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Published: April 1st 2023
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Off to the city of Carlsbad this morning, leaving at 9 a.m. because I want to get an oil change. I know it’s a little early for it but I can’t wait until I get home as it would way over the mileage. And I had the time to do it today when I might not get that extra time for the rest of the way home. I never used a quick lube place before - new experience. It was like a beehive in there, mechanics doing everything. Now I feel at ease driving the rest of the way with fresh oil.
Even getting to the caverns was an experience. The 7 mile road runs along the bottom of Walnut Canyon with twists and sharp turns until the road starts going sharply uphill. Most of the tight turns don’t have guardrails so you need to keep your eyes on the road and your wits about you. The entrance to the caverns is at the top of Guadeloupe Mountain in the Chihuahuan Desert. My time to enter the cave was 11:30 (a specific time has to be set for each person entering). But first I had to put Malika in the
kennel they have there. It is not allowed to leave pets in cars even though she would have been okay as it wasn’t that hot up high in the mountains. Not a happy cat about that new event!
I have claustrophobia but going into a monstrous sized cave such as this doesn’t bother me very much. When I was 800 feet underground I kept thinking “what if there is an earthquake?” and I could be trapped here until I die. Not today, thank goodness. I chose to hike the Natural Entrance and to the bottom rather than take the elevator. The paths down are steep and switch back and forth until you arrive at the first level. But don’t relax because you have several hundred more feet to go. There are handrails most of the way and despite my abhorrence of touching something like handrails that everyone else has slid along, I had to do it. It was that or take off like a bowling ball, no more like the boulder in the Indiana Jones movie.
There are hundreds of miles underground within this cavern system and caves within caves. Stalactites and stalagmites are so numerous that they
could never be counted. In addition there are waterfalls, draperies and funny popcorn growths, columns where the drips have finally met and melded but continue to grow in ripples and twists. Near the bottom you arrive at the Big Room. Not a very original name but certainly describes the area. You can choose to go to the rest area and take the elevator back to the top or continue on into the Big Room. Despite starting to feel weary, I couldn’t Not see the Big Room so off I trudged. It was well worth the extra effort, Going though here is like being on a different planet. I started to see creatures within the formations and I could see how the ancient people would think that it might be haunted by evil spirits. And I can see how people can come up with horror movies about places like this. The Big Room stretches out 8.2 acres.
So no way am I walking back uphill 800 feet - the elevator is the option and I am grateful for it - 75 stories up in a flash.
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