Carlsbad Caverns

New Mexico Trip April 2003

I haven't been to Carlsbad Cavern's since I was about 6 myself. We descended into the caves for the King's Palace Tour, 90 minutes with a guide, which included sitting in complete blackout and silence for a while. It was 56 degrees in the cave, which was cool but not too bad. After this tour, the kids and Mary were ready to call it quits for the day and retire to the hotel pool. We had lunch, recharged, and walked down the natural entrance and toured the Big Room. By this point we were all pretty worn out and we did go back to the pool.


Carlsbad Visitor Center


The view away from the caves and the Carlsbad Visitor Center


Descending into the Natural Entrance:





In the caves


At the Bat Store


The Queen's Ice Cream Cone

Helictites

The Whale's Mouth

The Bashful Elephant	The Lion's Tail

	Of course, we saw all the main rooms, including: King's Palace, Queen's Chamber, Papoose Room, Green Lake Room, Boneyard, and the Big Room, with these areas: Hall of Giants and the Jim White Tunnel.
	And we saw all sorts of cool formations, including: Witch's Finger, Iceberg Rock, Devil's Spring, Bat Cave, Painted Grotto, Zoo, Rock of Ages, Giant Dome, Twin Domes, Temple of the Sun, Totem Pole, Top of the Cross, Mirror Lake, Crystal Spring Dome, Chinese Theater.

The Hall of the Giants


The Doll's Theatre


The Bottomless Pit