Salt Lake City
The populous capital of Utah, Salt Lake City (SLC) lies between the Wasatch Range, considered as the western edge of the Rockies and the Great Salt Lake. Though the peaks in this mountain range are not high, they are sculpted with glaciers and receive as much as 500 inches of snow in a year. As you fly into SLC, you can see the rugged mountain range and the city splayed out below. The area is rich in copper and the world’s largest copper mine is also found in SLC. The city is bordered by an enormous water body that looks green from the air, surrounded by salt pans.
SLC and nearby cities are a skier’s paradise in winter. The city hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games. As successful as the games were touted to be, they were plagued by scandal, a number of IOC members had to resign because they had accepted inappropriately valuable gifts in return for voting for Salt Lake City to hold the Games. (Who ever said bribery and corruption only exists in India!).
History of Salt Lake City:
The city was founded in 1847 by Mormon pioneers led by Brigham Young. They fled the East to escape religious persecution and set up The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church). A decade later when the Mormon practice of “polygamy” came to light, it was denounced as “anti-democratic” and “un-American”, the then President sent an 2500 strong army to watch the LSD and replace Brigham Young as governor. Young in response set his men to act as guerrillas and harass the soldiers, setting into motion the Utah conflict. Finally in 1896, the LSD church renounced the practice and paved the way to SLC becoming the state capital. This is not to say that polygamy has been totally banned and does not exist, take the case of Warren Jeffs, the “prophet” of the fundamentalist LSD break away group who was recently arrested.
The city is well designed and laid out on a grid plan, much like Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, each street running at right angles to each other. The streets are broad, the original settlers planned for enough space to turn a wagon at any street. The city is truly beautiful, within the city there is a sharp rise in elevation (almost 1000 feet) as one travels north or east from the city center which of course translates to aching calves! As you walk, it seems that there is a mountain at the end of each street, the streets are broad and clean. It is very picturesque indeed!
Though the city is typically stereotyped to be a predominantly LSD city (50 % of the current population are members of LSD), it is culturally diverse. We had lunch downtown at a super disgusting Curry in a Hurry run by a Pakistani…. Ugh will starve to death before eating in one of those again! What I really loved about SLC was that there were so many Indian restaurants; I actually found one who delivered yummy hot spicy food right to my hotel room!
We were in SLC en route to Yellowstone, hence had a day before the trip and almost 2 days after. We stayed at the Red Lion Inn, which was a couple of blocks walking distance from the TRAX, a light rapid urban transit system, aka the lighter version of the tram or trolley. What was even more fun was that we were in the free fare zone, which meant no tickets! It was a short ride to our first destination which was Temple Square, in the heart of downtown. It occupies a full city block in the heart of SLC and is its number one tourist attraction. High walls surround the complex, with wrought iron gates providing ingress on all four sides.
As soon as you enter the gates, you are greeted by cheerful young women, holding bibles. Several of these women are from outside the United States and are members of the LSD and spend a year donating their time to act as guides in the Mormon Temple complex. This is advantageous to the LSD ‘cause these girls are bi/multilingual and can thus give tours in all the languages they know. The girls who met us were from Japan and Brazil I believe.
The magnificent Salt Lake Temple has 6 spires and stands as one of Salt Lake City's oldest and most recognized building structures. Construction of the temple began in 1853 under the direction of Brigham Young and took 40 years to complete. The temple was constructed of granite hauled by oxcart from a quarry located 20 miles outside of Salt Lake City. The thing about it is not every one is allowed into the church. If you aren’t an LSD member, you don’t have access, and only those LSD members deemed “worthy” can enter the sacred temple. That kind of defeats the idea of a temple to me, but each to his own I guess!
