New Mexico - Carlsbad Caverns

We camped north of Carlsbad at Brantley State Park for two days.  The wind was fierce the first day and it rained in the night so we thought the worst had passed.  It had not. 
We had a wonderful bright, sun shiny day for our visit to the Carlsbad Caverns.  Majestic, colossal, breathtaking, ethereal, these are just a few of the adjectives to describe the underground world of these caverns.  There are 30 miles of caverns explored to date but thank goodness the trails are paved and level for walking.  The caverns are lit with dim LED lights but the walkways have railings so it is easy going.



a stalactite dropping to reach a stalagmite



stalagmites being formed by dripping water



loved the hand rails

remnants of a wire ladder used by the original discoverers of the cave





a very large stalagmite




these formations are called draperies





immense spaces - the Big Room is the size of 14 football fields



I am dwarfed by the space





the King's Room - part of our guided tour





more draperies but they actually look a lot like strips of bacon!

The colors in the caverns are mainly grays of varying degrees like most rocks are.  Any color in our pictures is because of the LED lights or the camera itself. 
We spent 1 1/2 hours on a self guided tour, ate lunch and then went on a 1 1/2 hour guided tour.  It was a long day and we were glad to get back to the campsite.
There is no way with a picture that we could possibly show you the wonders or vastness of these caverns.  It is something that you will have to experience for yourself.

The wind howled and rocked us in the night.   By 9 the next morning we were able to get on the road even though there was a fairly stiff wind out of the west.  I don't like wind but we kept going and climbed our way to 8700 feet at Cloudcroft, New Mexico before descending to Alamogordo. 



first snow we have seen since March of 2012



thank goodness the sanders had been out but it made one heck of a mess on our car



 



coming up to a tunnel



and it was high enough for us to go through!

and we are out of the snow

  We stopped for gas in Alamogordo and carried on. 



coming down the mountain into Alamogordo, New Mexico



thank goodness for lower gears and good brakes :)



I thought it was more snow but it was the White Sands



we didn't stop this year as we had done the White Sands last year

 We headed ever westward to Las Cruces where we called it a day. 
We got our laundry done and tomorrow we head out to find a car wash to wash off all the salt and grime.