Has anyone out there been to the Carlsbad Caverns? It's a pretty amazing place. It's a four hour drive from my place, but it was well worth it. You can enter via an elevator, or the "Natural Entrance..." I chose the natural entrance, so I could check out all there was to see on the way down. Either way, you will descend about 755 ft below the Earth's surface. The view looking in~
And the view looking out... the last daylight I'd see for awhile!
Photographing the inside of the caves is tough. It's dimly lit & my flash doesn't carry that far.
It is estimated that the growth of these underground formations began 500,000 years ago.
Stalactites above... Stalagmites & flowstone below~
The formations are basically formed by little drops of water & the mineral calcite... over many, many years. More interesting formations~
Without a tripod, there is no way to show the immensity of the place, due to the lack of lighting. I walked along underground paths for 2 miles marveling at the formations. There are many "rooms" to the caves, the largest aptly named "The Big Room," and is 8.2 acres if you can imagine that! If anyone is planning on going... a few recommendations:
1) Don't go on the Weekend! I had no choice, due to my work schedule... but it was crazy crowded!
2) If you are into photography... bring a tripod to capture the magnificence of the place.
3) STAY for the evening "Bat Flight..." this is not to be missed! You aren't allowed to take pictures, but I have found a wonderful short video I will post later... but for now, I'm off to enjoy the rest of the weekend!
:)
4 comments:
I'm so glad you went and posted these great pix, Becky. I haven't been there yet and really appreciate your advice.
I'll bet it was cool! And I mean that both ways.
Great photos in a hard to photograph place, Becky! I think I'll just let YOU go underground and walk around for 2 miles while I stay outside and breathe. Crowds + underground make me feel extremely claustrophobic.
Clair- it was cool... while it was in the 90's outside, it's a constant 57 inside!
Barb- I get claustrophobic too... not so much the caves, but the large crowds!
We DID visit the caverns - we camped right in the town of Carlsbad. What a nice little town.
My pictures didn't turn out too well in the caverns.
I was amazed at how much my voice carried inside. It was especially nice how I announced to everyone that I had to pee!
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