We had a busy day off our bikes. Nancy once again rented a van, this time so that we could drive about 25 miles out to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We took a ranger led tour through the Kings Palace, which included an overview of the history of contemporary exploration of the Caverns, and we walked the 1 1/4 miles self-guided tour of the Big Room, the largest underground chamber in the continental United States. I’ll include a few pictures, but they don’t begin to do justice to vastness and rococo elegance of it all. The Big Room, we were told, could contain the U.S. Capitol twice over. At one point it is 340 feet from the cave floor to the top of the dome.
Only the food service was disappointing. With half an hour before we had agreed to head back to town, I walked up to the food counter and asked for a bowl of chili. I was told it would be a 45 minute wait! I hope they work the kinks out of that system before the crowds arrive.
An overlook on the drive into the park
Being good tourists
A few shots of some of the thousands of formations in the cave.
This ladder was left in the cave from a 1924 exploration. It was fun the think about exploring with oil lamps. Given the size of the chambers and many of the formations, I don’t think those explorers had a total grasp of what was around them.
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