7/14/2012
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Driving through the desert
In the morning we said our goodbyes to Josiah and made plans to meet up with him in Las Vegas, as he was moving out of his place in the next couple of days.
We headed due west out of Houston. We were nervous about how long the drive was going to take us, because we needed to make it all the way across Texas and into Southern New Mexico by nightfall, as we had a prepaid tour of Slaughter Canyon Cave at 8:30 the following morning. So, we buzzed by Austin, a place we both really wanted to see, but alas, we have to save something for our next road trip…
Anywho, it was a long day of driving through some beautiful landscape. Everyone says that Texas is so boring, but we found the change from marshland in the East to the colorful layered hills and expansive desert in the West to be quite beautiful. We even got caught in a wild afternoon storm that only touched about four miles of highway. We only stopped for a quaint meal at a Mexican dive (food was excellent) and some gas, so we made it all the way to Carlsbad, NM with enough time to get some dinner and crash early.
We headed due west out of Houston. We were nervous about how long the drive was going to take us, because we needed to make it all the way across Texas and into Southern New Mexico by nightfall, as we had a prepaid tour of Slaughter Canyon Cave at 8:30 the following morning. So, we buzzed by Austin, a place we both really wanted to see, but alas, we have to save something for our next road trip…
Anywho, it was a long day of driving through some beautiful landscape. Everyone says that Texas is so boring, but we found the change from marshland in the East to the colorful layered hills and expansive desert in the West to be quite beautiful. We even got caught in a wild afternoon storm that only touched about four miles of highway. We only stopped for a quaint meal at a Mexican dive (food was excellent) and some gas, so we made it all the way to Carlsbad, NM with enough time to get some dinner and crash early.
7/15/2012
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Following the caravan to Slaughter Cave
THE CAVERNS
The next morning we got up early and ate our leftovers for breakfast. We had to get to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park Visitor’s Center by 8:30 and it was a half hour away from our hotel. In the morning, we found that the desert is especially beautiful, the air is dry and cool and the long shadows add something to the solitude of the place. The landscape in the national park was absolutely gorgeous.
We arrived on time and made our way to the safety seminar. Our tour through Slaughter Canyon Cave was not like the self-guided tour in Carlsbad Cavern. This cave was 30 minutes away from the visitor’s center, another half an hour sweltering hike up the side of Slaughter Canyon and then into the cave that has no lighting or distinct pathways.
The next morning we got up early and ate our leftovers for breakfast. We had to get to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park Visitor’s Center by 8:30 and it was a half hour away from our hotel. In the morning, we found that the desert is especially beautiful, the air is dry and cool and the long shadows add something to the solitude of the place. The landscape in the national park was absolutely gorgeous.
We arrived on time and made our way to the safety seminar. Our tour through Slaughter Canyon Cave was not like the self-guided tour in Carlsbad Cavern. This cave was 30 minutes away from the visitor’s center, another half an hour sweltering hike up the side of Slaughter Canyon and then into the cave that has no lighting or distinct pathways.
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Our view hiking the mountain to the cave
When we arrived at the cave, we were asked to leave all of our belongings at the cave’s mouth, in order to insure nothing was left inside. The tour itself was a lot of fun, having been in only one other cave, this exploration off of a paved path was a new experience. We got to see lots of amazing cave formations, including the second largest column in the park, stone shields, draperies and flow stone. We also got to walk through guano mines, finding century old bat bones (and poop!) and even spotting a couple of creepily pale cave crickets. At one point our guide had us turn off all our headlamps and just sit in the dark silence. It was really cool to get a feeling for what it’s like that deep underground; no sound, no light, no movement.
The tour was about 2 1/2 hours long, and we made our way back to the visitor’s center. We were on a tight schedule again, as we needed to make it all the way to Gallup on the Northwest corner of New Mexico in order to see the petrified forest in the morning and we had not intended to go into the big cave at Carlsbad, but everyone told us that it was something that we just couldn’t miss. So, we decided we would go for it, knowing that the line for the elevator back up to the surface could take hours. In the end, we were totally happy that we did.
The tour was about 2 1/2 hours long, and we made our way back to the visitor’s center. We were on a tight schedule again, as we needed to make it all the way to Gallup on the Northwest corner of New Mexico in order to see the petrified forest in the morning and we had not intended to go into the big cave at Carlsbad, but everyone told us that it was something that we just couldn’t miss. So, we decided we would go for it, knowing that the line for the elevator back up to the surface could take hours. In the end, we were totally happy that we did.
Since there was no line we took the elevator down the 700 feet and were almost immediately in awe of the “Big Room”. The formations were mind boggling, but the sheer size of the place was what really affects you. Words can’t describe its magnificence. There were pits so deep that you couldn’t see the bottom, stalactites formations that were bigger than our apartments in Korea, and you can’t believe the natural beauty inherent in the stones themselves. We can’t say enough about how cool it was…the kind of place you could easily spend all day (week) in…but we didn’t have a lot of time.
We actually spent about 2 hours checking everything out (longer than we had intended), and when we got back to the elevator it was just as predicted; an hour and 45 minute wait. That would put us almost 4 hours behind schedule. We had heard that it would take about the same amount of time to walk out of the cave, but when we talked to a ranger she said that it COULD take that long if you took a lot of brakes. She told us that most people make it out in an hour, but a few others had been known to do it in 30 minutes.
We decided to take her up on that challenge.
Once again, we were glad that we did. Don’t get us wrong, it wasn’t easy by any means, but there was a lot more to see on the way back up. Plus it really gives you a better perspective of how far down 700 feet is. As hard as it was, the climb (slow job) was beautiful, and we made it into the sunlight in 33 minutes. YES!!
At this point we realized that we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and that we should probably get some food before we went too much further. So, we ate a granola bar, bid ado to Carlsbad National Forest, and headed north.
The drive through New Mexico was long, but again, filled with beautiful landscapes. We arrived at our hotel in Gallup around 11pm and pretty much hit the bed and were out for the night.
We decided to take her up on that challenge.
Once again, we were glad that we did. Don’t get us wrong, it wasn’t easy by any means, but there was a lot more to see on the way back up. Plus it really gives you a better perspective of how far down 700 feet is. As hard as it was, the climb (slow job) was beautiful, and we made it into the sunlight in 33 minutes. YES!!
At this point we realized that we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and that we should probably get some food before we went too much further. So, we ate a granola bar, bid ado to Carlsbad National Forest, and headed north.
The drive through New Mexico was long, but again, filled with beautiful landscapes. We arrived at our hotel in Gallup around 11pm and pretty much hit the bed and were out for the night.