Along TX 54: Guadalupe Mountains in distance
After a leisurely breakfast, we headed north on TX 54 towards Carlsbad Caverns. TX 54 intersects with US 62 which continues northeasterly through the Guadalupe Mountains. The drive along TX 54 was fabulous. Almost no traffic, gorgeous weather and even the landscape seemed a little less stark. Shortly after reaching US 62 we entered Mountain Standard time zone and gained an extra hour. All went well until we hit a construction zone and then the traffic piled up for miles (making I 95 look like a walk in the park). As a result of the construction delays, we lost the hour we gained. While it sounds bad, the delay really wasn’t that unpleasant as the weather was beautiful with bright sunshine, cool breezes and some fabulous views. There was one particular peak that Peggy had been watching for miles which she thinks is Bitter Well Mountain (elevation 5148 feet). When we finally drove past it we were at about 5000 feet elevation.
After passing the construction zone, everything went smoothly and we arrived at Carlsbad Caverns in plenty of time to take the nature tour through the caverns. Combined with the Big Room and other tours it’s about a 5 mile hike. At the beginning, you enter the cavern in bright daylight that suddenly turns almost pitch black. I found it took much longer to get dark adapted than it used to and for the first half mile or so I had to use the hand rail to guide me.
Main entrance to caverns
As many times as I have been to Carlsbad Caverns I never cease to be amazed at their immensity. The caverns still haven’t been fully explored and what has been explored extends about 30 miles. Only about 3 miles are open to the public. The cavern is over 1,000 feet deep and the visitor’s trails go down to 750 feet below the surface. The beauty of the stalactites, stalagmites and other rock formations is unimaginable. Truly one of those things you have to see to believe.
After wandering around in the caverns for 2 1/2 hours, we took the elevator back to the top. By that time we were starved, but unfortunately, the restaurant closed at 3 PM, so we left for Carlsbad, NM where we would get some food, beer and spend the night. We found a great barbecue joint north of town where we had ribs and beer (Peggy had wine) and then we came back to our motel for a good night’s sleep (after I finish this blog.)
Tomorrow, we will head to Santa Fe, NM.