Carlsbad Caverns and Area 51

While we were in New Mexico, we were lucky to have Chuck and Jewel visit us on several occasions.  On one of those trips, we drove to Carlsbad Caverns.  This is something that I am glad I was able to do while we lived in New Mexico because it is pretty stunning!

Scott and I

This is the 'natural entrance' route to the inside of the cave.  I wish this picture did better justice of the road going into the cave.  I saw a cool picture of this road leading into the cave on some national geographic show and really wanted to get it, but my camera lens wouldn't take a wide enough angle.  There is also another entrance called the 'big room' route which is an elevator that takes people down into the cave.  

The cave climate is cool and varies little from the year-round 56°F 

 

This is looking out of the cave.  Carlsbad Caverns are famous for their bats.  Nearly 400,000 Brazilian (more commonly called Mexican) Free-tailed bats call Carlsbad Cavern home in the summer... and all they want to do each night is eat bugs... several tons of them!  This is where they fly out every morning/evening.  Surprisingly it didn't stink like I thought it would.  

 

This Stalactite is called the 'lions tale.'  Despite the picture being blurry, can you see it?  

Unfortunately, my pictures don't do the cave justice.  It's hard to take non blurry pictures without a tripod and no flash!   It was a beautiful cave.  Additionally, for being so deep in the ground, I kept thinking about all of the dirt above me.  Pretty creepy!  

Carlsbad Caverns was created by sulfuric acid eating away at limestone (like most caves) The limestone was laid down about two-hundred and fifty million years ago, as part of a reef complex along the edge of an inland sea. Seventeen to twenty million years ago, the ancient reef rocks that had been buried under thousands of feet of younger rocks began to lift upwards. Tectonic forces pushed the buried rock layers up and erosion wore away softer minerals to expose the ancient reef as the Guadalupe Mountains. Deep in the basin, a brine originating from oil and gas deposits and rich in hydrogen sulfide was forced into the limestone at the edge of the basin. When this brine encountered oxygen-rich rainwater moving down through the rock, it created sulfuric acid. This acid dissolved the limestone creating cave passages. As the Guadalupe Mountains continued to lift up, the water drained out of the cave allowing fresh water to percolate through and leave minerals on the ceiling, walls, and floors that we know as cave decorations.

After we went to Carlsbad, we went to Roswell 

ET phone home?  Haha!

Of all the places we went while we were in Roswell, we stopped at some alien museum.  It was crazy.  Roswell is famous for a UFO siting that happened in 1947.  It ended up being a weather balloon, but it caused a lot of drama and confusion.  

Live Long and Prosper.

We also stopped at Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan New Mexico. The Park was established to honor of Capitan's favorite son Smokey, the little bear cub that was found with burned paws after a 17,000 acre forest fire in 1950 on the Capitan Mountains near Capitan, New Mexico. After living in the National Zoo in Washington D.C. for 26 years, Smokey passed away and was returned to the Village of Capitan to be buried at what is now the Smokey Bear Historical Park.

Only YOU can prevent forest fires.