#hallofgiants

5/6/2014 – Once again the West Texas winds got the better of me. Like at Seminole Canyon, I couldn’t sleep with the tent flapping around. I gave up around 2am, packed up, sat outside to check out an amazing night sky, and then went to sleep in my car. I managed a few more hours of very quiet sleep. One positive side effect is that I was facing east as dawn broke. I finally got pictures of a sunrise from the horizon, a first for the trip. The background of the Chihuahuan Desert, complete with dust and grass fire smoke, made for an amazing sight. I managed to pour a bowl of cereal and left the stunning Guadalupe “reef” Mountains and Texas behind.

The second positive side effect of wind aided lack of sleep was that I arrived at Carlsbad Caverns National Park just as they opened. I had been to three small caves-in Nevada, Wisconsin, and, on this trip, Florida. Having been to Albuquerque several times, I was always just a little too far from Carlsbad to make a day trip and spent my free time visiting sites around that area. In one way, Carlsbad would complete my discovery of a strange new land-a line from Big Bend through Guadalupe Mountains. My first discovery is that the Capitan Reef is responsible for these caves and Guadalupe. Not to get lost in a geography lesson-I’m not that good-but simply put porous ground, chemically basic limestone, and chemically acidic water (I hate to say contaminated, but water bearing acidic substances) make caves. Some are tiny and never discovered. Some are huge, but few contain chambers that take hours to walk around, an elevator that speeds you up and down 750 feet in a minute, and formations 15 stories high. Another interesting discovery was that the caverns weren’t always stable. Entire sections of the earth-giant boulders-have fallen after stalactites formed on their surfaces. Explorers are still finding chambers in the system, and scientists are studying microbes and creatures in the deepest and darkest places here. Unlike the small caves I have been to, the “Great Room” at Carlsbad is a self-guided tour. You’re free to wander around the paved loop of over a mile at your own pace, taking as many pictures in as many stops as you like. Again, a side effect of a lack of sleep left me in the Great Room with few other visitors as I slowly-about two hours slowly-made my way around. Like the cavern’s first pioneers, I really can’t describe the majesty and enormity of this place. I hope my pictures convey some of that, as did photos by early photographic pioneers in the cavern told the story-or made it believable. Not that I’m comparing my work-they took amazing pictures with no electric lighting and early 20th century cameras, figuring out flashes and focus as they went. All I can say is that after years of planning this stop, seeing smaller caves, and thankfully not losing my sense of wonder when seeing awe-inspiring sights and places, Carlsbad Caverns most definitely makes a short list of discoveries on this trip that make life worth living, “shocking” my sense of natural wonder and  driving emotions deeply felt. So far, the Grand Staircase in Utah, Mesa Verde, the site of Dr King’s assassination, Meriwether Lewis’ and Nathanael Greene’s graves/monuments, the Everglades, and now Carlsbad are that list.

I had time, so I signed up for a guided tour of a few other rooms for the afternoon. I stayed in the cool, wondrous place to have lunch and joined a large group for a ranger talk and tour of rooms not open without a guide. I have always enjoyed listening to experts in their field, and the ranger did not disappoint. Of course I had seen the most massive open area of the caverns, but King’s Palace and the Queen’s Room had some unique formations. The ranger’s knowledge and presentation skills added to my experience. I thought this might be a cool place to work, but I could never match her knowledge. Nor her family ties to Carlsbad. Turns out her Grandmother was the first park superintendent’s secretary and worked here for seventeen years. Her father worked here making sandwiches when the underground lunchroom fed hundreds, a business stopped when too much trash and crumbs were left behind.