Apr 1 Fri - Into the bowels of the earth we go into the mystic world of Carlsbad Caverns - 800 feet underground

Apr 1 Fri, Day 74 – Sunny & hot, (90 F)

We headed out to Carlsbad Caverns about 11 am. We checked at the ranger info desk & they said that it is not practical to do the two walks/tours that we planned in one day. They do have an elevator that goes down 750 feet or you can walk down from the natural entrance with an audio guide for a self guiding tour. So away we go into the depths. We are going 800 feet down on a 1¼ mile winding trail. It is a constant 56 F (13C), in the cave so walking down isn’t too bad. It takes us over an hour because we stopped often at information spots to listen to the audio guide & rest. We learned that Carlsbad Caverns were discovered by a 16 yr. old cowboy, Jim White in the mid 1800’s. He spent many years exploring it & naming many of the beautiful rock formations. Later the Nat’l Geographic Society came to further explore & and measure it. In 1923, it was set aside as a Nat’l Monument, then 10 yrs. later upgraded to a Nat’l Park. Although it is not the largest cave in the world, (the longest is ‘Mammoth’ in Kentucky, the deepest is in the country of Georgia in eastern Europe, & there’s one in Borneo that boasts the largest room). Of the caves we’ve seen this one is the biggest. Its 1037 ft. deep, & 30 mi. long.

We finally got to the bottom and then walked up a bit to the rest area where we could get lunch. Sheila was pleased to find that they had healthy food for sale. Lunch at 750 feet underground! After a lunch of salads & a yogurt parfait, we went to see the cavern called the “Big Room,” and “big” it is, the size of 14 football fields! They have a trail that goes in a loop up one side & out on the other side, it is 1¼ miles long. By this time we are getting a bit worn out so we took the short cut that cuts the distance in half but you do miss the far end of the cavern. We went into the cave entrance about 11:30 am and came up the elevator and out around 4:00. Sheila talked to the rangers and got information about the types of cactus we had been seeing over the past few weeks. He told us that the Chihuahua Desert has more cactus than anywhere in the world. Some varieties are only found here. We learned that the Yucca & the Agave plants are not cacti. They are succulent trees & quite similar to each other. The one we saw the most of as we drove into the caverns, (a round bottom of pointed leaves with a thick stalk covered in light yellowish blossoms growing out of the centre) is called a Torrey Yucca. It is only found here. Sheila also asked them if they knew why some Prickly Pear cactus had a purplely/pink tinge to the paddles, (leaves). Apparently there are several varieties of Prickly Pear & the purple tinged one is just one variety. The shape of the paddles is also indicative of variety, there is a prickly pear called, Cows Tongue because of the shape of the paddles. Nothing is ever simple!
Back out at the car, in the parking lot, the dashboard temp read-out says 33C, (91F), but drops to 31C, (88F), by the time we are down to the main hwy. Then off home we went for a dip in the pool; had a late supper and did the journal/computer work in the eve while watching some TV.