Our Adventures with "Josie": caves

As you pass through the Chihuahuan Desert and Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico—filled with prickly pear, Yucca and agaves—you might never guess there are caves beneath the surface. The park contains 116 of these caves, formed when sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone, creating some of the largest caves in North America.

Today we headed out for Carlsbad Caverns just south of Carlsbad, New Mexico. I was a little concerned because of my knee surgery, but I have been doing some walking and thought maybe I could do it... And I also found out you didn't have to go into the natural cave entrance and climb down... no sir-ree... An elevator will take you down to the bottom, 750 feet in less then one minute. Then is is about a total of maybe 1.5 to 2 miles to walk inside. It took us about 2.5 hours because we really take our time read and really study everything... The cave was huge when we finally entered it and we were in awe. We have been in many caves including Mammoth Caves in Kentucky and this was by far the most open and very BIG. I wish I could have gotten a great picture for you to see. It is a must see if you are ever in the area.

I took over 300 pictures so I hope you enjoy the ones I choose for you to see...

Did You Know?
Bones from ice age animals like jaguars, camels, lions and giant sloths have been found in the entrance areas of some caves in Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Until Later... Have FUN, Travel Safe & Enjoy Everyday!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

~ The Caves ~

We love spelunking down onto caves but we only do the guided tours... Nothing ever on our own. We have visited many caves across the USA and even though we had been to these before we wanted to take Alyssah down into them. We went over very early hoping to get into the first tour of the day.... but it was totally booked so we ended up on the 9:30 tour which was very lucky for us... We had the best guide whose name was Bill... He was a little older then most of the guides but he had a great deal of knowledge about caves. There were a few steep stairs to go down and some areas as low as 4 feet high and 2 feet wide to waddle through but everyone in our group made it... Our guide was 70 and there was a charming couple there that were in their 80s... we also managed to have one very loud toddler around 3... we stayed away from him needless to say... I am posting some pictures of the caverns and hope that you enjoy looking at them...
To see any of them larger just double click on the picture...