Carlsbad Caverns

After we left Big Bend we ventured out of the way to see Carlsbad Caverns. It's one of the biggest public caves in the world. It was also one of the biggest tourist attractions around. Luckily with my National Parks Pass it was all free. Bring on the tourist trap! Being the avid hiker that I have become (I've been on three whole hikes since the trip began, oh yeah!) I threw on my hiking boots, strapped on my camel back, did a quick Hoohaa!, and set off. Turns out the entire walk is paved with handrails. A 12 year old girl did the entire hike in a walking cast. I was a bit over dressed.

Unfortunately I don't have a ton of pictures to show you because it was (BOOB!) to dark. Most pictures, even with a flash, didn't turn out. But here are a few of my favorites. It seemed like this cavern was Jim Henson's wet dream. I can see it now "ONE NIGHT ONLY! FRAGGLE ROCK ROCKS OUT IN CARLSBAD CAVERNS"


The opening just drops straight into the earth.


A bitchin' column where a stalactite met a stalagmite. I am creating a new word for this. A Stalagmiteictite. I think it's going to catch on.


This is called a lions tail. They say it's because it's like a lions tail, but it's obviously rock, not the tail of a lion. I don't know who they are foolin....












You can't tell me that you can tell the difference between these two pictures. Maybe carlsbad cavern's is suing Jim Henson for copyright infringement.


This is a forest of rocks. A Forock if you will.


This is the begining of the endless pit. It falls down 1300 feet from the surface. This picture was taken at 750 feet below the surface. Prett-ah Prett-ah Prett-ah Prett-ah Cool.


Stalactites, Stalagmites, Stalagmiteictites, dude flexing... You don't see the dude flexing? Third column in, roughly the middle of the picture. In Wisconsin we'd call that guy a Dooooouche baaaag....

After the caverns Paul and I grabbed lunch at the city closest to the Caverns. Check out the name of this city.


Racist much?

But I did find this street sign cool. It's like it knew where we had come from!