom of the cave. We went down almost exactly the same amount of feet we went up in the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio! You dropped 100 feet every ten seconds when in that elevator - amazing!
At the bottom was a place to buy T-shirts, drinks, and snacks, plus restrooms. I certainly wouldn't want to work down there. Way to dark, dreary, damp, and cool. We had paid to take the guided tour through the King's Palace and it didn't take long to figure out why you can only enter this part of the cave with a park ranger. You are within touching range of so many of the "natural wonders" and people just have to "touch". After allowing people to go down on their own for many years, they (the staff and other knowledgeable folks) surveyed the amount of damage that had been done to the walls, stalactites, stalagmites, and all else, and it was extensive. People wanted souvenirs! So, now the King's Palace area can only be toured when supervised. You go though four highly decorated chambers, descending 830 feet beneath the desert surface. But, it is definitely the way to see it. Our Ranger was exceptional and told us so much history about the cave.
 |
| This color is not very accurate! Everything was more pinkish and white, but you can see the magnitude of this cave! |
 |
| The stalactites and stalagmites were incredible! |
 |
| When the stalactites come together they form a curtain! |
 |
| The ceiling in one part of the cave! |
 |
| On the right it looked like a palm or weeping willow tree! |
 |
| Looked like corn husks or tobacco hanging from the ceiling! |
 |
| They call this the white baby elephant! |
 |
| I thought this looked like a waaterfall! |
Here is a little history on the cave! Jim White was a 16 year old local cowboy. He saw what appeared to be smoke going 2 different directions, and thought there was a fire in the area. When he got near that area, he saw hundreds of thousands of bats flying out of a cave. He spent the rest of his life, until age 64, exploring, documenting, and promoting the beauty of this natural wonder. Can you imagine going in and out of this cave with only a coffee pot lantern and trying to come up with a way to mark your trail so you could get back out of the cave????? He did this over, and over, and over even using rough made ladders to go into some of the very deep areas. Early on, he was very eager to show the natural wonders of this extraordinary place to others, but few believed his improbable tales of a huge underground wilderness full of unusual formations. It took photographs to convince skeptics that Carlsbad Cavern was everything it was said to be. In 1915 black and white pictures taken by Ray V. Davis, who accompanied White on a cave trip upon White's insistence, were displayed in the town of Carlsbad. Can you imagine carrying the old camera equipment that weighed about 75 lbs. into a dark cave and then trying to get the perfect picture. His photos created a sensation. People clamored to see the marvelous cave. White took them on tours that began with a 170 foot descent in a bucket.
While on our tour, the ranger turned off all the lights for about 5 minutes and we got to experience the total darkness and quiet. That gave us a good idea of what it was like for Jim White every time he entered the cave. When we completed that 2 hour tour, the 4 of us did the Big Room Route, a 1 mile, self-guiding stroll around the perimeter of the largest room in the cave. The 8.2 acre Big Room is really a must see. Unfortunately photos can't capture the beauty of the cave. You really have to see it! It is incredible!
 |
| This Lion's Tail was hanging from the ceiling! |
 |
| This is a ladder that Jim White used to go deep down into the cave! |
 |
| While we were doing the self tour,, these folks were below us on the lower cave tour! |
 |
| The Cave Man |
 |
| This looked like a statue in a Japanese Garden! |
It was an extremely windy day and around 67 degrees. We ate our lunch in the car overlooking the beautiful scenery and then drove to Guadalupe National Park about 30 miles from Carlsbad Caverns and on our way back to the CG. We stopped there to get a "lay of the land" and see the 12 minute movie about the park. The Ranger also gave us suggestions of which trails would be good for us to hike when we go there tomorrow.
 |
| This was our view while eating our lunch! |
We only got back to the CG at 6, another long day, but so good!