The tour takes about 45 minutes, and what catches your attention almost at once is that it is huge, and so neat and well kept. After all the LSD members have to contribute a part of their annual earnings to the church. We didn’t see the Mormon Tabernacle because it was under construction, but we did go into the LSD’s newest facility, The Conference center considered to be the world’s largest religious auditoriums, it can seat 21,000 people. State of the art video, sound and light equipment grace the auditorium that has no pillars to obscure anyone’s view. The auditorium is so huge, it can house a jumbo 747 with room to spare, and if you don’t understand English, translation services are available in 60 languages. It houses the 11, 623 brass pipe organ that accompanies the Tabernacle choir. This is really impressively enormous and the choir isn’t some small fry, it is 325 people strong and has won a grammy award and have traveled extensively internationally.
From The LSD, we caught the TRAX to the Gateway Mall. Thank god it was closed :0) it had all my favorite shops. It is really neat because it isn’t a box type indoor mall like so many others. It is an outdoor bi-level shopping area that spans two blocks. The Olympic Legacy Plaza stands in memory of the 2002 Winter Olympics, which were held in Salt Lake City. Entertainers perform regularly in the plaza and throughout the Gateway, which resembles shopping centers in Europe with its narrow streets and wide sidewalks. Further it is just behind the Delta Center where you can catch a Jazz game. Of course if all the shops were closed and I still loved it, there had to be something else to catch my eye!
Right in the heart of the mall is a s a multipurpose stage, which serves as a location for a landmark water feature, the Gateway Fountains. In recognition of the 2002 Winter Olympics, the stage surface is marked with the Olympic Snowflake pattern detailed in the granite paving. The snowflake is also the inspiration for a vividly animated variety of water expressions. At first I just thought they were weird fountains and was enjoying watching the kids play until the announcement came on to step back and take a seat and then the music started. Tall bursts of water, each individually controlled to create a myriad of patterns and sequences, loft skyward at the center of the feature choreographed to music. Thesekinetic plumes are surrounded by groups of white-water mounds. Beyond the water mounds, toward the outer edge of the feature, visitors can enjoy playful fields of smaller water pulses that provide endless fun and surprise. In the evening, brilliant white illumination and fog are introduced to create vibrancy and drama. It was really beautiful, enchanting is the correct word, but then, I am easily enchanted :0)
For me, being a chemist, the most enchanting part of the trip was the tour out to the Kennecott Copper mines. At 2 ½-miles across, and ¾-mile deep, it is currently the world’s largest open pit mine and the largest man made excavation. The mine is so big that it can be seen from the space shuttle from outer space. Even before we got to the mine my excitement level was rising because on both sides leading to the mine, the mountains are scarred brown mountains with glimmering streaks down their sides. I have never seen anything like it. This occurs when hot water containing the minerals is almost extruded out of the mountain and runs down its sides. In time the water evaporates leaving a glimmering trail of minerals like copper silver and a little gold.
What is fascinating about the mine itself is that it is not one big hole that you peer into. It’s huge and stepped and beautifully colored. It has to be stepped, because open pit mines like this one are cut into benches, usually at 3-6 meters, at an incline known as the batter. The steps help rock falls continuing down to the bottom. It was very windy and noisy at the pit. It is really an interesting process, more so because they take ore containing less than 0.6 % copper and make it into 99.99 % pure copper. So one ton of ore roughly yields 12 pounds of pure copper. Sigh! Imagine being able to eat a ton of food and put on just 12 pounds. Anyway! The infrastructure required for an operation this size is impressive. Electric shovels can carry up to 56 cubic yards or 98 tons of ore in a single scoop. Ore is loaded into a fleet of 64 very large dump trucks which each carry 255 tons of ore at a time, at a cost of approximately $3 million per truck. They have these huge monster trucks, the diameter of each wheel is 12 feet and costs ~ 25000 $ each.
Here is an interesting fact: Pennies in the US today contain only about 2.5% copper.Reason: The value of a coin cannot be more than the cost to make it. So the U.S. Mint makes each penny from a slug of zinc with a layer of copper electroplated onto it.
