Carlsbad Caverns

(Carlsbad, NM) Time for sightseeing! But before that could happen we needed to get the dogs worn out. So while I rested my legs, Mike took all four dogs out for a hike. Wow, is he ever brave. He found a nice place they could hike where the girls could be off leash the entire time. He kept both boys on leash and they were both very good about it.

With the dogs exercised, we could now head off for an afternoon of human activities - a rarity for us!

Our destination this afternoon was Carlsbad Cavern National Park.



These caverns must have been around for a long time as mom told me she came here when she was a kid! Ha ha. Mike informed me they've been here thousands of years.

The Visitor's Center is under renovation so everything is just in these small trailers. Our National Forest Service pass worked here so we didn't have to pay to go down into caves.

There are two ways to enter the caves. You can walk down a very steep eight mile trail or you can take an elevator. Needless to say, we took the elevator. The main elevators are also under renovation so we had to go in the service elevator. Man alive did this elevator go fast! We went 750 feet down in less than three minutes.

The thing that was amazing to me was that when you were up on the ground it just looked like desert for as far as you could see. Yet when you go down 750 feet there were these amazing caves. How did someone ever decide to go way under the ground out here in the middle of nothing but desert? Amazing.

There are many different tours you can do but we of course decided to do the easiest one, called the Big Room tour. So we were walking around with all the great-grandparents. But even so this self-guided tour was amazing. You can see on this map the route we took. To do the entire loop takes about an hour and a half.



I was amazed at the beauty of the caves. I also found out that it is really hard to take pictures in a dark cave. If I used my flash then the stuff close to me was just a super bright white spot and the stuff farther away was just all black. If I didn't use the flash then the pictures came out blurry because I just can't hold the camera still long enough. This was not a good time to not bring a tripod! I'll share a bunch of pictures with you but they aren't as good as I would have liked.

This is one of the first things we saw when we entered the caves. You can see many different type of formations seen in caves all in this one picture. If you look closely you can also see the railing of the trail we followed.



I'll try to share a little bit about caves as well...although I must say a lot of it seemed a little complicated so you'll just get some of the basics that I can remember!

Carlsbad Caverns are the second deepest caves in the U.S. at 1,022 feet. The caves here are a bit unique in that they were formed by acid rising from below, where reservoirs of oil give off sulfurous fumes, rather than by acidic water percolating from the surface. I'm not really sure the significance of this but the rangers seemed to be quite impressed by this fact.

The Big Room covers 14 acres and is the largest cave room in the world. This room is 1,800 feet long and ranges up to 1,100 feet wide. The maximum height of the ceiling is 225 feet. The size of the Big Room, the length of the caverns (14.9 miles, the 11th longest in the United States), and the depth make Carlsbad the biggest cave in the United States. I've been to a few others caves but this room was huge in comparison. I kept thinking we were about all the way around and I'd look at the map and see that we weren't even close.

The decorative dripstone features in caves are called speleothems. The most familiar speleothems that I'm sure you've all heard of at some time in your life are stalactites and stalagmites. I actually remember learning about this when my parents took me to the Oregon Caves when I was really young. Amazing how some things stay with you so long.



As best as I recall, stalactites hang downward from the ceiling and are formed as drop after drop of water slowly trickles through cracks in the cave roof. As each drop of water hangs from the ceiling, it loses carbon dioxide and deposits a film of calcite. Successive drops add ring below ring, the water dripping through the hollow center of the rings, until a pendant cylinder forms.



Here you can see some of the water on the rocks.





Tubular or "soda straw" stalactites grow in this way; most are fragile and have the diameter of a drop of water, but some reach a length of perhaps a yard or more.



The large cone-shaped stalactites begin as these fragile tubes and then enlarge to cones when enough water accumulates to flow along the outside of the soda straws. Deposition of calcite on the outside of the tubes, most of which are near the ceiling and taper downward, results in the familiar cone shapes.



Stalagmites grow upward from the floor of the cave generally as a result of water dripping from overhanging stalactites. A column forms when a stalactite and a stalagmite grow until they join.





A curtain or drapery begins to form on an inclined ceiling when the drops of water trickle along a slope. Gradually a thin sheet of calcite grows downward from the ceiling and hangs in decorative folds like a drape. Mike and I wondered if this is how the idea of drapes came for windows in houses.



Sheets of calcite that are deposited on the walls or floor by flowing water are called flowstone. Rimstone dams are raised fence-like deposits of calcite on the cave floor that form around pools of water.





Rock material produced by the collapse of the ceiling or walls of a cave is called breakdown and may range in size from plates and chips to massive blocks. We saw many huge boulders as well numerous smaller ones. Most breakdown present in these caves appears to have occurred thousands of years ago. But I kept wondering how they knew nothing was going to fall now. Even if one of the little "straws" fell, we figured it would easily pierce us all the way through.





We came to one section that they called the "Bottomless Pit." I guess they originally thought there was no bottom. But in fact, the bottom was really 225 feet down. I was surprised to see that when I looked at the picture I took, you can actually see the bottom and see a path along the floor.



