Having taken I-25 south to 380 east through Smokey Bear country, passed Lincoln, NM onto Roswell, NM I took 285 south to Carlsbad, NM. From there I continued on 62 south to Whites City and one of the great wonders of the Northern Hemisphere: Carlsbad Caverns!!
Pictures can only say so much. The experience of being there is overwhelming. I've been to Innerspace in Texas and this just can't compare in size, scope or beauty.
You have the option of taking an elevator directly down to the rest area or walking about a 2 mile journey to the same area. Once there you can walk additional mile of even grandeur sites. Since we were short for time I was not able to walk that extra mile to the 'bottomless pit'.
Above is where visitors watch the Bat Flight in the summer. Hundreds of thousands of bats fly out at dusk in search of food. No cameras or video are allowed during this event.
The journey begins.
Hold on as the way can be slippery.
[click on any picture to view full size]
Once you get to the bottom [well this is the bottom so far] there is a rest area where you can get drinks and snacks. You can continue on an extra mile to see more.
Next time.
Once here you take the elevator back up to the beautiful visitors center. There is a cool gift shop [naturally] and a restaurant [I had the carne adovada -- pretty good too].
The journey back to Albuquerque is rather uneventful. It's all flat like west Texas so all you're gonna see are cow, sheep and roadkill, in this case lots of dead skunks!! Whew!!
My brother and I took 285 all the way north to I-40 and then west to Albuquerque. Roughly a four hour drive.
If you ever find yourself in the area it is a MUST see.
I'm out.
COMING SOON:
WALKABOUT 09: THE HILLS AND HOLES TOUR
Quite possibly my grandest adventure of the year!!
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