The Utah State Capitol building is a little smaller than the one in DC, but equally impressive. It is located on a hill overlooking downtown Salt Lake (yup I trudged 7 blocks uphill to see it!). The dome of the Capitol is covered with Utah copper. There are 52 Corinthian columns. Throughout the grounds, on the building itself, and within the interior are countless beehive representations. The beehive is Utah's state symbol, representing the values of industry and cooperation. Today's Capitol is actually Utah's second. The first Capitol Building was in a small town called Fillmore, built there by federal decree, but only one wing of that building was finished before Salt Lake City was made the territorial capitol in 1855.
En route to the very big Salt Lake, we also peeked in to the Rice-Eceles Olympic stadium where the 2002 opening and closing games were held. What is interesting about this stadium is that it is lined with “field turf”. Field Turf uses a sand and crumb rubber mixture to mimic natural soil , and special plastic shafts are used to simulate blades of grass and have completely replaced astro turf. Crumb rubber by the way is made from scraps of truck tires.
The Great Salt Lake is actually located on a playa. It is The largest U.S. lake west of the Mississippi River and the 4th largest terminal lake (no outlet) in the world. About 75 miles long, and 28 miles wide, and covers 1,700 square miles it has a maximum depth of about 35 feet. Typically 3 to 5 times saltier than the ocean it is fish free, the largest aquatic critters are brine shrimp and brine flies and it is one of the largest migratory bird magnets in Western North America. The salts of the lake are primarily sodium chloride (common salt), although small amounts of other elements and salts are also present, including magnesium, potassium, sulfate, and carbonate. There are about 4.5 to 4.9 billion tons of salt in the lake, and about 2.2 million tons of salt enter the lake annually from surface- and ground-water flow. The salt industries extract about 2.5 million tons of sodium chloride and other salts and elements from the lake annually. Nah I didn’t taste the water. The place I was at was quiet smelly and full of rocks. I would have dearly loved to test my buoyancy in the water, but you know shy lil me!
So would I go back to SLC? Hmmm, actually Nope! Cause I will always remember it as the city where I cried, and how!. I had planned to take my parents on a balloon ride in Park city, and we were on tight schedule, so there was just that morning I could avail of that opportunity. We got up at 4.30 and got to Park city, cost me a 150 $ grrrrrrr, got to the launch site, but it was too windy so the launch was called off. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr that sure made me howl! Well maybe next time!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Carlsbad Caverns
Carlsbad Caverns
I first came to know of the trip through Carlsbad through an email I got from the Indian Student’s Association, inviting members who wanted to go to Carlsbad to sign up, and since it had been a while since we had gone anywhere, I thought this would be a good trip to take.
Carlsbad Caverns is part of the Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a national park in New Mexico (about 3 hrs drive from where I am). As the name indicates it is a cave, actually a series of caves in the Guadalupe Mountains in southern New Mexico and West Texas. There are over 300 caves and the park consists of around 113 of these caves found at a depth of 750-800 feet below ground level. Never have my calves developed such an exorbitantly excruciating appreciation of what descending 800 feet means.
History of the Caves:
Several hundred years ago prehistoric Native Americans may have ventured into the Cavern seeking shelter. Their cave drawings still remain near the entrance. Much later, in the 19th century, U.S. settlers discovered the cavern, drawn to it by the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of bats rising up out of the natural entrance in the evening. Shortly thereafter, a local businessman named Abijah Long filed a claim to mine the huge deposits of bat guano in the cave and sell it as fertilizer. One of Long's associates, a cowboy named Jim White in 1898, became fascinated by the cave and spent hour after hour exploring it. White ( unofficially called Mr. Carlsbad Caverns) was eager to show the many natural wonders of this extraordinary place to others, but few persons believed his improbable tales of a huge underground wilderness full of unusual cave formations. Black and white pictures taken by Ray V. Davis, who accompanied White on a cave trip, were displayed in the town of Carlsbad in 1915. They created a sensation. People suddenly clamored to see the marvelous cave for themselves. White took them on tours that began with an unceremonious 170 foot descent in a bucket once used to haul bat guano from the cave :0) Imagine what that might have been like! It was only in 1925 that a staircase was built thus eliminating the need for guano bucket transportation. But remember at that time, there were no elevators , so you climbed up back the same way you descended.