In a different pit we could see a ladder that was used many years ago when the cave was originally being explored.



Another thing I found to be very interesting was what some of the rock looked like inside.







Mike had fun peaking through a little tunnel that was along our walk through the Big Room.



I noticed they like to name many of the formations in the caves. I only got pictures of a couple of them. The Big Room had a formation they called the Chandelier. It really did look like a chandelier.



They called this formation the Lion's Tail. You can see the long formation coming down with what they call "popcorn" at the end....thus looking like a lion's tail.



Here are a few more pictures of various formations we saw in the caves.
















































When we got back to ground level, I decided to show you what the ground looks like in this area....above the caves. This particular picture looks out over Texas.



What a trip - very interesting. But it was time to get back to all my sweet puppies. I didn't want to take any chances that some monsters might scare them tonight. No surprise - we didn't get any trick or treaters.

Debbie
10/31/07

Boogie Does Halloween

(Carlsbad, NM) This morning we high-tailed it out of Roswell before we had a chance to get abducted by those pesky aliens! (Tee Hee) In just a couple hours we safe and sound in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

The dogs hadn't done much the past couple days so they were ready to go. Mike had investigated the area via his computer and found someplace he thought would be a good hiking area for us. I always wonder how he finds out about some of the places he takes us! Often times it seems like he takes us to places that no one has ever been except the people that built the roads about a hundred years ago.

Today we drove about an hour out into nowhere. The road was really winding around and at one point I guess there was a big dip that Mike couldn't see and we all were thrown up into the air and hit our heads on the ceiling. Everyone was fine except Slugger was now horribly scared. He was shaking uncontrollably and trying to climb in Mike's lap. So even though he squishes me, we let him come into the back with me so he wouldn't be as scared.

We're somewhere in the wilds of southeastern New Mexico and all we've seen the entire drive is rolling hills with rock and cactus - no buildings of any kind whatsoever.



I'm wondering who would make a trail way out here! But as always, Mike found a trail head. It was quite surprising to see such a developed trailhead way out in the middle of nowhere. Normally there is just a very small spot on the side of the road to park and a small sign - if there is a sign at all. But here there were probably 10 - 12 large picnic shelters, restrooms, many very informative signs and even a live-in ranger.

Sparkie had been punching Mike for the last half hour and was ready to get out - as were the others. We got all our gear and off we went. Imagine our surprise when we walk less than three minutes (on a paved trail with railings) and come to a beautiful waterfall. I certainly never expected to see any water way out here, let alone a waterfall.



Little did we know that we just happened to arrive at the perfect time to see the waterfall at the prettiest time of day. There was only one other person there and he just happened to be the forest ranger. He was there with his camera and tripod and explained to us that this is the best time of day to come here. Cool - how lucky!

This is Sitting Bull Falls located in Lincoln National Forest with perfect lighting.



Here's another shot from a different angle.



There was another smaller waterfall just to the right - mostly it was just water dripping on the rocks which made them look very wet.



Beneath the falls and out to the sides were some small pools of water. The water was amazingly clear and interestingly green....



...although different shades of green.



Since the only other person in this whole part of the state was the ranger, we let the girls and Boogie off leash. While we were busy looking at the beautiful falls, Boogie was busy entertaining himself with a stick on the ledge of a steep rock wall (yes the picture is straight - the rock was slanted).



We were watching the falls and trying to get pictures from different angles before the sun went down too far...



...as the dogs were busy playing in the various pools of water. Boogie didn't realize that the rocks under the water were slippery, but he found out quickly!



The ranger was very nice and told us about another short little trail from where we were standing that would take us around to the other side of the falls. He said we'd be amazed at what it looked like from the opposite side.

The dogs thought it was really fun going through the stream and pools to continue hiking. It was interesting to see how the water at one time carved out a path through this huge wall of rock.



On the way around to the other side of the falls, I came across a tree that's trunk was bent out over the trail. There was one tall rock that I could use to try to get up to the tree trunk. It was much scarier up there than I thought it would be....this was so easy when I was young!



Since we were now in a small canyon type area we let Slugger off leash too. Much to our surprise he decided to do quite a bit of mountain climbing of his own.



There was a pretty little cave area as we made our way around the area.



As we rounded the corner we were completely shocked to see the waterall we thought was so beautiful from the other side. I'm not kidding, it was barely a few small trickles of water over the edge. I had to run back over to the other side to look again. Sure enough it still looked as gorgeous as it had when we were there a few minutes ago. So I again went back to the opposite side and you could barely tell any water was falling off the rock. Truly amazing.



Mike was amazed as well and stood looking at the small amount of water that was coming down as I ran back to see what it looked like from where we originally were. This was just too crazy!



As you probably saw from the first pictures of the waterfall, it looked like there was a lot of water. In actuality, as you can see from the above picture, there is very little water falling over the edge. Amazing what sunlight at just at the right spot can do!

