Big Cashew is trudging onward, although it seems much more difficult to motivate oneself. I definitely feel something is missing and that feeling will probably be with me for some time. But, be that as it may, I am in the midst of another "adventure". I am hoping my travels help me get past my loss. Only time will tell.
This time I am in South Eastern New Mexico, visiting the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. This is a totally underground experience which is a dramatic change from all other trips I have taken in the past. Lets see how my claustrophobia handles things. Oh boy, I can hardly wait. You might ask why am I subjecting myself to such terror. Well, one reason is that I have read about and wanted to visit here since I was a kid (when I did not suffer from this condition) and it is one of the National Parks which are places I have vowed to visit while I am still able. So lets get started.
Carlsbad Caverns is not an easy place to get to. It is located in the South East part of New Mexico, and seemingly in the middle of no where. It is about 245 miles from Albuquerque, and near the same distance from Santa Fe, the only two major cities in the state. It is closer to El Paso, Tx., at about 145 miles, with no direct routes except driving. This is the town you fly to for the shortest drive to the Caverns. So, my day started early, 4:20 to be exact, catching a 7:25 flight out of Philly, which took me to Chicago. From there, I switched planes and we headed to El Paso, Tx. As you can surmise, there is no direct flight to Carlsbad. There was a bit of a wait while in Chicago, which amounted to about an hour delay. Still, we landed in El Paso about 40 minutes late, but it was only about 1:30 Mountain Standard time. I got off the plane and headed to the rental car counter, picked up the car and was on my way. As I stated earlier, Carlsbad, the town, is about 166 miles from El Paso, so I still had a few hours to work thru to reach my destination. The road to my destination made El Paso look like a major metropolitan city. Once I had travelled about 10 miles, you actually leave civilization. There is nothing but scrub brush, grasses and a few mountains. You do not want to break down or run out of gas. There are no businesses or homes to go beg for help if you do have problems. Well, to be fair, there are some homes and maybe a business that was there, but everything is abandoned now and for some years. You are really on your own.
For the most part, the drive is basically level. There are more hills than mountains along the way, until you get closer to Carlsbad. There you hit the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The road cuts through the mountains with winding curves and some steep inclines. When it rains, the roads become slippery, and you might want to ease off of the 75 MPH speed limit. Just a suggestion, of course. As you pass this area, there is not much to see other than the mountains as you are still about 30 miles from Carlsbad. Oh, the road itself tends to be one lane in each direction. There are some occasional passing lanes, but if you get behind a slower driver, you need to pass them, but there are cars and trucks coming the other way, just a bit dangerous. Caution might be the word of the day.
Since I would pass the park on the way to Carlsbad, I arrived at the park entrance at about 4:30 PM and decided to go to the visitor center. The center closes by 5 so I did not have much time. It is 7 miles in from the main road, and as usual with these NP's, the road is very winding and you are staring over a steep ledge at some points. I reached the visitor center and got out to take a few pictures, then browse the store and get my bearings for the next day's activities.
I started out the next day headed to the park and start my actual immersion into the cave itself. I signed up for the Kings Palace tour, which is lead by a park ranger and costs $8. You also have to pay the park admission price, however, I have the senior pass I purchased 3 years ago. It allows me to get in any NP at no charge. Not a bad deal since it cost me $20 and I have gone to a number of parks since then. Anyway, I checked in at the ticket office and was directed to either the elevator or the trail to the Natural Entrance. I chose the trail (what a stupid decision) and stated walking.
The trail takes you to the mouth of the cave. It is about a quarter mile walk. The walk does not prepare you for the hike to come in the cave itself. You cannot even see anything resembling a cave until you were right at the entrance. You see this large hole in the ground that looks very dark. At this point you start to get the impression this could be a long walk. The Cave entrance is below ground and to get to it, you take about 2 dozen switchbacks, some of which are rather steep.
This is a theme that I found out repeats continually. It is 1.2 miles of trail from the cave entrance to the Big Room where the elevators desend to from the visitor center, about 750 feet above you through the rock. The cave trail, itself, at times, is rather dark or should I say poorly lit. There is lighting in many areas, but that is provided so you can see the various shapes and sizes of the formations that have occurred over many centuries. There are sections where they lighting does not illuminate the trail very well. These dark spots had me a bit worried as I was concerned about tripping and the thought of not being able to see where you going is a bit scary. Add to that, the trail was also comprised of switchbacks with the same steep descents at times. After what seemed like the first 100 switchbacks, with no end in site, my legs were becoming like Jello. 99% of the walk is down hill and you really feel it in the knees. I had to stop and take a minute rest a few times along the way.
As for the view, it really was incredible. The lighting is what makes the trip worthwhile. You cant see anything without it as there is no light from the surface. We found this out the old fashion way when during the ranger tour, she turned off the lights. It was pitch black and you could not see your hand if it was touching your face. That experience seemed to last forever, which was way too long for me. I was starting to breath short breaths and had to calm myself down a bit. That total blackness was the issue. When the Ranger lit a lantern, that little bit of light was all I needed to feel OK. You could see enough to move even if it was just a short distance. The point of this was to show us, the dumb public, what the initial explorers of the caves had to put up with. Since there are many paths one could take, it is amazing that these explorers ever found their way out. The trails lead to rooms that a rather large with very high ceilings if you can see the ceiling. Many times there are holes in the ceilings so it is just the black of darkness that you see.
Back to my trekking down the path to meet the Ranger for the tour. As I continued on my way, I passed a number of people who were also walking the path instead of taking the elevator. As long as you take your time and look around, you get quite a view of all the formations. They are all around you, coming up from the ground, dropping down from the ceilings or even growing out of the walls. The case was moist but not the wet. There was some water along the trail, but you never heard any water running, such as a stream. The temperature is a constant 56 degrees. This might seem a bit cool, however, the hiking, even though down hill, was causing me to sweat. At about the halfway point, I took off my jacket to try cool off a bit. I was partially soaked from the walk, I sweated so much. At least I got my exercise in. I continued on my way until I got to the Big Room. From there you can start exploring the Big Room or head to the bathrooms and snack bar to get some refreshments. The Big Room is called that because it is the largest underground singular room in the northern hemisphere. The path around this room is over a mile long. There are more prominent formations here than in other areas of the caverns. The sizes and shapes are incredible and the lighting in this area is much better. Since they like to illuminate the formations, the sheer number of these provides the better lighting. Don't get me wrong. It is still a bit dark in the cavern, but you definitely see the sites more clearly.