Geology of the Caves:
First established as a National Monument on October 25, 1923, the park was designated a National Park on May 14, 1930 and then as a World Heritage Site in 1995. This park was established to preserve Carlsbad Cavern and numerous other caves within a Permian-age fossil reef. The park contains a total of 46,766.45 acres; 33,125 acres are a designated wilderness area. More History follows later: 0)
A little about the creation of the cavern. The story of the creation of Carlsbad Cavern begins 250 million years ago with the creation of a 400 mile long reef in an inland sea that covered this region. This horseshoe shaped reef formed from the remains of sponges, algae and seashells and from calcite that precipitated directly from the water. Cracks developed in the reef as it grew seaward. Eventually the sea evaporated and the reef was buried under deposits of salts and gypsum. Then, a few million years ago, uplift and erosion of the area began to uncover the buried rock reef. Rainwater, made slightly acidic from the air and soil, seeped down into the cracks in the reef, slowly dissolving the limestone and beginning the process that would form large underground chambers. At the same time, hydrogen sulfide gas was migrating upward from vast oil and gas deposits beneath the ancient reef. This gas dissolved in the percolating ground water to form sulfuric acid. The added power of this corrosive substance explains the size of the passageways. The exposed reef became part of the Guadalupe Mountains and the underground chambers became the wonder of Carlsbad Cavern.
So what is special about these caves you might ask? Everything, including the way it was formed, the stalactiles and stalagmites decorating the passages. The decoration of Carlsbad Cavern with stalactites, stalagmites and an incredible variety of other formations began more than 500,000 years ago after much of the cavern had been carved out. It happened slowly, drop by drop, at a time when a wetter, cooler climate prevailed. The creation of each formation depended on water that dripped or seeped down into the limestone bedrock and into the cave. As a raindrop fell to the ground and percolated downward, it absorbed carbon dioxide gas from the air and soil, and a weak acid was formed. As it continued to move downward the drop dissolved a little limestone, absorbing a bit of the basic ingredient needed to build most cave formations--the mineral calcite.
Once the drop finally emerged in the cave, the carbon dioxide escaped into the cave air. No longer able to hold the dissolved calcite, the drop deposited its tiny mineral load as a crystal of calcite. Billions and billions of drops later, thousands of cave formations had taken shape. And, oh, the shapes they took! Where water dripped slowly from the ceiling, soda straws and larger stalactites appeared. Water falling on the floor created stalagmites. Sometimes a stalactite and stalagmite joined, forming a column.
Draperies were hung where water ran down a slanted ceiling. Water flowing over the surface of a wall or floor deposited layers of calcite called flowstone. Cave pearls, lily pads and rimstone dams appeared where pools of water or streams occurred in the cave. Like oyster pearls, cave pearls were made as layer upon layer of calcite built up around a grain of sand or other tiny object. Lily pads formed on the surface of pools, while dams formed where water flowed slowly on the floor. Another type of cave formation that decorated cave walls and even other formations was popcorn, which may have formed when water evaporated and left behind calcite deposits.
Some of the more unusual formations to occur in Carlsbad Cavern are helictites, which grow seemingly without regard to gravity, their twisting shapes governed by crystal shapes, impurities and the force of water under pressure. Other rare formations are those composed not of calcite, but of aragonite, a mineral chemically identical to calcite but with a different crystal structure. These formations tend to be small, delicate and needle-like.
Yeah yeah, I can just see some of you rolling your eyes exasperated, others thinking, hmmmmmmm didn’t I read about all this limestone stuff when she sent me the Yellowstone pics!! Why is she drooling over calcite this time! Well read about what made this picnic so special.
