in and around carlsbad

thursday morning i left roswell and went south, aiming for carlsbad. luckily it was a straight shot down a pretty nice highway, though, for the record, new mexico has had way more construction than any other state, particularly on the indian reservations. i passed through the town itself, named after karlsbad in poland, and went straight for carlsbad caverns national park, which is 20 miles south of town. luckily, i made it just in time to buy a ticket to a 12:00 ranger tour, change my clothes to suit the 56 degree cave, and make it down the elevator shaft by noon. i went on a 1.5 hour tour to what is called kings palace, a cave so-named because not only is it a big room, but because it has an interesting formation in the center of it. this formation consists of several stalagmites (the ones sticking up from the ground), looking almost like people, right below something called the guillotine, so of course it reminded an explorer of the french court. i couldn't get a good picture because it was too far away, but the picture to the left is of the ceiling. for the record, stalactites hang from the ceiling, and columns are when a stalactite and a stalagmite form a...column. (ranger joke: we used to call them pillars, but everyone from missouri said that they sure didn't look comfortable for sleeping on.) people also have a tendency to name formations after food: there's spaghetti, soda straws, and popcorn.

now, i'm not really a cave person, and i did already go to jewel cave in the black hills of south dakota, so i thought i was caved out, but carlsbad was pretty awesome. of course, part of this was because i had a great tour guide--he was even cute. i learned a lot from him, and it was all fascinating, particularly the human history of the caves. but first, in case you wanted to know: they were formed when sulfuric acid dissolved some of the limestone in the guadalupe mountains. as the mountains were formed, the spaces were pushed up and the sulfuric acid would dissolve away a new cave. so much for the science. ranger lore goes that a 16 year-old cowboy named jim white happened upon the caverns in the 1890s, built a ladder out of wire, and lowered himself down to explore it with a lantern. over the years, he eventually convinced other cowboys that he wasn't crazy, and started showing people the caves, just because he wanted them to see it. from the 1900s to the 1920s various people mined the caves for bat guano, which was shipped off to california to use as fertilizer, and white was always the foreman. then in 1923 president coolidge declared it a national monument, and carlbad became a national park proper, which requires an act of congress, in 1930, which is pretty quick work. white went on to be the first ranger. he was lucky that he got to see the caves protected.one of the coolest parts of our tour was when the ranger hit the lights when we were in a particular cave called the queen's chambers, right behind the king's palace. we sat there in complete darkness, which unless you've been in a cave blackout, you haven't ever witnessed. he even had us cover up our glow-in-the-dark watch hands. when i waved my hand in front of my face, my brain made it seem like my eyes were seeing the shape of my hand--this was just my brain freaking out and wanting to see my hand, since obviously i couldn't. we even sat in complete silence for a few seconds to get a true cave experience.

now, i don't remember where most of these pictures were taken specifically, or what they are of, but i just wanted to try to show you how awesome this park is. i do know that all of the pictures are right-side up, and the one to the left is of a formation called the veiled statue. i think ansel adams, who photographed the caves for a promotion, said it best: 'something that should not exist in relation to human beings. Something that is as remote as the galaxy, incomprehensible as a nightmare, and beautiful in spite of everything.” after my ranger tour i wandered around what is called the big room, where the veiled statue and a bunch of other formations are located. i thought that it was cool that you could do this on your own--you couldn't enter jewel cave without a ranger. after a little while i left the cave--the view outside the visitor's center is the picture at the top of this post.

from the caverns i headed into the lincoln forest for a place called the sitting bull falls recreation area: it's pretty much the only other thing to do in carlsbad, but i was excited to swim in another creek. actually, i don't know which creek it is. anyway, the falls were about 36 miles into the forest, which isn't really much of a forest, seeing as how it's in a desert. but i digress. the falls themselves were not really impressive, but it was fun to climb around, enjoy the cool water and the sunshine, and to watch the families. the area is a desert oasis, and has long been used by native americans. i got there about 4:30, and the park closed at 6, so i didn't have a whole lot of time there, but i enjoyed every minute. thanks again, jordan, for inspiring me to swim in rivers. i wish i had time to climb to the top of the falls, but alas, such is life. i splashed around and played with the kids a little, then headed back to carlsbad to spend the night.

all in all it was a pretty good day. if you ever come this way be sure to spend the extra money on a ranger tour, and probably one that is longer than the one i did. also, make sure you explore some of the above-ground areas. rattlesnake springs is a historic district with a picnic site--i visited there today. the whole area is protected not just as a park but as a wilderness in order to try and protect the caves below. also, there are hikes in the part of lincoln forest in the guadalupes as well: again, i didn't just didn't have time, and the falls were too much fun.