Thursday morning on February 12th I left Silver City heading East to go and see the Carlsbad Caverns located in the far Southeast corner of New Mexico. In order to get there you travel on highway 10 down into Texas for about 150 miles and then head back up on highway 180 for another 150 miles until you pass the Guadalupe Mountains.
Those are the Guadalupe Mountains way back there in the background.
It currently costs $10 to get into the Caverns but there are some free National Park days and you just need to look on their website to see what days are free.
As I was walking up to the entrance I told the ranger "you know I have to take a picture of the gate keeper don't you?" He smiled and posed for me and he reminded me of Smokey the Bear the way he is standing there.
I decided to hike in the Natural entrance to the caverns and right out front they have this amphitheater for viewing of the Mexican Flat Tailed bats that migrate here from Mexico in the late spring. I was too early in the season and there are no bats here now.
You hike down very well maintained walkways all throughout the caverns. Some spots are wet from the dripping water so one needs to make sure to have appropriate shoes. The hike down is a couple hundred feet from the surface.
Once you are inside the formations are amazing. I don't have the right words to describe the immensity and beauty of it all. I tried to show the railing or something to show the size of some but be assured that pictures don't do them justice.
They call these above Lion Tails because of their shape. They are hanging from the ceiling and are about ten feet long.
The water in the pools is so clear and crystal looking. One can't throw in coins or anything into them or they will get contaminated.
I wouldn't suggest standing right under some of these formations for obvious reasons!
The view from the parking lot towards Texas.
The entrance to the Caverns is seven miles from the main highway. The landscape is beautiful brush land. I had to stop in one of the turnouts to see if I could see any new bird species to me. They were very difficult to photograph because if you get to close they disappear into the under growth. I did get lucky enough to capture a Rock Wren and a black-throated Sparrow.
This little Rock Wren was singing its heart out and it did not move away as I moved slowly towards it. I was lucky enough to get within ten feet from it and got some beautiful pictures of it.
The Black-throated Sparrow is very rare in these parts and very difficult to photograph. It is very skittish and would disappear as fast as you would see them. This is the best clear picture I have of one. Can you see it right in the middle?
As I headed to the Costco in El Paso because I had a screw in one of my tires I was just hoping I would make it without having a blowout since it was 150 miles away. They are the only ones that can work on my tires and the next closest one is up in Albuquerque. I made it safely and they helped me right away. When I was in the waiting room another amazing thing happened. A gentlemen waiting in the room overheard my name and he recognized it because he also worked for the same company I worked for over fourteen years ago. What was the likelihood of me being in that same waiting room in a city I had no intention of stopping at! Things that make you go Hmmm!
