Across Covid America - Tour of National Parks 2020 - Day 24

Day 24

17087 mileage

6:58 A.M.

13579 steps

$30 All Access Card Savings

Nine days ago G was a sad dude thinking that one of his favorite childhood memories would not be open in order to revisit. Carlsbad Cavern mad him so happy when they announced on Tuesday, June 16th that they would be reopening the caves to visitors. If it hadn't have been opened we were going to head to Four Corners and Mesa Verde. 

Those we can save for another day. Today we explore the underworld. G never stopped talking about the formations he saw and the awesome interior of this cave ever since we visited Mammoth. So I know he was just thrilled to go back down 750 feet below the surface to see his old friends. He kept telling me of his childhood visiting the caves with his family and how it really stuck in his mind. His sister's biggest memory of this family trip was being dive bombed by the bats from the cave at their hotel pool. 

We had to get there early because they only let in 25 people at a time staring at 8:30. We still had some driving to do today and we were eager to have enough time to see everything we could. 

I knew it was going to be a fun day when the first thing I see walking across the path was a palm sized tarantula. 

There were other cool critters around such as lizards, road runners, and this desert centipede that was a thick as a finger and longer than a foot. 

At our designated time we headed out the back door of the visitor's center and walked over to where the entrance cave started. Because of Covid the only way down was by this 45 minute walk through a series of switchbacks that take you deeper into the earth. The exit would utilize the elevators back up. 

The temperature stayed steady at a cool 56 degrees, but it wasn't necessary to put on our coats this time. The entire path is paved with railings on both sides. This came to be helpful later on as we got into the cave itself. It became so dark that we were bumping into walls and banging our heads on low ceilings. At one point G thought we were going the wrong way and may have ventured off into a closed off tributary. We headed back until someone at the controls realized that the lights weren't on. They flicked the switch and illuminated the path ahead. 

G did not lie. The formations here were indeed amazing. Stalagmites, stalactites, sheets, popcorn, and dripping water came together to form this surreal picturesque vista below grounds. 

            

I didn't even feel like I was still on the same planet. Here is that alien landscape I was craving in Roswell. To think that humans played no part in the creation of these statues and art boggled my mind. It's like the trees I'm so obsessed with. The curves and angles are completely organic and have not been forced through millennia it took to create them. 

          

We spent three hours wandering through the alien artistic endeavors. We knew the sunset bat assembly would not be happening tonight because of crowd restrictions, so we didn't need to stay. We headed on our way to Pecos, Texas figuring that was a good halfway point between here and our next location, San Antonio. 

Pecos is rather desolate and the hotel had some issues, so we pushed forward to the next largest town, Fort Stockton to spend the night.