Both my bike and I survived the Bandidos MC here at the hotel without a scratch. They were actually pretty quiet after about 11:00 and I got a fairly good nights sleep. About 6:30 they started straggling out so there was no sleeping at that point – but hey, I’ve got a loud bike too and sometimes I leave at first light – so I cast no stones.

Today was reserved for spelunking. I guess that’s probably a bit of a stretch, but I was exploring a cave for the first time. Carlsbad Caverns is a gigantic place.  I’ve been to Colossal Cave near Tucson but compared to Carlsbad Caverns, Colossal Cave is a spit in the ocean. Recently they discovered yet another very large “room” in the cavern and one ranger speculated that they could be discovering new passages and rooms here for 100 years. It probably won’t be more than another 20 years before you can take a virtual tour of the cave and you’ll be able to see everything I saw today in the comfort of your recliner.

There are a couple options when you get to the cave; walk in & out, elevator in & out, or one of each; I walked in and elevated out. Only way I’d walk out of there is if the elevator broke. 750+ feet of vertical over 1.25 miles of switchbacks. It’s kinda cool down there so that’s a plus, but the humidity is 90% – big minus. If you elevator it up and down – you aren’t going to miss anything you would have seen on the walk – except for the experience. Down isn’t too bad but it is wet and slippery and you could be bucket over tea kettle faster than Rosie O’Donnell can make a bon-bon disappear.  Besides, you’ll be walking around plenty after you get off the elevator.

This is the entrance to the cave, the white stones in the background are the start of the switchbacks. I saw people starting to walk up and they were maybe 10% of the way and really huffing and puffing. They said the elevator line was 2 hours long. Whatever – I’m staying to see the bats come out so I’m in no hurry. Only way some of those people would even think they should try walking out is if they took the elevator down, and therefore had no idea what they were getting themselves into.  Here are a couple of the better pictures.

Okay – time for some gee whiz information.  How do you remember which is a stalagmite and which is a stalactite. Stalactites cling tight to the ceiling, and stalagmites might reach the ceiling.  Now you’ll never forget – for all the good it’ll do ya….

I thought I might take a ranger guided tour but I was told that they were all sold out a long time ago. I did see a ranger guided tour though, going the opposite direction as I was walking around down inside the cave. They were following close, single file behind this guy with a smokey bear hat and I actually laughed out loud. I almost started – “You had a good home but you left – You’re Right, Your mother was there but you left – You’re Right.” My little brother would have actually done it – I was laughing too hard just thinking about it.

It was very interesting and beautiful down there but I have to agree with a girl that I heard say, “I think I’m getting bored with this environment.” At the end of the day it’s all the same color down there and everything is either a stalagmite or a stalactite. If they had more stalagmites that looked like this – they might have kept people’s attention a little better.

Bat Flight Program – In spring/summer months every evening, around sunset, several hundred thousand Brazilian free-tailed bats exit the cave to hunt their dinner; It is quite a spectacle – from what I hear. Tonight it happened so late that it was hard to see the bats. A few came out while there was some light so we knew they were coming but nothing like what you’ll see in this video.  Oh well – can’t win ’em all.

The caverns are about 15 miles south of town.  On the way back to the hotel, I watched as lightening danced inside and illuminated a large thunder cloud only 10 or so miles to the east. It served as a reminder of what my next few days will be like as I head into thunderstorm and tornado country. It might be fun to watch me try to stay dry as I pick my way across the country.   In the meantime – Dust off your American flag and fly it proudly.