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.