I walked the 1.25 mile Natural Entrance Trail into the caverns. Hiking down you lose about 750 feet elevation, equivalent to the height of a 75-story building. The trail has steep sections, but it is a paved surface and there are hand rails along the length of the trail. The spaces inside the caverns are huge, something that doesn't really show in my photos. My phone took 2-3 second long exposures which show pretty good detail, but make it appear lighter in the caverns than it is. After taking the trail loop through the Great Room, I opted to take an elevator back to the surface!
The entrance to the cave, and some of the switchbacks on the trail as I began to descend:
There were quite a few bats flying around as I got out of the sunlight. You may be able to hear them in this video clip.
Going down, going down... hand rails along the trail are visible in some of these photos.
There are all sorts of shapes formed by dripping water that deposits minerals.
This picture shows rock formations reflected in a pool.
And a few more shots. There were so many great scenes on this tour!
Very impressive! I can see why you took the elevator back up to the top. Thank you for sharing these photos. I don't know if I would go down to the bottom of the cave!
ReplyDeleteCool pics!!! One reminded me of the cenotes in the Yucatan. I noticed underneath your heading -"There are all sorts of shapes formed by dripping water that deposits minerals." - that the third photo clearly shows the large head of a person barfing. Interesting fun fact!
ReplyDeleteThat looks equal parts amazing and terrifying!! What a cool experience! :) -Piper
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful pictures that you got! You could make a great calendar using those photos.
ReplyDelete¡Guau! Qué estalagtitas delicadas!! Buenas fotos Ken.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your short video of the flying bats. I could hear them quite clearly.
ReplyDeleteI remember taking the Carsbad Caverns tour a couple times as a youth with my parents.
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