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 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole

We got our first glimpse of smoke far across the valley as we climbed higher. Up on a ridge after a morning climb, we followed a side trail to an open viewpoint beyond the trees. Selfie:) The smoke, while visible, seemed to give the mountains a blue glow-- like a highlighter to a sketch. You could still see the edges of the mountain ridges, the story of their creation. We could hike in this. But the smoke looked worse farther south. Or it was getting worse as time rolled incessantly forward. On day two we had ran into a northbound hiker we nicknamed Speedy Steve. Speedy Steve had hiked 18 miles a day through eight consecutive smoke-filled days, including atleast three "very bad days" when he couldn't see the surrounding mountains, the sun glowed a haunting orange and ash accumulated overnight. On the way to Purple Lake we ran into three dirty, beat up, tired north-bound hikers with a similar story. They had to spend one night in an emergency hut at Muir Pass to avoid the...

Day 172 - JMT Mount Whitney

Our day began in silence, at 315am in pursuit of the summit. We walked carefully, looking for slick, sandy rocks and icy sections--not wanting to fall. Hiking along a cliff edge in total darkness was thrilling, vividly black and white. By 5am, we had reached the three mile marker and the turnoff up to Whitney summit. We removed the heavy items from our bags and set off towards the summit sunrise. The trail was spectacular, a special creation of this nation, winding from one side of the mountain to the other, going down and around one side before coming up to another, creating anticipation with each turn. Looking back, the sloping ridges caught the early sunset delicately. As we hiked along the two mile upper trail, the views east would open up for the narrowest of moments. This opening was my favorite. 14,000 foot cathedrals of nature thrusted towards the heavens at each turn. The summit was almost in sight, the highest peak in the lower 48 states nearly at...

Day 52 - Mesa Verde

The Anasazi first settled on the mesa tops of Mesa Verde in 500 AD, then moved into the cliff dwellings this park is famous for in 1100 AD, then mysteriously abandoned the area entirely in 1300 AD. Like the other tourists, I was interested in seeing the cliff dwellings! Unfortunately many sites are closed in Colorado until Memorial Day, so I wasn't able to go into the two largest dwellings, Cliff Palace or Long House, settling instead for Balcony House. Balcony House is a small cliff dwelling built in a defensive posture on an inaccessible cliff. You have to climb a 30 foot ladder to enter the dwelling and then you have to crawl through a 3 foot wide hole and up more ladders to exit. Adventure and history are a nice combo. The ranger taught us about building techniques, spiritual structures and customs, and theories about the Anasazi culture and disappearance (draught or war). Pics. After the guided tour of Balcony House, I did self-guided tours of a historical museum,...

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