Although we have been to numerous caves and caverns on our trips, we have unanimously decided that none of them compare to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Although my dad and I had visited Carlsbad on our first camping trip, it was a new experience for my mom and Eli. As guided tours were not available because of COVID, we embarked on a self guided tour down into the mouth of the cavern. What we immediately noticed walking down the steep switchbacks was the song and the stench of the cave swallows who flitted eerily above us. The shadows began to swallow our path as we descended into the depths of the earth, yet seemed not of this earth. The gypsum formations draped the grande rooms of the cavern and glittered coldly in the display lights, putting all of the other caves we had been to, to shame. We gazed in awe at the stalagmites and stalactites. We decided to hike back up to the opening of the caverns instead of the elevator, even though the route up is incredibly steep. To make the ascent, we had to hike the equivalent of 80 floors in 1.25 miles, however, because it was late in the afternoon, we were the only ones on the trail and got to have the cavern to ourselves. We finished the day by attending the bat program, where, stricken into silence, we watched waves upon waves of the 450,000 Brazilian Free Tailed bats who live in the caverns emerge to feast on moths.
The next day after some delays, we went on a short nature walk in Guadalupe National Park, where we experienced the wilderness of Texas which was settled by ranchers and traversed by stagecoach drivers. After our walk, we inspected a ranch settlement which was built on a spring to protect the water supply and to keep the property cool. It was a wonderful experience to return to the caves and visit a new park, ones that I will always remember as the gateway to underground wonders and the beauty of the American South West.
