A Presidential Weekend - Part Three
We woke up (warm, I insist on saying) in our K omfortable, albeit K ampy, K abin. The weather was still quite K old. Okay, I will stop now. The stove had trouble boiling water for all the wind and I wore my gloves all morning. Geez. I think my blood is thinning out living in this Arizona climate for over a year now. I'm such a wimp.
We headed to Carlsbad Caverns, which I was really excited about. We visited Kartchner Caverns last year and had a fantastic time. That cave, however was a "wet" or still forming/alive cave. Much of Carlsbad is now dry due to it's exposure to air (and, partially, humans). You can imagine how much air gets in through this massive hole which is the orignial entrance to the cave.
It was found by a 16 year old cowboy, who became it's best guide, though the Native Americans had known of its existance but not explored it. The cowboy noticed a large cloud of what he thought was smoke but turned out to be bats. These bats still inhabit parts of the cave during the summer. Apparently, there is a cool show every night at sunset as the bats all fly out en masse. But, well, it wasn't summer for us.
The entrance tour was a little over a mile down the manmade switchbacks, all very steeply downhill grade. The Boyfriend and I rented those little audioguides for $3 each. You know, where you plug in the number ont he sign and it tells you what you are looking at. Informative, yes, but really really cheesy. Oh, they tried to make jokes. But I don't think any of them succeeded. We remained in coats the whole journey as well, though we took off our biking pants for this one, thank god. I swear, I hate how they make me feel 30 pounds heavier and every step rubs the fabric together with a little whhhibb, whhhibb, whhhibb. The caves are about 56 degrees year-round. After the entrance trail, we followed the Big Room trail 1.3 miles around the, hmm, Big Room. It was very very big. Several football fields long and up to (about, relying on my memory here) 250 feet tall. I don't like football but isn't that analogy still so handy, so easy to picture in your head?
Here is a shot of one of many alcoves in the cave. The cavarns are surprisingly well lit. They highlight many of the great features but leave enough darkness to keep the cave-like ambiance. The ornamentation, as the rangers call all of the neat features of the cave, are some of the best int he world. Well, I rely on their experience for that but the beauty was remarkable. All of those features caused by the evaporation of drops of water, which left the tiny speck of calcite the water carried behind. Over and over until a speck made a bump made a hill made a column.
Here are the famous stalagtites and stalagmites. According to the (cheesy) guide, one can always remember the difference by thinking stalagmites stand mighty and tall while the stalagtites cling tightly to the cieling. Yes yes. I think I've got it, by jove. Then, where a mite and a tite meet you have a column.
My favorite are the curtains, pictured here. Instead of in finger or column shapes like the mites and tite, these are formed when the water drips along a surface, instead of straight up and down. They look just like their name and are often so thin that you can still see light shining through them, translucent.
At the end of the cave, there is an elevator to bring you back up. We modern Americans would never be able to hike our way out. Hundreds of visitors would die a year, I bet, red-faced and clutching their chests. The park even warned everyone via multiple signs that the hike down could be "strenuous" and to "take care." There was also a snack bar, to make us fatter after our downhill hike. We emerged to a slightly sunnier day and took a magnificent drive back to Las Cruses. The road dipped down into Texas through the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Check out what The Boyfriend had to say because I think I have posted enough pictures this entry as is. But it's hard not to. He takes such fabulous pictures.
Needless to say, we got home the fourth day. It's always disappointing to go back into Phoenix through the same old scenery, the smoggy city highway. But we had an amazing time. No other moto trips planned in the near future. I think we will be saving all our energy and cash for our big trip at the end of March. Yay! We're headed to Budapest!
We headed to Carlsbad Caverns, which I was really excited about. We visited Kartchner Caverns last year and had a fantastic time. That cave, however was a "wet" or still forming/alive cave. Much of Carlsbad is now dry due to it's exposure to air (and, partially, humans). You can imagine how much air gets in through this massive hole which is the orignial entrance to the cave.
It was found by a 16 year old cowboy, who became it's best guide, though the Native Americans had known of its existance but not explored it. The cowboy noticed a large cloud of what he thought was smoke but turned out to be bats. These bats still inhabit parts of the cave during the summer. Apparently, there is a cool show every night at sunset as the bats all fly out en masse. But, well, it wasn't summer for us.The entrance tour was a little over a mile down the manmade switchbacks, all very steeply downhill grade. The Boyfriend and I rented those little audioguides for $3 each. You know, where you plug in the number ont he sign and it tells you what you are looking at. Informative, yes, but really really cheesy. Oh, they tried to make jokes. But I don't think any of them succeeded. We remained in coats the whole journey as well, though we took off our biking pants for this one, thank god. I swear, I hate how they make me feel 30 pounds heavier and every step rubs the fabric together with a little whhhibb, whhhibb, whhhibb. The caves are about 56 degrees year-round. After the entrance trail, we followed the Big Room trail 1.3 miles around the, hmm, Big Room. It was very very big. Several football fields long and up to (about, relying on my memory here) 250 feet tall. I don't like football but isn't that analogy still so handy, so easy to picture in your head?
Here is a shot of one of many alcoves in the cave. The cavarns are surprisingly well lit. They highlight many of the great features but leave enough darkness to keep the cave-like ambiance. The ornamentation, as the rangers call all of the neat features of the cave, are some of the best int he world. Well, I rely on their experience for that but the beauty was remarkable. All of those features caused by the evaporation of drops of water, which left the tiny speck of calcite the water carried behind. Over and over until a speck made a bump made a hill made a column.
Here are the famous stalagtites and stalagmites. According to the (cheesy) guide, one can always remember the difference by thinking stalagmites stand mighty and tall while the stalagtites cling tightly to the cieling. Yes yes. I think I've got it, by jove. Then, where a mite and a tite meet you have a column.
My favorite are the curtains, pictured here. Instead of in finger or column shapes like the mites and tite, these are formed when the water drips along a surface, instead of straight up and down. They look just like their name and are often so thin that you can still see light shining through them, translucent.At the end of the cave, there is an elevator to bring you back up. We modern Americans would never be able to hike our way out. Hundreds of visitors would die a year, I bet, red-faced and clutching their chests. The park even warned everyone via multiple signs that the hike down could be "strenuous" and to "take care." There was also a snack bar, to make us fatter after our downhill hike. We emerged to a slightly sunnier day and took a magnificent drive back to Las Cruses. The road dipped down into Texas through the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Check out what The Boyfriend had to say because I think I have posted enough pictures this entry as is. But it's hard not to. He takes such fabulous pictures.
Needless to say, we got home the fourth day. It's always disappointing to go back into Phoenix through the same old scenery, the smoggy city highway. But we had an amazing time. No other moto trips planned in the near future. I think we will be saving all our energy and cash for our big trip at the end of March. Yay! We're headed to Budapest!
posted by Gnomey G at 4:12 PM
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