What a day, what an amazing day.
The Mud Dragons and I had an amazing gig at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Who would have guessed that the National Park Service would have ever given us permission to perform at 750' below ground level? We, of course, had to go in disguise when we went in, instead of our usual leathers, chains, etc., to prevent a screaming mass of humanity. Ha ha.
This is the plaque that awaits everyone who is considering hiking into the caverns via the natural entrance and 1+ mile trail, during which you lose 750' in elevation. Yep, that's the Empire State Building used as a scale for how much you drop in elevation as you go down. And "That's pretty neat!"
BTW, in order to go into the caverns, you have to have a reservation. Mine was 9:30-10:30am, and I was headed down the trail into the natural opening just after 9:30am. You either go down via elevator, down a 750' shaft, or you can walk down a steep switchback trail with slopes of us to 20 degrees. We, being Dragons chose the hike in, of course. Plus that way, you get to see twice as much stuff as people who ride the little box down.
Here are a few shots of the trail on the way down...
You can see the switchback trail in the foreground. It's actually not that big a deal if you just take your time...oh, and wear shoes with good tread, like hiking boots.
As you go down, down, down, you start to think, yeah, this is pretty cool, I guess. But when you enter the main chambers, if you are at all like me you shift from, "Yeah, this is pretty cool," to "Oh my word! This is amazing!!!"
It's not even possible to convey the experience of all the stalagmites, stalactites, and what it's like walking through galleries where the roof is anywhere from 1inch to 100s of feet above your head. And in some cases, 100s of feet below your feet! Here are a few pics to give you an idea of what it's like down there.
It didn't take long at all for the experience to give me a Middle Earth-ian feeling...like being in Moria. "And they call it a mine. A MINE!" (For you fans of The Lord of the Ring saga).
There was one formation, however that had a distinctive Monty Python and the Holy Grail flavor to it. Tell me what you think...
Yes, I spotted THE LEGENDARY BLACK BEAST OF ARHG! Well, sort of...
The Legendary Black Beast of Argh
Image courtesy of:
https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Beast_of_Argh
Of course the non-nerds at the National Park Service have some other name for it, but to me it will always be the Legendary Black Beast :-D.
I wasn't rushing to get through the caverns, but I didn't dawdle either, and I was in there for about 2 hours. By then I was ready to head for the elevator, which I DID ride up. You can hike out if you want to, OK, so, I REALLY wanted to, but the rest of The Mud Dragons answered a resounding "No" to that, so I begrudgingly went up the elevator. Yes, I am enough of a nerd that I timed it...it took 1 minute to go up the 750' to the surface.
Once back at ground level, and having looked around the gift shop, I got back on the road. That was when I realized that there was another national park only 30-40 miles away, so I headed there. My next stop was Guadalupe Hills National Park. To get there, though, I had to dip back into Texas. I mean, I thought that I was done with Texas on this trip, but I guess not!
But scarily, right across the highway from this Welcome to Texas sign was evidence that The Hunger Games was nonfictional.
Well, since I was already going the other way, I got over that, and headed to Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
This, sadly, turned out to be a bust in terms of a visit to a national park, because it was high enough that the visitor's center and the best views were completely socked in by low-hanging clouds. But I DID IT! The pic below shows about all I was able to see.
At one point I was going to try and hit a third national park today, White Sands, but that didn't happen. I just ran out of time. I stopped in El Paso, looked to the south and saw the hills of northern Mexico and my son Grant's old stomping grounds of Ciudad Juarez from his mission days. From there, I headed north again, re-entering New Mexico...
To wrap up the day, the Dragons and I grabbed a bite to eat and took it to our motel. During dinner, I decided to watch something, and, no surprise, I have several DVDs with me...but what to watch!!? Since I spent part of the afternoon in El Paso, the choice was easy - Glory Road. If you don't know it, I recommend it highly.
What the plan for tomorrow? You'll just have to wait and see.
Stay tuned. Cheers!
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