Caves, Deserts and Petroglyphs

Our Tuesday morning started by descending through the natural entrance into Carslbad Caverns. It was the spot that the plethora of bats had flown out of the night before. After getting overheated, we were happy to spend the morning in a cave that constantly stays at fifty-six degrees, year round!

The natural entrance took us down a series of switch-backs on a paved trail. We were one of the first visitors to enter the cavern that morning and enjoyed the silence. We saw some formations on the way down but were in awe when we arrived in the Big Room. That area is the equivalent of six football fields and contains extensive formations. Carlsbad Caverns is unique in that it formed from sulfuric and carbonic acid, rather than from flowing water - the result is the larger spaces!



After walking through the Big Room, we grabbed a sandwich at the underground cafeteria and went on the ranger-led Kings Palace Tour. It had even more stunning stalactites, stalagmites, columns, soda straws and popcorn than the other areas of the cave.




After the tour we ate a can of soup that Lisa had the foresight to leave on the dashboard of the car that morning. It was piping hot; we had to wait for it to cool...

Our next destination was farther away than we thought, but we arrived at White Sands National Monument around 5:00. The locals bring sleds and slide down the dunes, very entertaining! It looked like a blast but we didn’t buy a sled so we had to settle for hiking the dunes.



We made dinner at the picnic area (chicken chow mein - yum!) and then went on the sunset stroll, a ranger-led geology and ecology talk. We learned White Sands was formed by gypsum eroding from the nearby mountains and being deposited into a lake that dries up part of the year. When the water is absent, the gypsum is subject to wind erosion and over time has blown into the area where the dunes are currently. Hence, white sand dunes.



"Sunset":



Clouds were blocking the sunset, so we headed north to find a campsite. We ended up driving on a dirt road for fifteen miles (not exactly sure we were heading in the right direction the whole time) before we found the Three Rivers Campground. The stars were amazingly clear there!

After some oatmeal the next morning we went to Three Rivers Petroglyphs (fifteen miles back on the awful dirt road). It was a Bureau of Land Management site with a trail that wound through ancient petroglyphs. It was quite a difference from the National Park Service sites in which you need binoculars to look closely at the glyphs!



We had been listening to some of the Mexican radio stations for the past few days and were in the mood for Mexican food. We stopped at a restaurant in Belen, New Mexico and each ordered the special. Delicious!

We made a brief stop at Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque. We took one loop trail to the top of a volcanic mesa and a few spurs. Unfortunately the heat emanating from the black rocks made us want to get back in the air-conditioned car! We especially liked the macaw:



Our last stop of the day was at El Morro National Monument, a historic trail stop through prehistory since it features a natural pool of water. Ancient Puebloans, Spanish Conquistadors and American settlers have carved their names and messages into the monument throughout history making for an interesting tapestry of pictures, messages, and graffiti. We camped at El Morro amidst a thunderstorm.



At the "natural oasis:"



In the morning, we hiked the larger loop trail at El Morro to the Pueblo at the top. It was a wonderful hike and the elevation kept the temperature around eighty! We also met a ranger that gave us some history of the area.



We're in Gallup, New Mexico, about to head west towards Canyon de Chelly National Monument for the evening.