2017 Fall Trip -- Carlsbad NM

On Wednesday we moved from Rio Frio TX to Carlsbad NM. The original plan was to move to a dry camp area located off Dark Canyon Rd, but the drive has been horrible so we opt for a RV park just south of town. It rained, the van was running rough and we are going right through the middle of the oil and gas fields so trucks, trucks, and more trucks!! Wayne took a look at the van and got that taken care of, but we were both pretty stressed.

Rick and Linda were going to meet us here but the snow in the forecast actually came on Thursday so they decided to stay at Elephant Butte until the passes cleared.  They arrived on Friday afternoon. While we waited for them we spent Thursday driving around, verifying the campsite and checking out the snow level.  We also went into town and got the van washed.  We are covered in mud from the drive through Pecos.

On Saturday morning we moved the motor homes to the dry camp as the RV park didn't have room for us on the weekend. 

View from camp

Once the motor homes were level we headed up to Carlsbad Caverns.  We saw this herd of goats on our way.

 Rick, Linda, Me and Wayne

Carlsbad Caverns was first a National Monument in 1923. In 1930 Congress made it a National Park.

 In 1898, 16 year old Jim White is doing his job mending fences when he sees what he fears is a brush fire in the distance.  He sees the smoke and goes to investigate. But what he found was what he thought was "millions and millions" of bats leaving a large hole in the ground. These days from early spring through October you can come at dusk and sit here at the amphitheater to watch the Bat Flight. Jim was wrong, it's only thousands of Brazilian free tailed bats that take to the skies in search of food each night. If we had timed it better, I would have loved to see that!

 This is the Natural Entrance to the cave that Jim White found

 Instead of the wire and fence post ladder that Jim White made we get a bunch of switchbacks and a 20% grade for our access.

 One of the stunning formations

We made our way down trails lined with stalactites and stalagmites 

 These two almost meet.  When they do, they will be called a column

We did two self-guided tours.  We choose to walk down into the cavern on the Natural Entrance Trail even with the 750' loss in elevation in 1.25 mile. We then went through the Big Room, which is also 1.25 miles long.  It is 8.2 acres of wonderful formations. We returned by the elevator.  Remember, 20% grade...

 We saw more goats on the way back down to the highway.

 The big guy is keeping watch

It was so fun to watch them move around the rocks

 Because we could not get tickets for the two guided tours until Monday we decided to spend Sunday looking at other things.  We started by taking the Dark Canyon Rd west for 18 miles to the Queen's Highway, then on to Sitting Bull Falls.

 After the several miles of cavern trails it was nice to only walk about a quarter mile.

 Sitting Bull Falls is spring-fed, having water in it even this time of year.  The water falls 150 feet to the pools below

 Even with or maybe because of the snow from 3 days ago, it was a stunning view

 Such a cool place to come for lunch

We finished by checking out Brantley Lake and the dam on the Pecos River.  Water is a little low this time of year

On Monday we go back to the caverns for the two guided tours.

 We start with the King's Palace tour which also includes the Papoose room and the Queen's Chamber.  I didn't take many pictures as I found out on Saturday, camera's just don't do it justice.

 Our second tour was very cool.  It was by candle light in the Left-Hand Tunnel where they do not have any electric lighting.  We started by getting our lanterns.

 This is our group going down the trail in the dark

 We gathered at the turn around spot and blew out all the candles and sat in the dark to listen to the sounds of the cave.  Then we lit them all again and headed back to the real world.  On the return trip we could use flashlights to check out all the stuff along the way.  This was my favorite tour.  If you are going to Carlsbad Caverns, make sure you take the Left-Hand Tunnel Candle tour.  At $3.50 with your senior parks pass, it is well worth the time and cost.

What a great way to end our day and our Fall Trip.  From here we will head to Quartzsite, drop off the coach and catch a flight from the Mesa Airport to go to the PNW for Christmas. As usual when we are with family and friends in areas we have covered before, I'm not sure if I will post again for awhile.  Have a wonderful holiday and we wish you the very best for 2018!!