Day 31 - Carlsbad Caverns

Everyone who enters Carlsbad Caverns inners as a child-- exploring an unknown world that over joys and surprises the soul. I had a choice of descending to the 800 foot down Big Room by elevator or by a mile long walk down the natural entrance. I chose the natural entrance and let me say-- what an awesome experience.

You enter through a cave that thousands of bats fly out off at sunset each day. As you descend you hear the loud sounds of birds burping just inside the dark cavern. See video: http://youtu.be/Vpt4GQTCN-Y

Hidden lights reveal the vastness of this cave making it possible to navigate an otherwise hundred percent dark space. The ceiling reaches hundreds of feet above you but it feels like thousands in this dark mysterious place. I kept stopping along the way to absorb the beauty of the cavern and capture it on camera but photos in caves are tough. Here were my best shots of the descent (look for handrails going down in first shot):

I reached the Big Room, the vast twenty-football-fields sized cavern room at the main level. I then joined a tour of the King's Palace, a small chamber filled with stalagmites and stalactites, fit enough for a king. During the tour the ranger turns off all the lights in the cave and you can experience the cave experience of the first explorers: dark so dark you can't see you fingers in front of your face. Love it. Here's a pic from that part.

After the tour, I explored the Big Room, amazing at the large space and wide array of stalagmites-- ancient in formation. The walkway is paved, easy to follow and takes you around like an amusement park ride. After the Big Room, I decided to forgoe the 800 foot climb out the natural entrance and instead took the elevator up, saving my still hurting right foot. Then I drove 3.5 hours to White Sands National Monument. Pics of Big Room.

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Day 104 - Glacier to Vancouver

The hike up Balu Pass was supposed to be fairly easy, beautiful and dotted with waterfalls, but when I talked to the park ranger and learned that Vancouver was an eight hour drive away, I decided to skip Balu and drive west. I left behind this pretty view. And drove many hours through pristine mountains, fewer and fewer snow-capped ones the further west I drove. Some of the valleys were flooded to make reservoirs, leaving scenic sights. I eventually made it to Vancouver and drove right on through to Point Roberts USA, a five mile by five mile coastal land just below the 49th parallel and thus in the USA. The park ranger had suggested this as a good place to camp but being late of the Thursday night before the Fourth of July there were no spots available. I drove around instead and stopped at a forested coastal park. After ten minutes of walking I came to my first grand Pacific view with Mount Baker 60 miles east. The San Juan Islands and Orca Islands could also b...

Day 62 - Colorado National Monument

Established as a national monument early in 1911, Colorado NM is known for its high canyon "rim road" and sandstone spires of Monument Canyon. The canyons of west Colorado are pretty--as they have more green trees and shrubs than the more famous Utah canyons. This gives them a more alive feeling, although the sandstone spires were formed many thousands of years ago by erosion. Rim Rock road curves up the the top of the canyon cliff, goes through several round tunnels and is lined with scenic viewpoints. The best views were in he Monument Canyon section, and included in sequence, the Coke Ovens, The Kissing Couple (behind my head), and the most famous of all: Independence Monument, the tall spire in pic 3 and viewed from the side in pic 4. The original promoter and caretaker of the park, John Otto, was the first person to climb Independence Monument and now it's a climbing right of passage. Every July 4 climbers ascend and mount an American flag at the summit. Fun! ...

Day 82 - Yellowstone to Montana

My alarm sounded at 5:30am, a time early enough for me to arise before someone found me secretly camping. The geyser prediction said Grand at 6:15am so I set out toward it. I ran into geyser gazer Jim there and he said it likely erupted at 4:30-- missed it. Early morning eruptions are hard to predict as someone needed to have seen the previous overnight eruption in order to make a prediction. I walked on toward Artemesia, an unpredictable geyser at the far corner of the basin. I had seen her erupt from a mile away and wanted a closer inspection. The early morning setting was momentous, yet I didn't see a geyser erupt up close until Grand at 10:30. Then Sawmill erupted with its twirling thirty foot action (pic). The only remaining geyser left to experience on my mental list was Beehive up close. With a predicted window of 810 to 1210, I arrived at 1030 and waited until 1pm, before giving up. The sun was hot, I had read the geyser book cover to cover, and while seeing e...

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