THURSDAY
OCTOBER 11, 2012
It was so good to wake to a morning above 50 degrees
and have it up to 71 degrees by 11 AM,
when we drove 25 miles to Carlsbad Caverns.
We stopped and bought a lunch to-go.
We arrived at the Visitor's Center, 12:20 pm,
and took time to watch their video (15minutes after the hour),
eat our lunch while waiting,
listen to a Ranger presentation (at 45 minutes before the hour),
about the variety of BATS
in the Cavern, and
then took the elevator
down 750 feet into the Cave
BIG ROOM at 2 PM,
which is a self guided area
Our Golden Parks pass saved us $6 each Park entrance fee.
There is no charge to view the BIG ROOM.
We paid $5.00 for the use of an Audio Stick
which gives fascinating information
about the 50 sites that are
disbursed throughout the 1.3 miles walk.
The walk generally takes 1 1/2 hours to
complete, and because of my stopping
to take pictures, took us two and twenty minutes.
I took 169 photos that I downloaded.
Of course, many were duplicates,
and some just did not "take"
because of the dim lighting conditions.
However, I have some that I am
absolutely thrilled with,
and will share a few with you.
I call this one a FRINGE formation.
This one was named DOLLS THEATER.
I've decided to call this one
FROSTED FINGER
ILLUMINATED BIG ROOM
Our experience of seeing the Caverns,
up close and personal was far
more powerful than even
the Grand Canyon.
In fact, it was a very holy experience,
like being in a BIG CATHEDRAL.
The various lighted chambers being side altars.
The size of the space was beyond my wildest dreams.
For a person who has problems with enclosed spaces,
where there are no windows or outside light,
I was amazed how open and spacious the Big Room is.
The space of the Big Room is as large as 14 football fields.
The loop we walked was 1.3 miles around the outside edge.
ROCK OF AGES
"Pink Glow"
from light in another chamber
through this archway.
BAT FLIGHT
an artist's rendering in
the Gift Shop.
The grande finale to our visit to Carlsbad Caverns
was at 6 PM.
Nightly from mid-May through mid-October,
thousands of BATS come flying out of the Entrance to the Cave.
They go searching for their daily average of 1 1/2 times their own
weight in INSECTS. Moths are their primary food,
with other bugs as available.
As predicted by the Ranger, ERIC, who spoke for the first
ten to fifteen minutes about the bats importance
to our environment, and their habits,
the flight began about the same time
the Barn Swallows retired from their flights.
Eric said it was like the changing of the guard.
When the Barn Swallows moved on,
the BATS moved OUT.
There was a special amplifier monitor in the Cave that
alerted us to the bats activity,
so we knew when to expect them to
start flying out of the Cave.
They came out in swarms,
without stopping for over 30 minutes.
As Eric predicted, we soon tired of the novelty
and decided we had seen enough.
We had to sit very still,
and could not take pictures,
or have any electronic devices turned on.
Enough said - especially for the School students
and families with young children.
No comments:
Post a Comment