Carlsbad Caverns

Our first full day in Carlsbad dawned sunny but cool. The 90's of the day before would be replaced by 60's today. More in tune with our late spring temperatures in Wisconsin. Visiting Carlsbad Caverns was on our agenda. The local flat landscape with occasional hills is deceiving in that it is hard to believe we are at 3300 feet. I was hoping I had acclimatized enough to handle the hike in the cave.

We took our time on the drive from the entrance to the park to the building on top of the hill where you enter the caves. Both Barb and Ron had binoculars for bird spotting and we were amazed at how they could pick out birds as we drove along. We didn't see anything and they would pull over and point out a warbler or thrush, perched on a branch of scrub. We rolled down the windows and listened for their calls.

We stopped also to capture some cactus in bloom.

They knew the names for most of the species as we drove through the area but I can't remember what they were!

At the cave headquarters we had the option of taking the elevators down for the 1.5 mile tour of the Big Room or take the 1.2 mile steep hike down the natural entrance. We opted for the latter and were glad we did, though my legs did get a bit wobbly halfway down as I was not used to walking at that angle! Guess I need to move my treadmill angle up a notch or two to build up those leg muscles! I don't think it has a down angle to match the steep descent of the switchbacks when we got deep into the cave. I was glad there were handrails as I have been known to be quite clumsy and trip over my own feet.

Bat Amphitheater and natural entrance to cave.

This amphitheater is used in the evening to watch the bats emerge from the cave. From mid-April to October thousands of bats fly out each evening at dusk. We were still early for the mass exodus of bats so we decided to forgo a return visit in the evening to see them fly. FYI- no photography of this event is permitted. Below the amphitheater is the natural entrance and the switchbacks that begin to lead you in your descent. This was the easy part of the hike.

We saw some birds trying to build nests in the holes above the entrance. Barb and Ron identified them as canyon wrens by their beautiful descending note song. It seemed quite appropriate to listen to it as we ourselves descended into the dark. And it WAS dark and silent as we were advised to only whisper when we were within the cave.

Looking out toward the entrance.

If you have been to other caves that embellish the formations with colored lights and have the paths brightly lit you will be pleasantly surprised at how non-commercialized the caverns are. On the descent the paths are minimally but adequately lit and the cave itself was strategically lit to show you the scale and highlight some of the formations but did not detract from feeling some of the mystery and awe what the original explorers must have experienced. The flash on my point and shoot was not capable of showing the vastness of the cave but I could capture some of the interesting passageways.....


...and some formations that were close to the path like this one in a pool of water.


Ron and Barb said that sometimes the park rangers conduct tours with all of the lights off and participants carrying little lanterns. That would certainly be exciting but I think I will stick with the minimal lighting that they usually supply!