Carlsbad Rocks

The original plan was to spend three days in Carlsbad (personally I thought that we could wrap it up in one) and then to go down to the Guadalupe Mountains National Park for a day. We ended up staying in the caves for three days. Each tour was better than the last.

The first day we hiked down the 750 feet from the Natural Entrance to the cave. It isn't a particularly difficult walk but it is very dramatic with lots to see, especially for your first time cavers. The trail is dimly lit mostly with lights behind the cave features to add drama. This formation is called the whales mouth.
Once you reach the cave "floor" you find a snack bar and a gift shop. This is something that would never be allowed today. We bought our lunch and then set off on a tour of the "Big Room". The big room is the size of 14 football fields and the path circles the perimeter. Of course it isn't all visible at one time as the room meanders around quite a bit. Most of this path is wheelchair friendly and takes you past such sights as the Hall of Giants, the Totem Pole and The Lions Tail. Then we took the elevator to the surface. Sid did try to hike out but he didn't have time the cave is closed at night.

The next day we walked in again and then took a guided tour of the scenic rooms. The three most highly decorated rooms include the King's Palace, the Papoose Room and the Queen's Chamber. They were incredible and the guide added a lot of detail about the formation of the rock, the formation of the caves and the formation of the speleothems.

The third day we cheated on Sunil's age by a few months so that we could take a tour of the left hand tunnel. This is another guided tour but only 15 people get to go each day and the tour is given entirely by lantern light. They even had half-sized lanterns for the kids to carry. Since entry to this tunnel is so restricted it looks a lot more natural than the big room. They used to have weddings, parties and Chamber of Commerce meetings in the big room so the floor has been leveled.

Most of the cave is inactive (it is underneath a desert after all), but in some places water is still seeping in and the formations are still growing. Growing formations appear wet and glossy. Falling water drops are called shooting stars and getting hit with one is called a cave kiss.