A journey into the darkness 5/26/19



Happy Saturday from Carlsbad Caverns, NM! Let me just start by saying I have encountered wild life, 100 degree temperatures, & 3 National parks in the past three days! Now you can understand why I am writing this blog from my comfy bed in Jolene! It's Saturday at 4:00 PM, about 98 degrees, and gust of winds exceeding 30 MPH. The RV is shaking from the wind and the heat! Thank goodness my air conditioner is going strong (still), the dogs are napping, and I have Moonstruck streaming on my phone. Ha! Fun fact: I am obsessed with Cher, she is brilliant!

I am parked in Whites City which is 10 miles from the entrance of Carlsbad Caverns National park. The RV park is owned by Whites City and is "the closest RV park to the Caverns!" The park is essentially a gravel parking lot with no shade and hook ups for 10 RV's. The sun cooks you from 10:00 AM till 8:00 PM and only after 8:00 PM do you dare to turn off your air conditioner and relax outside in the shade. By 10:00 PM the temperature has dropped below 70 degrees. It is a blessing! A blessing until 7:00 AM when the sun shines bright into the open windows and starts to warm you up! Let me start by telling you about my adventure on Thursday evening when I arrived! Half way into the National Park I encountered a group of sheep with horns! So, they looked like rams to me...but they are not, they have a special name and for the life of me I cannot remember. Alas, it is not important. I encountered a group of about 15 of these sheep including babies which were crossing the road. It was such a peaceful and magical moment to watch these beautiful creatures eat, explore, and watch...watch me...watch them! What a fabulous way to start my Carlsbad adventure.





After my exciting drive into Carlsbad I had the privilege of watching the Bat Flight which is a natural phenomenon! I've never experienced anything like it! This is going to shock you...but I showed up early. Ha! Of course if you know me you know this was a mistake. My watch was still set on Central time...it's mountain time here. But, it gave me a good extra 45 minutes to sit in peace and quiet at the mouth of one of the biggest cave systems in the Northern hemisphere. The bat flight happens nightly May-October. The bats have migrated from Brazil to New Mexico in order to breed and nurture their young in the safety of the cave. Obviously the weather also attracts them. During the flight you sit in the man made amphitheater and face the opening of the cave. On the evening I watched the flight there were about 40 other people in the amphitheater. A ranger explained the rules of the bat flight, answered questions about the caves, and gave us the history of the caves and bat flight. While the ranger was speaking the bats started to exit the cave! It was one of the most chilling and exciting events I've experienced! The ranger tip toed out of site, the crowd grew silent, and within a few seconds you could hear the flutter of leather wings heading our way. It was magnificent to watch waves of small black bats flood out of the mouth of the cave and over our heads. At times the waves of fragile wings were so thick you could barely see the burnt orange cave walls behind them. There was a type of satisfying joy that washed over me as I witnessed this powerful event. This event was better than any concert, any carnival, or fair. This was nature and earth working as it should in all its glory. And I was lucky enough to be sitting in silence and watch as it happened over my head. Every other moment you would hear a group of bats fly into each other and then you might see them actually hit each other! Which is understandable as you watched hundreds of thousands of bats fly out of the cave. Accidents happen. Ha! The flight lasted about 9 minutes and I was shocked that the entire audience was completely silent during the flight. Watching the flight was free and so was parking! The weather was perfect in the shade and only about 100 gnats flew around me during the flight. I like to think that they disappeared further into the flight due to the bats eating them. I would add photos of the flight but we were not allowed to photograph during the flight. The noise and flashing scares them off! At least here is a photo of the entrance to the cave!
You sit up here and the bats fly out of the darkness


During the day it has reached 100 degrees so the next day I opted to do a self guided tour of one of the areas of the cave. The most popular is The Big Room. You can make a 60 second elevator down into the Earth or a 1 1/2 mile walk down into the earth. Of course, I chose to walk! And for about an hour of the walk all I could think about was Gollum or Smegle from Lord of the Rings ha! (Thats probably spelled wrong) Anyways, if you know me, you know I was a huge LOTR movie fan and Gollum cracked me up. I pictured him lurking behind the stalagmites petting his 'precious.' Once you walk down into the Earth you come across a city! Legit, earlier in the 40s or 50s they actually built a lunch room, bathrooms, and gift shop which is all still there! I had a turkey and cheese sandwich for $6...don't judge, how many of you can say you have eaten in a Cafe in a Cave?? Exactly, not that many of you. Don't knock it till you try it. Ha! After you rest your feet and fill your belly you then start a mile round trip around the Big Room. They say 40 football fields could fit in the center of the big room and the tour includes 7+ major sights including a 'bottomless pit.' They later found that the pit is not bottomless, it goes down 200 ft or so! Enjoy!

Down in the cave, looking back up! 









I really liked this formation! It looks like a New Year Disco Ball! 

This is a view looking up at the 'Disco Ball' I love these types of shots! 



Believe it or not the blue-green color is water and reflections! 

More reflections! My favorite.
Mirror Lake 






Which photograph is your favorite? Leave a comment below with your name!

Comments

  1. Loving the third one from the bottom. Makes me think of a giant monster fish with it's mouth open... patiently waiting for a little fishy to swim on in.

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