RHH's photos with the keyword: carlsbad

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is in New Mexico. We were there over a year ago on a cold wet day that was no good for hiking in the Guadalupe Mountains to the south. We are traveling once again - on our way to Michigan to visit family. We'll be gone a couple of weeks and internet access will be sporadic.

Some of the formations in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico.

A ceiling of stalactites in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico.

After leaving Big Bend National Park we drove to the Texas-New Mexico border intending to hike in the Guadalupe Mountains, but when we arrived there the weather was so lousy that we decided instead to go to Carlsbad Caverns and spend the day exploring the cave where at least we would be under cover. Driving up to the visitors' center, which is over a mile in elevation (1700 m) it was raining and just cold enough that there was a covering of ice on everything including the cacti. We stopped and took a few photos in the rain and then made a dash for the caves. This Cholla cactus was one of the things we photographed since it seemed very odd to see cacti covered in ice.

These grasses covered in ice were photographed near the visitors' center in Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. We had intended to hike in the Guadalupe Mountains the day this was taken but ended up exploring the caverns instead since the weather was so poor.

This Yucca plant, its fibers covered with ice, was photographed near the visitors' center in Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

This was one of the many photos I took of Carlsbad Caverns when we were there. I learned a lot about taking photos in a cave but by that time most of the tour was finished. Carlsbad makes all other caves look like mere holes in the ground. We've been to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Wind and Jewel Caves in South Dakota, and others as well, but none of them even come close to Carlsbad. Our walk through the cave was nearly three miles and some of the rooms are huge. The Big Room is nearly a mile around and the size of five football fields. The formations are magnificent and varied and the cave leaves one feeling awed. We are in the city of Carlsbad tonight. After driving up from Big Bend National Park on Friday we encountered freezing temperatures in lower New Mexico (there was ice on the cacti) and spent the rest of that day at the caverns, a great place to shelter from the cold and rain. Yesterday we drove back into Texas and spent the day hiking the McKittrick Canyon trail in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We were there overnight and this morning and went on to Lincoln National Forest and Sitting Bull Falls today. We decided after living rough for the past week to get a motel tonight and will spend a quiet day tomorrow before continuing our travels.