Mar 28, 2013 - A Return Trip to Carlsbad Caverns

On March 18th we took another trip into New Mexico, the reason.....to take our dear friend Bev to see the cavern for the first time(she had never been). What a great trip we had, Bev was simply amazed at the sights, she kept repeating "Oh My God" - Awesome! Amazing & there was lots of clicking of her camera lens. Our trip was what we consider a turn around trip, leaving Picacho on the 18th & returning on the 20th (taking in White Sands National Monument on our way back to Picacho). Pete & I were just as excited about seeing the cavern a...

Mar 15, 2013 - An Underground Day

Today we drove to the Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Park. The mountain scenery is so awe inspiring with such magnificent uniqueness to each area. Having gotten an early start as Linda always wants to do, we were amazed that Carlsbad was loaded with people, especially a whole lot of teens, so we entered the caverns with much trepidation. The behavior of the youth was pretty good and the caverns were even more amazing than on our previous trip. It is huge with just one room the size of fourteen football fields. The many...

Feb 8, 2013 - Day 207 - Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

We were up early and to the Caverns by the time they opened at 8:30 am armed with the advice from Jim and Betty, we decided to walk in/ down, tour the Big Room, they take a guided tour of the King's Palace after lunch. Tickets purchased we started the walk to the Cavern. You first come to a huge hole in the mountainside that now has amphitheatre seats of rock carved into the side. This is where, in the summer, that you come at sunrise or sunset to see the the bats. Thousands of bats. They fly out at sunset and spend the night eating bugs,...

Jan 22, 2013 - Carlsbad Caverns - sic!!!

In the morning we finally surrendered and headed off to take the furnace to the RV repair shop. It was not to be as they were booked for the next 2 days so off we go to Carlsbad Caverns. (I could swear I heard the furnace snicker as I passed the trailer!!!) We headed into the caves at 11 AM from the “natural entrance” (as opposed to taking the elevator). It is a 45 minute walk down a one mile path that winds deeper and deeper into the cave – 750’ deep. The sparse lighting is all indirect & muted to draw your attention to the more impressive...

Jan 21, 2013 - through the cloud

We left Alamogordo refreshed and ready for more explorations and they started much sooner than expected. We climbed steadily driving east on yet another little road which the navigator insists on. The difference in topography was amazing as we finally topped the mountain into a neat little town named Cloudcroft. There was an old train trestle that had been restored and, after stopping to read the plaques, we were surprised to learn a train had chugged up this slope from the ‘20’s to the ‘50’s delivering guests from the desert to the fresh,...

Nov 3, 2012 - Carlsbad Caverns

Bad idea to try and drive RVs from Scottsdale AZ. to Carlsbad, NM all in one day. It ended up being a loooooooooooong 12 hour day. No fun what so ever. But ……… It was worth it to see Carlsbad Caverns. The caverns, which sit on a bed of limestone, were formed thousands of years ago when hydrogen sulfide from petroleum deposits below, seeped up into the water above. The combination of the sulfide and oxygen in the water formed sulfuric acid which eroded the limestone and form the caves. Over about 600,000 years water and snow melt percolate...

Sep 26, 2012 - MiFi Data Plan

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm doing fine. I used up 5GB of data on my MiFi internet plan and decided to wait until the cycle ended to create more entries. Now the problem is staying within range of a cell tower to connect to the internet. The southwest is not connected like the east coast. I'll be updating my journal within a day or so of Oct 13th (today's date as I enter this). Have a great day! Eric and Buddy

Sep 25, 2012 - Final Days in Carlsbad

One of the problems with photography is that you are always seeing the world through a viewfinder. You can easily miss the emotion a location can generate. Today, September 25, I went back to the caverns (I'm really going to get my moneys worth from the National Parks pass), without my camera, picked up a audio guide and walked down the natural entrance to the caverns. This is the same entrance where the bat cave pictures and Natural Entrance pictures were taken. This way in really makes you feel small because everything around you is so...

Sep 24, 2012 - Lower Cave Tour

This was my fourth and final guided tour. It takes you down to the lowest level of the caverns people can explore. With only 12 people the tour moves along pretty quickly. Getting down into and later get out of the cave is a workout. You start by descending down 80 feet of slippery slope while using a knotted rope to keep from falling. Then you proceed down three ladders (a total of 50' or a 5 story building) to the floor of the cave. Once again the only light comes from headlamps and does a fine job of illuminating the area. This cave has...

Sep 23, 2012 - Natural Bat Cave Entrance

I walked down the natural bat cave entrance today. This is an amazing way to enter the caverns. I photographed the bats flying out of the tunnel from the parking lot the other evening. Visit My Natural Bat Cave Entrance Photo Album

Sep 23, 2012 - Left Hand Tunnel

I'm thinking somebody ran out of time to come up with a "must-see" tunnel name and wrote down "Left Hand Tunnel" in ink by mistake. Should have used a pencil. This tour was a "lantern" tour. Each person has a lantern with a candle in it. That's all the light there is. Creates a nice warm illumination effect and is as close to how the early explorers would have seen the caverns. You don't go on this tour to see cavern features, you go on it because of the cool lantern lighting and is worth it. The lantern lighting and people heading into the...

Sep 22, 2012 - Slaughter Canyon Cave

Slaughter Canyon Cave is about 40 minutes away from the Carlsbad Caverns. You need to be in decent shape as the entrance is about 500 feet up in altitude and the path is a 1/2 mile (in 90+ degree heat), rocky and pretty steep. We lost only one person on the way up. She didn't fall off or anything (I was ready with my camera just in case), she just got real tired and had to go sit in her car (for the next 4 hours) and wait for her family. Once you get to the top you enter a big gated cave entrance. There are NO lights in the cave at all. You...