As I said earlier, this was a picnic I went on with the Indian Student’s Association, 2 bus loads approximately 70 people in all. If you have ever been to West Texas, you will develop an appreciation for the word “FLAT” cause even though we are a mile or so above sea level, it is flat as hell. I don’t think anyone who has been here long enough ever fights for a window seat, because the scenery doesn’t change much at all. It is incredibly flat, you can see up to 17 miles to the horizon on either side, and either you see endless scrub with cactus and mesquite or cotton fields with little shrubs of white fluffy cotton, planted in neat never ending rows. The only relief appears in the form of numerous ugly, ungainly stationary or pumping oil well rigs.
It took us a good 3 hours to get to Carlsbad, and as we got closer, the excitement rose, I was all gung ho , camera in hand , batteries charged , tummy somewhat full :0). The Indian Association had packed lemon rice, curd rice, chips, banana and water for everyone, plus we had some additional food, so that wasn’t a worry. Nothing prepared me for what I saw. I mean I had read all the stuff on the internet, and have been to caves before @ Chattanooga but this was different.
The Caves:
You know you are at Carlsbad when you see several vehicles parked around a longish flat building, you buy a ticket depending on whether you want to take a self guided tour (6$) or a ranger guided tour. We did the former for 2 reasons, limited time, plus ranger guided tours require a lot of climbing and crawling and roughing it out etc, good physical condition :0) Yeah right ! I sure fit that bill! Again you have the choice of walking or taking the elevator, we all opted for the former! Initially I was really worried because my parents were with me and it was a long way to walk, 1 1/4 mile down to the big room, and a mile plus for the perimeter of the big room. We all ached the next couple of days , but they are great sports!
It is called the Natural Entrance to the caves, and as you follow the paved path you chance upon this big gaping hole in the ground. It is quite something believe me. From far it looks like a grotto lined with cacti, there is an amphitheater built at the entrance , opposite to it, this is where people watch the flight of bats out of the cave each evening, as they go in search of food ( being November , the bats had migrated to warmer climes, so we didn’t see any). But as you get closer, you will see that there is a big yawning chasm in the ground and that there is a paved path leading into it.
Is this what hell is like I wondered as I began to walk down the steep almost torturous path called Devil’s Den. And it is scary as hell; part of you is thrilled by venturing into the unknown, the other half petrified almost. It wasn’t cold; the cave temperature is a constant 56 F, 13 C all year round. It is mainly the darkness and the steep gradient that got to me. This 1-mile tour follows the traditional explorer’s route, entering the cavern through the large historic natural entrance. The Natural Entrance route descends more than 750 feet into the earth following steep and narrow trails through a tall and spacious trunk passage called the Main Corridor.
This is what the cavern chambers look like!
In fact as you walk down, there are not many formations and you wonder what the hell am I getting into! It is dark, and the path is steep and often slippery, voices echo in hushed tones, there are sheer drops and gaping holes. And then you start seeing things... hehehe not in that sense, you start seeing rock formations, and stalactites and stalagmites and they are wonderful. You just stop and stare in awe; some of it is so delicate, reach out and touch it, solid rock. Then an alarm ticks in your head, you need to move, there is no one there, you are the last one and then the rocks loom larger and more menacing than ever :0) To make matters worse , you are not supposed to talk loudly in the caves ... night dislodge something that will fall on you. Also spooky are the rangers who materialize out of nowhere like ghosts and little torches to guide you along, they have so much information, so if you stop to talk to them, you fall further behind.
The Big Room
'The Big Room', 1,800 feet long and 250 feet wide, where most of the impressive formations are found. The one mile path follows a circular route up one side of the chambers and back along the other, and the cave is so large that the two parts of the route are generally out of sight of each other. The formations bear grandiose names such as Hall of the Giants, Temple of the Sun and Rock of Ages, and are lit with electric lights of various subtle colors with slightly artificial results, although the spectacle is still most enchanting. There are many small underground pools, also illuminated, whose reflections add another dimension to the delicate formations above. It is so dark that you cannot see the pools in places , you just point and shoot , often with startling results.