After watching the dogs play in the pools and climb on the rocks for a little while it was time to go back as we wanted to do a longer hike in the area. On the way back, three of the dogs were about 10 feet in front of me and Mike and Sparkie were probably 20 feet behind me - so from front to back we were about 30 feet apart. Suddenly Mike started yelling: "What's in Boogie's mouth? What's in Boogie's mouth?" I glanced up - it looked like maybe he had a mouthful of algea or a leaf in his mouth. But before I could say a word, Mike started yelling: "I think Boogie has a tarantula in his mouth!" My immediate reaction was to yell "Mike, get up here, get up here, hurry, hurry!" All the while I'm backing up as I don't want to get any where near a tarantula!

At first I was just standing there telling Mike to hurry! I finally decided that if I couldn't help I could at least take a picture. But since I didn't want to get too close, you can't really tell what's in his mouth. Believe me - it was a very large, hairy tarantula.



Boogie dropped it before Mike could get there and then Slugger wanted to get it. I screamed for Mike to call Boogie (since I knew Boogie would mind) and I went over to try and pull Slugger away. I was just getting Slugger away when Wazzu started coming toward me. Wazzu could tell I was very stressed so she came over to try to help. Needless to say, I didn't want any of the dogs near there. We finally got everyone away safely.

If you know anything about tarantulas, you know that they hang out in warm dry places - not in extremely cold water. Mike thinks the tarantula fell off a rock into, or near the water where Boogie then picked him up. We're guessing that the tarantula was so busy trying to survive the extremely cold water that he didn't think to bite. Good thing! Let's hope we never see another tarantula.

When we were talking with the ranger earlier, I had mentioned that we'd like to go on a longer hike. He said to come see him when we were done at the falls and he'd show us some different options that would work well for us. He was very nice and gave me a map and explained exactly where we should go that would be a nice hike we could do before the trail area closed at 5:00pm. I had explained that we needed a trail that was fairly flat. He thought it was because of the dogs....I didn't bother correcting him to let him know it was me that dictated the difficulty level of the trail and certainly not the dogs.

The first part of the trail was extremely steep (for me), but since it was the flatest trail in the area, I did my best to continue on so the dogs could get some exercise. From up here you could see the main trail head that I told you about earlier.



We then had to go across a narrow ledge that the ranger was worried about the dogs crossing. Too funny. This was not challenging for the dogs in any way whatsoever!



From there the trail flattened out and was a very nice hike. We walked along the hillside for quite a ways and then had to cross a small stream. It was just amazing to me that there was water there as it just looked like desert land for miles and miles.

When we got to the little stream, Mike thought it was a good time to turn around. But it seemed to me that we were getting close to the spot the ranger said was pretty. Sure enough, in not too much longer we reached a very pretty little secluded spot with a creek and pools.

I let Boogie off leash as this looked like a safe tucked away spot. He stayed at the top of the short hill with Mike as I headed down to the water. The girls and I were looking at the water as Mike and the boys came heading down. There was tall grass sticking up out of the water and I guess Boogie thought it was land. I hadn't seen him come down and I heard this splash. It sounded like someone threw a boulder in the water. I quickly looked around and noticed Boogie was missing.

It turns out the edge of the land was actually cut back in. So when you took one step off the land, you were then in the water with a ledge of land over the water so you couldn't climb out. Mike immediately reached down in the water and pulled a soaked to the skin rat...I mean, Boogie (who looked liked a drenched rat), out of the water. I'm glad Mike realized it was one of the dogs in the water! It didn't seem to phase Boogie one bit. He shook off, then started running around playing like a little wild man.

Just about that time Slugger came over to the water and stepped off exactly like Boogie did and plopped into the water and sunk under a good three feet. So once again, Mike had to reach in and pull a dog out of the water. This wate was clod but it didn't seem to deter any of the dogs.

Slugger was brave now and did some "dock diving" off the land. He was really into it - but unfortunately I never seemed to snap the picture at the right time as you can see from these pictures. But what you can see from the first picture is where the dogs fell into the water - just in front of where Mike and Slugger and standing.



Okay....so, imagine Slugger taking big air just before this.



While Slugger was "dock diving", Wazzu, Boogie and I wandered down stream a ways. This was a bit tricky for me as I had to walk on the very edge of the slope rock. The dogs of course just splashed through the water.



When I got as far as I could go without getting all wet, there was this huge boulder in the water a little farther down the stream.



There were cactus and flowers growing out of the top of the rock....they must have long roots to reach all the way down to the water!



On the way back we saw a rock wall area that looked to me like the dirt hill you would see in Seattle after there had been a big rain and the side of the hill washed away. I suppose maybe this was a similar type of idea only this was rock not dirt.



As we headed out, I noticed these odd shelf type things jutting out of the rock. I don't know what they're really called - I asked Mike and he said "sticky outy things." Now he's starting to think like me as that was my initial thought! Scary.



One last shot (slightly different angle) of Sitting Bull Falls. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, we didn't see a bull....sitting or standing.



Happy Halloween.
Debbie
10/30/07