B & D's USA Hideout: Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM

The only real way to describe the the Carlsbad Caverns is through the words and photographs of Ansel Adams. Adams was an American photographer (my very favorite) and environmentalist. His particular expertise was in photographing landscapes and his most famous pieces come from National Parks of the American west. He described Carlsbad Caverns best as

"...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."

Brian and I started our decent into the cave through the natural entrance. Bats were chirping and the last beam of sun light touched the walls as we made our way underground. It took us an hour to get to the bottom; 750 feet below. At the base, there is a mile loop through the big room. The room was strategically lit so you were able to see the amazing stalactites and stalagmites, colors, textures and pools of water decorating the room. Luckily, I was allowed to bring my camera and tripod. The pictures below only give you a small glimmer into the underground world that there is.

Up or down?

Natural cave entrance

Ansel Adams

We also witnessed more wildlife on the hills surrounding the caverns than we expected. We saw a mule deer seeking shade under a rock and a small herd of Barbary sheep grazing at the base of the hills.

We did an early morning self-guided tour so we had been to the abyss and back before 11. We packed up and headed north toward Roswell. On our way we saw a sign for a brewery/winery in the middle of nowhere so we pulled over to check it out. We're glad we did because not only was the beer and wine cold and delicious, but the owner/brewer suggested a cool scenic drive we could take to Albuquerque. We left with a growler and a bottle of wine and continued to Roswell. Brian hopped out to take a quick pic with an alien and then we carried on. Neither of us felt like pushing it driving wise so we made it a little further and then stopped for the night at the Valley of Fires in Carizozzo. The campground sits next to the youngest lava flow in the continental US. Albuquerque by morning.