So how big really is the big room? about 8.2 acres in size, you can fit roughly 6.2 football fields in it. It is the single largest underground chamber in the world and can fit a 60 story building in it. That is how big it is! And the best part about it is that 800 feet below the ground, you can buy yourself a cup of steaming hot coffee and sit at a table and rest your complaining calves as you admire the cave roof above you. Know what is even better? a super fast elevator zooms you up in 58 seconds... so you dont have to walk up all the way!
Click on the link below and you will be able to see all the pictures I took at Carlsbad Caverns
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=fkwigj9.bbjyn32l&Uy=nv9pgt&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1
Interesting facts about the caves
Carlsbad Caverns gets over 500,000 visitors each year who leave behind tons of epothelial cells hair etc that accumulates as kilograms of black grey lint. Organized efforts to clean up the lint , that consisting in volunteers handpicking the lint off the rocks during a week long "lint camp" has resulted in the collection of over 70 kgs of lint from 1988.
The Bottomless Pit was originally said to have no bottom. Stones were tossed into it, but no sound of the stones striking the bottom were heard. Later exploration revealed that the bottom was about 300 yards deep and covered with soft dirt. The stones made no sound when they struck the bottom because they were lodged in the soft dirt.
I first came to know of the trip through Carlsbad through an email I got from the Indian Student’s Association, inviting members who wanted to go to Carlsbad to sign up, and since it had been a while since we had gone anywhere, I thought this would be a good trip to take.
Carlsbad Caverns is part of the Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a national park in New Mexico (about 3 hrs drive from where I am). As the name indicates it is a cave, actually a series of caves in the Guadalupe Mountains in southern New Mexico and West Texas. There are over 300 caves and the park consists of around 113 of these caves found at a depth of 750-800 feet below ground level. Never have my calves developed such an exorbitantly excruciating appreciation of what descending 800 feet means.
History of the Caves:
Several hundred years ago prehistoric Native Americans may have ventured into the Cavern seeking shelter. Their cave drawings still remain near the entrance. Much later, in the 19th century, U.S. settlers discovered the cavern, drawn to it by the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of bats rising up out of the natural entrance in the evening. Shortly thereafter, a local businessman named Abijah Long filed a claim to mine the huge deposits of bat guano in the cave and sell it as fertilizer. One of Long's associates, a cowboy named Jim White in 1898, became fascinated by the cave and spent hour after hour exploring it. White ( unofficially called Mr. Carlsbad Caverns) was eager to show the many natural wonders of this extraordinary place to others, but few persons believed his improbable tales of a huge underground wilderness full of unusual cave formations. Black and white pictures taken by Ray V. Davis, who accompanied White on a cave trip, were displayed in the town of Carlsbad in 1915. They created a sensation. People suddenly clamored to see the marvelous cave for themselves. White took them on tours that began with an unceremonious 170 foot descent in a bucket once used to haul bat guano from the cave :0) Imagine what that might have been like! It was only in 1925 that a staircase was built thus eliminating the need for guano bucket transportation. But remember at that time, there were no elevators , so you climbed up back the same way you descended.
Geology of the Caves:
First established as a National Monument on October 25, 1923, the park was designated a National Park on May 14, 1930 and then as a World Heritage Site in 1995. This park was established to preserve Carlsbad Cavern and numerous other caves within a Permian-age fossil reef. The park contains a total of 46,766.45 acres; 33,125 acres are a designated wilderness area. More History follows later: 0)
A little about the creation of the cavern. The story of the creation of Carlsbad Cavern begins 250 million years ago with the creation of a 400 mile long reef in an inland sea that covered this region. This horseshoe shaped reef formed from the remains of sponges, algae and seashells and from calcite that precipitated directly from the water. Cracks developed in the reef as it grew seaward. Eventually the sea evaporated and the reef was buried under deposits of salts and gypsum. Then, a few million years ago, uplift and erosion of the area began to uncover the buried rock reef. Rainwater, made slightly acidic from the air and soil, seeped down into the cracks in the reef, slowly dissolving the limestone and beginning the process that would form large underground chambers. At the same time, hydrogen sulfide gas was migrating upward from vast oil and gas deposits beneath the ancient reef. This gas dissolved in the percolating ground water to form sulfuric acid. The added power of this corrosive substance explains the size of the passageways. The exposed reef became part of the Guadalupe Mountains and the underground chambers became the wonder of Carlsbad Cavern.
