Big Room Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We drove towards the Guadalupe Mountains, which was our last stop in Texas. The drive from Fort Davis to the border was spectacular, desert with mountain backdrop - which has mostly been a constant view. But each mountain with unique rock formations, color and elevation. As we got closer to the Guadalupe Mountains, we started climbing in elevation …

... ever had which we eat hastily in the dark. The following morning we make a short drive up to New Mexico to visit Carlsbad Caverns.  While the previous day we had been ascending up the Guadalupe Mountains, today we will be making our way down ...

Since it was "my day" today, Lynnie drove us down to Carlsbad Cavern National Park.  By using the mighty Geezer Pass, we entered at no cost.  After conferring with a ranger in the Information Center, we decided to take the original entrance ...

... Post. Sounds much more interesting then it actually was, which was a closed gift shop. Convinient thought to our next destination, Carlsbad Caverns.  We woke up, put on our head lights and light jackets for our climb into the caves. Actually, we ...

... caves in the world, which are formed by running water and underground streams, the more than 100 caves of Carlsbad Caverns National Park are the result of sulfuric acid dissolving and redepositing minerals.  This park was designated ...

... the years about the fact that Karen (Wayne's sister) and Mark Hagel came down to visit us and we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and White Sands National Monument.We do have some pictures from the trip but it still seemed like a new experience ...

... ; Did get a few strange looks from people but they're also used to having people coming in to see aliens :) Next stop was Carlsbad Caverns.  We really didn't know what to expect from this National Park, as we have our own Waitomo Caves in NZ.  ...

... . Then later in the afternoon we went on a private ranger guided tour of the lower cave. This area is directly below the big room, and is only accessible by repelling down a rope and series of ladders. This descent was a little intimidating and we only ...

... staff.  Caught the sunrise the next morning (first for us on this trip!)  We headed for Carlsbad Caverns around 9:00am.    Wow!  Carlsbad Caverns encompasses gigantic subterranean chambers, fantastic cave formations, and ...

... it was a cooler walk which was wonderful. Then we jumped back in the car and headed across the border to New Mexico to the Carlsbad Caverns. We pulled into the visitors center, and got to use our national park pass for our free tickets to go down 750 ...

Carlsbad National Park was the last national park for our trip, and what a way to end it! Beneath the Guadalupe Mountains and in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert lies an enormous set of caverns.  Like so many of the parks we have visited, the ...