Tuesday May 28 2024

Tuesday May 28

Today was to be the hotter of the two days we had at Pine Springs, so we decided to head up the road to the Carlsbad Caverns where we would spend a few hours in the cool of the caves. First though we headed all the way into the town of Carlsbad to get an oil change and pickup a few staples we were running short on.

We arrived at the cavern before noon, we didn’t have a reservation but the parking was less than half full so we had no problem as walk-ins. It was suggested to us by our neighbour at the campsite, Charles, that we should walk down into the caverns as opposed to taking the elevator. We never would have ridden the elevator anyways, but we made a point of noting what we saw by walking instead of riding.

The entry way to the caverns is enormous and there is an amphitheater at the entrance to the cave so spectators can view bats exiting each evening to feed on insects. Hundreds of thousands of bats leave the cave each night, sometimes in a bunch and sometimes in smaller groups. We didn’t stick around for the bat performance, but I’m sure it’s impressive.

The walk down into the caves takes a while. The winding ramp descends 750 vertical feet over 1.2 miles, so it takes some time! The walk down is almost as interesting as the main chambers… the feeling of descending deeper and deeper into the earth is strange. After a long descent we made it to the main chambers which are huge and filled with stalactites and stalagmites of every shape and size imaginable. The most impressive caverns we’ve seen yet!

Lydia and I spent close to 3 hours in the caves and by the end we were beginning to feel cool and damp. After our tour we stopped for refreshments and some food. We even sat outside to warm up a bit – it didn’t take long; it was over 100 F in the shade.

Back at camp we tucked into the shade behind Free-da who was strategically placed to block the afternoon sun. Ended up chatting with Charles for quite some time until Lydia announced that she was getting hungry and we got busy with dinner.

After dinner we took a wee walk up a hill beside the camp to see if we could get a nice overview from above, but the path veered off in an odd direction, so no scenic views of the campground.