So what is special about these caves you might ask? Everything, including the way it was formed, the stalactiles and stalagmites decorating the passages. The decoration of Carlsbad Cavern with stalactites, stalagmites and an incredible variety of other formations began more than 500,000 years ago after much of the cavern had been carved out. It happened slowly, drop by drop, at a time when a wetter, cooler climate prevailed. The creation of each formation depended on water that dripped or seeped down into the limestone bedrock and into the cave. As a raindrop fell to the ground and percolated downward, it absorbed carbon dioxide gas from the air and soil, and a weak acid was formed. As it continued to move downward the drop dissolved a little limestone, absorbing a bit of the basic ingredient needed to build most cave formations--the mineral calcite.
Once the drop finally emerged in the cave, the carbon dioxide escaped into the cave air. No longer able to hold the dissolved calcite, the drop deposited its tiny mineral load as a crystal of calcite. Billions and billions of drops later, thousands of cave formations had taken shape. And, oh, the shapes they took! Where water dripped slowly from the ceiling, soda straws and larger stalactites appeared. Water falling on the floor created stalagmites. Sometimes a stalactite and stalagmite joined, forming a column.
Draperies were hung where water ran down a slanted ceiling. Water flowing over the surface of a wall or floor deposited layers of calcite called flowstone. Cave pearls, lily pads and rimstone dams appeared where pools of water or streams occurred in the cave. Like oyster pearls, cave pearls were made as layer upon layer of calcite built up around a grain of sand or other tiny object. Lily pads formed on the surface of pools, while dams formed where water flowed slowly on the floor. Another type of cave formation that decorated cave walls and even other formations was popcorn, which may have formed when water evaporated and left behind calcite deposits.
Some of the more unusual formations to occur in Carlsbad Cavern are helictites, which grow seemingly without regard to gravity, their twisting shapes governed by crystal shapes, impurities and the force of water under pressure. Other rare formations are those composed not of calcite, but of aragonite, a mineral chemically identical to calcite but with a different crystal structure. These formations tend to be small, delicate and needle-like.
Yeah yeah, I can just see some of you rolling your eyes exasperated, others thinking, hmmmmmmm didn’t I read about all this limestone stuff when she sent me the Yellowstone pics!! Why is she drooling over calcite this time! Well read about what made this picnic so special.
As I said earlier, this was a picnic I went on with the Indian Student’s Association, 2 bus loads approximately 70 people in all. If you have ever been to West Texas, you will develop an appreciation for the word “FLAT” cause even though we are a mile or so above sea level, it is flat as hell. I don’t think anyone who has been here long enough ever fights for a window seat, because the scenery doesn’t change much at all. It is incredibly flat, you can see up to 17 miles to the horizon on either side, and either you see endless scrub with cactus and mesquite or cotton fields with little shrubs of white fluffy cotton, planted in neat never ending rows. The only relief appears in the form of numerous ugly, ungainly stationary or pumping oil well rigs.
It took us a good 3 hours to get to Carlsbad, and as we got closer, the excitement rose, I was all gung ho , camera in hand , batteries charged , tummy somewhat full :0). The Indian Association had packed lemon rice, curd rice, chips, banana and water for everyone, plus we had some additional food, so that wasn’t a worry. Nothing prepared me for what I saw. I mean I had read all the stuff on the internet, and have been to caves before @ Chattanooga but this was different.
