Carlsbad Caverns & Happy New Year

I can't resist posting a lot of photos from Carlsbad Caverns. Everytime I visit I am amazed. I try to envision what the first explorers felt when going into the cavern for the first time.
This was the first time for Don so we walked in through the natural entrance, you can also take an elevator down but walking down is half the experience. The walk is a little over a mile to the bottom, 750 feet below the surface. The interior of the bottom of the cavern called the Big Room is compared to over 4 football fields. It is massive and no picture can truely portray the experience.
Imagine decending into this hole. In the summer time you can sit in these seats and watch the bats fly out of the cave at dusk. I have never experienced it, but it is at the top of my list for my next visit.




Don looks cool even when listening to the audio guide.


This section was called the living zoo. A lot of the formations looked like animals, in this picture the rock on the left reminded me of an Ape.
This is a shot of the lunchroom. In the 50's the lunchroom and restrooms were built so that visitors could rest and have lunch after making the long walk down. The lunchroom looks pretty much the same as it did when it was first opened.
After being underground all day we were suprised to get to the surface and see snow flakes flying around. Looking out across the valley all was clear but looking behind the visitor center you can see the storm front moving in.

These are some more photos of the storm front.


We are off to Santa Fe tomorrow for New Years. There is a lot of snow in the northern part of the state, my mom lives in Las Cruces which is in the very southern part of the state and we still have some snow on the mountain here. I think the reports have said there is something like 18 inches of snow in Santa Fe. Winter is beautiful in New Mexico, I think I am experiencing more winter here than I will back in Philly!

You all have a wonderful New Year! Be safe and see you in 2007.