Carlsbad Rocks!

Saturday, Feb 11…

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. That might be only word that comes close to describing Carlsbad Caverns. I’ve been to Luray Caverns (Va) twice. They’re impressive, and I wasn’t sure I needed to see another one. WRONG. First of all, you walk into these caverns – probably about 100' down before you’re completely inside (switchback asphalt walkways with handrails throughout – up until the fifties, it was a combination of wooden stairs and gravel paths). We had the audio tour so we could punch in a number and get details for each major viewpoint. The last section of the tour is the Big Room (8.2 acres, or 6+ football fields); the pathway around this room alone is 1.25 miles, and you’re 750’ below the entrance.

We passed a few serious photographers (one couple about our age each carried a tripod and camera). I try to frame decently, but I have no idea how to maximize the settings on my iPhone and get really good shots. So you won’t ooh and aah over these, but a couple are pretty cool.

Looking down on the entrance.

Walking down to the entrance.

Halfway down?

In... and looking back. 😃

...and the iceberg is below.

(no way to capture the size)

BlogThoughts… Supercalifragillistic… was not invented by Disney. I googled the word just to double check my spelling and – why, I don’t know – clicked on the origins link. Pretty vague, but the word first appeared in the 1940s and was “popularized by Mary Poppins in the 1960s.” Who knew?  And one last thought on the caverns: The walk-in entrance is the same opening where Brazilian free-tail bats fly out en masse every evening during the summer. It would have been fun to see that, but it was also great to be at the caverns without the hordes of tourists that visit in warmer weather. And (Snopes check ahead), you don’t have to walk into the cave. There is an elevator (we rode it back up at the end), but it only takes you to the Big Room. Great trip.

(This is probably 50' wide and  30' high.)

This is one of my favorite shots. Back in the 1920s, visitors to the cave had the opportunity to descend this 90' ladder into a "bottomless" pit. We are standing at the edge of the pit, slightly above level of the ladder. High above us, and directly above the pit, a rope dangles from "the dome."  The distance from top to bottom  (we're sort of in the middle) is 370 feet. 

(Below: Out of the caverns, we stopped along the road back to the highway. Unlike the caverns, this rock is subject to serious weathering, so Greg felt maybe I should should provide a little support.