The Caves:
You know you are at Carlsbad when you see several vehicles parked around a longish flat building, you buy a ticket depending on whether you want to take a self guided tour (6$) or a ranger guided tour. We did the former for 2 reasons, limited time, plus ranger guided tours require a lot of climbing and crawling and roughing it out etc, good physical condition :0) Yeah right ! I sure fit that bill! Again you have the choice of walking or taking the elevator, we all opted for the former! Initially I was really worried because my parents were with me and it was a long way to walk, 1 1/4 mile down to the big room, and a mile plus for the perimeter of the big room. We all ached the next couple of days , but they are great sports!
It is called the Natural Entrance to the caves, and as you follow the paved path you chance upon this big gaping hole in the ground. It is quite something believe me. From far it looks like a grotto lined with cacti, there is an amphitheater built at the entrance , opposite to it, this is where people watch the flight of bats out of the cave each evening, as they go in search of food ( being November , the bats had migrated to warmer climes, so we didn’t see any). But as you get closer, you will see that there is a big yawning chasm in the ground and that there is a paved path leading into it.
Is this what hell is like I wondered as I began to walk down the steep almost torturous path called Devil’s Den. And it is scary as hell; part of you is thrilled by venturing into the unknown, the other half petrified almost. It wasn’t cold; the cave temperature is a constant 56 F, 13 C all year round. It is mainly the darkness and the steep gradient that got to me. This 1-mile tour follows the traditional explorer’s route, entering the cavern through the large historic natural entrance. The Natural Entrance route descends more than 750 feet into the earth following steep and narrow trails through a tall and spacious trunk passage called the Main Corridor.
This is what the cavern chambers look like!
In fact as you walk down, there are not many formations and you wonder what the hell am I getting into! It is dark, and the path is steep and often slippery, voices echo in hushed tones, there are sheer drops and gaping holes. And then you start seeing things... hehehe not in that sense, you start seeing rock formations, and stalactites and stalagmites and they are wonderful. You just stop and stare in awe; some of it is so delicate, reach out and touch it, solid rock. Then an alarm ticks in your head, you need to move, there is no one there, you are the last one and then the rocks loom larger and more menacing than ever :0) To make matters worse , you are not supposed to talk loudly in the caves ... night dislodge something that will fall on you. Also spooky are the rangers who materialize out of nowhere like ghosts and little torches to guide you along, they have so much information, so if you stop to talk to them, you fall further behind.
The Big Room
'The Big Room', 1,800 feet long and 250 feet wide, where most of the impressive formations are found. The one mile path follows a circular route up one side of the chambers and back along the other, and the cave is so large that the two parts of the route are generally out of sight of each other. The formations bear grandiose names such as Hall of the Giants, Temple of the Sun and Rock of Ages, and are lit with electric lights of various subtle colors with slightly artificial results, although the spectacle is still most enchanting. There are many small underground pools, also illuminated, whose reflections add another dimension to the delicate formations above. It is so dark that you cannot see the pools in places , you just point and shoot , often with startling results.
So how big really is the big room? about 8.2 acres in size, you can fit roughly 6.2 football fields in it. It is the single largest underground chamber in the world and can fit a 60 story building in it. That is how big it is! And the best part about it is that 800 feet below the ground, you can buy yourself a cup of steaming hot coffee and sit at a table and rest your complaining calves as you admire the cave roof above you. Know what is even better? a super fast elevator zooms you up in 58 seconds... so you dont have to walk up all the way!
Click on the link below and you will be able to see all the pictures I took at Carlsbad Caverns
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=fkwigj9.bbjyn32l&Uy=nv9pgt&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1
Interesting facts about the caves
Carlsbad Caverns gets over 500,000 visitors each year who leave behind tons of epothelial cells hair etc that accumulates as kilograms of black grey lint. Organized efforts to clean up the lint , that consisting in volunteers handpicking the lint off the rocks during a week long "lint camp" has resulted in the collection of over 70 kgs of lint from 1988.
The Bottomless Pit was originally said to have no bottom. Stones were tossed into it, but no sound of the stones striking the bottom were heard. Later exploration revealed that the bottom was about 300 yards deep and covered with soft dirt. The stones made no sound when they struck the bottom because they were lodged in the soft dirt.
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