Funhog Spelunkers
No trip through New Mexico is complete without a stop at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We planned our trip so that this stop would be the last planned adventure of our journey for the states east of Arizona. The kids were amazed at the size of the cave as we walked down the 1 ¼ mile natural entrance trail into the depths of the cave. Elijah kept saying, “this cave stinky” as the smell of bat droppings were very apparent, and Kendall became our photographer for this adventure as she had the best luck getting the flash to work properly in the low light conditions.
Carlsbad Caverns
Jodi and I both had been in Carlsbad before many years ago. We were struck with two observations. One was the water levels were extremely low in the cave so that all the pools we had seen on previous trips were completely dry now, and the other interesting thing was the lighting seemed completely different. We think maybe to save money the park only turned on the bare minimum for lighting the cave enough to safely walk through. We remember our other trips where the cave was lit up just like Christmas and you were able to see all the colors in the formations and all the beauty of Carlsbad. It was a different experience in the dark with everything barely visible in the shadows. Once in the bottom we did an additional mile loop around the Great Room before heading to the restrooms and elevator which reside at the bottom of the cave. The kids loved the elevator ride back to the top as you get to watch the depth reading on the elevator display as you ascend. We decided to forgo the bat flight, a main attraction at Carlsbad, this time, as we would have had to wait around for three hours before the bats exit the cave for their night time feeding. We all enjoyed our day underground and we agreed to come back one day.
The Grand Opening
Lion's Tail
Whale's Mouth
Carlsbad Beauty
