Actually, I was somewhat releaved to hear that the Mexican free-tailed bats that live in Carlsbad Caverns all summer (10s of thousands of them) have already left for warmer places for the winter. In the summer they have bat viewing every night. There is an amphitheatre at the natural entrance just for that event. Cool I am sure but a little creepy.

We went in the natural entrance today. A long serpentine trail that drops about 800 ft pretty quickly. Kent got lots of pictures but you don’t get the full affect without that lingering scent of bat guano…obviously when that may go in and out everyday using the same tunnel people do, there is some lingering evidence…..that aside, it was a fun hike and helped put the scale of these caverns into some perspective. The rooms are huge and formations can be from the miniscule to the mammoth. They are pretty minimalist with lighting so it was twilight-like much of the time. A little darker off and on today as they were having problems with the lighting and it went off several times – unplanned it seems – but they do have emergency lights around….a little un nerving but not really scary.

On the guided tour, they turned all the lights off for a bit just to get the real feel for the cave. Pitch dark of course and without sight you really notice the other sensations like the dampness of the air and cool air currents. Just confirmed what I already knew, fun to visit but I would be a terrible real live spelunker.

So, Carlsbad Caverns National park is another “don’t miss”. For those braver than I, there are several wild cave tours that are probably amazing. They involve squeezing through tight places, crawling through mud, and hanging with bats and spiders and other dark world critters so…not for me…but cool for those into such things.

Great Bday for me. Kent did all the cooking and we spent the day in a really unique and fun place. I even had ice cream! What more could a gal want?