Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico was next on my (nonexistent) itinerary.  This is one of those places that Americans grow up hearing about, and always intend to go to… someday.  Well, I decided to make my someday now.

And before anyone asks… no, I have no idea why I’m standing like a statue, but it’s the only picture I’ve had of myself in a while, and I like to prove that I’m still alive and in one piece occasionally.

The caverns are large and extensive, but only parts are open to the public.  But those parts are big and impressive enough!!  According to Wikipedia: “Carlsbad Cavern includes a large cave chamber, (The Big Room), a natural limestone chamber almost 4,000 feet (1,220 m) long, 625 feet (191 m) wide, and 255 feet (78 m) high at the highest point. It is the fifth largest chamber in North America and the twenty-eighth largest in the world.”  There’s a diorama (!) in the visitor center that shows the Big Room, and the little black line you see is the path visitors travel through the cave.

You may remember that just a few days before this I was hiking in Big Bend National Park and ended up on the verge of heat stroke.  I was still feeling slightly wobbly at Carlsbad, so I checked into the difficulty of the trail beforehand, just so I didn’t get myself into more trouble.  Although going in by the natural entrance was quite a steep downhill, there was an elevator up to the top again.  After a short briefing about what to do, and what not to do, the path descended into the natural mouth of the cave system.

It was paved and had a handrail the whole way.  But it was a looooong way down.

The cave decorations began gradually, but grew in impressiveness.  I’m not going to try to explain what each of the formations in these pictures is, because honestly, I managed to learn exactly nothing about speleology while I was there, except that speleology is the name for the study of caves.  But some of the formations were beautifully delicate.

While others looked like strong but intricate pillars.

This weird pillar was just about thick enough for me to wrap my arms around at the base, but grew upward to several times my height in a strange organic way.

There were all sorts of shapes growing down from the ceiling.

And growing up from the floor as well, sometimes meeting in the middle, and sometimes so close… like this.

These are the largest columns in the cave.  If you can see the little black lump silhouetted at the base of the right hand column, that’s actually a light, about the size of a person’s head.  All these formations have names, by the way… but once again, I seem to have been too wrapped up in looking to actually learn anything.  Wikipedia has some good info, and the park also has a good web site.

I think I’ll stop trying to describe things that I don’t really understand, and just let you look at the pictures.  They don’t do it justice, this place is huge and awe-inspiring.

Cave bacon…

Although the cave was well lit, particularly the formations, I started experimenting with the low light setting on my phone/camera, and this is my favorite picture.  The foreground is a pool of water reflecting the formations above.

There was just so much to see wherever I looked, and the path led right through the middle of it all.

The cave was moderately damp, and there were occasional pools of water around, of absolute crystal clarity!  This one had to be about six feet deep, but you can see every detail of the bottom.

Looking up at the ceiling.

This little grotto is only a few feet tall, but is a perfect miniature of the formations in the larger cave.  It’s called the Doll’s Theater.  (Oh look, I learned something..)

As I came to the end of the path, looking for the elevators to the surface, I discovered a gift shop and café underground.  I had a snack, just because I could.

There are something like 17 species of bats in the caves, and at certain times and seasons the park offers bat flight tours, where you can see the swarms (flocks?) of bats leaving the caves.  I thought my little Maine lobster, Lobby, needed a companion and protector (he survived seeing crayfish boiled in Louisiana, but has been trembling ever since), so I bought a Little Brown Bat to travel with us (and to support protection of the cave bats).  His name is Carlos Bat.

If anyone has been thinking of visiting Carlsbad Caverns, I highly recommend that you do.  Don’t put it off any longer.  The pictures really don’t do it justice, you need to experience it.  But Lobby, Carlos, and I are ready to move on to our next adventure!