5/13/17 Caverns, Canyons, Sand Dunes and SciFi (New Mexico)

Carlsbad Cavern Formation, NM

While we were camped at Guadeloupe National Park, TX (see out last blog), we visited Carlsbad Caverns in NM.  They are close to each other and run by the same unit of the National Park Service.  Similar to the Guadeloupe Mountains, the topside of the Carlsbad Caverns National Park is in the Chihuahua Desert of southern New Mexico / northern West Texas.  It features high ancient sea ledges, deep rocky canyons, flowering cactus.  We hiked quite a few spring fed canyons to hopefully see some wildlife, but only saw a few rabbits and lots of lizards, snakes and birds.  

Steep Switchback Trail into Natural Entrance

Carlsbad Caverns National Park has over 119 caves, all formed when sulfuric acid dissolved limestone (old sea beds), leaving behind caverns of all sizes.  We entered the original “Natural Entrance”, a steep 1.25 mile tour that follows the original explorer’s route.  The route drops 750 feet down a tall and spacious passage, the Main Corridor.  Alternatively, you can take an elevator down rather than take the 1.5 hour hike in.  If you are in good health, the Natural Entrance tour brings you to parts of the cave you would not otherwise see:  Bat Cave, Devils Spring, Green Lake Overlook and the Boneyard, a complex maze of highly-dissolved limestone that looks like swiss cheese.  You also pass Iceberg Rock, a single 200,000 ton boulder that fell from the cave ceiling.   

Small Park of Big Room, Carlsbad Caverns

The main visitor area, the Big Room or the Hall of the Giants, is the largest single cave chamber, by volume, in North America.  It is the largest chamber in Carlsbad Caverns; it almost 4000 feet long, 625 feet wide, and 255 feet high.  The 1.25 mile trail is relatively flat and some of it is wheel chair accessible so that anyone can see its wonders.   Stalactites (from the roof down), stalagmites (from the floor up), columns (stalactites meeting stalagmites) , drapes (large wavy stalactite type forms from the roof) , and all other cave formations types in all sizes can be seen.  As usual, many of the larger formations are named, although many times you cannot understand how it was names??  We saw the rope ladder used by the explorers in 1924, and the rickety stairs and difficult paths taken by the first tourists.   Much of the cave is not accessible to visitors and there are still some unexplored areas left!   

Candle Lantern Tour, Left Hand Tunnel

In addition to the Natural Entrance and Big Room visit, we took a special guided tour, Left Turn Tunnel,  down through an unimproved section of the cave on dirt trails using only candle lit lanterns. There were some steep, slippery sections, made more difficult by the very low light level. We navigated around cavern pools and fragile formations, trying not to touch them as we passed.   It was very cool to visit the caverns as the early visitors would have seen the cave.  We highly recommend this tour. 

 

Bob and Linda with Candle Lantern

Everywhere we have visited, we are struck by the challenges the early tourists in the late 1800s and early 1900s endured to visit these natural wonders.   The early tourists had incredible difficulties, first to reach such remote places and then to actually visit and see these wonders; they must have really wanted to see them.   

Bats exiting Cave, Dusk, Carlsbad Caverns (NPS photo)

We made sure to see the Bat Flight exit the cave at dusk.  We were lucky to be there after some of the bats had returned from their annual winter migration, usually about mid to late April.  Seventeen species of bats live in the caves, including a large number of Mexican free-tailed bats.  Studies have shown as many as a 750,000 bats in the cave in recent years, but there were only about 200,000 when we visited; many of bats had not yet returned from migration.  The bats started to “boil” out of the cave right at dusk, and incredibly, were still coming out in droves 35 minutes later.  They fly up in a spiral pattern, which looked similar to a tornado.  They head out to hunt insects for food and water and can travel up to 60 miles away during their nightly flight.   Photographs are not allowed since any type of electronic device which emits either light or an electronic signal, can cause changes in bat behavior.   

Bob on rim of sinkhole, Bottomless Lakes State Pk, NM

We drove north to Bottomless Lakes State Park, near Roswell, NM.  This was the first state park established in NM.  The unique lakes in this park are sinkholes, ranging in depth from 17 to 90 feet.   The greenish-blue color created by aquatic plants give the lakes the illusion of greater “bottomless” depth.  The nine small, deep lakes are located along the eastern escarpment of the Pecos River Valley.  The escarpment is part of an ancient shallow sea limestone reef, similar to the limestone mountains of Carlsbad Caverns and Guadeloupe Mountains. High evaporation rates in the shallow seas formed gypsum in limestone which is easily dissolved by underground water percolating through the rocks resulting in sinkholes and lakes.  The present-day high evaporation rate produces brackish (salty) water in the lakes. Only 2 of the lakes support fish and the fish are very small with the largest being about 4 inches long.  We camped at Lee Lake, the largest lake and the only one in which recreation is allowed and is heavily used by Roswell residents and SCUBA divers.  It was an excellent camping base from which to spend a day in Roswell.   

"Alien" lightpost, Roswell, NM

Linda is an avid science fiction fan; therefore, Roswell was a must stop while in New Mexico.  The International UFO Museum and Research Center focuses not only on the events surrounding the UFO crash in 1947, but also other related UFO phenomena:  crop circles, alien abductions, Area 51, ancient peoples artifacts showing “space ships and aliens”, etc.   

 

 

 

 

 

Sketch by Nurse of "alien" beings

Most of the museum is about the events of July 4 through July 9, 1947.  A UFO crashed just north of town.  Detailed investigations of the events and cover-up, conducted during the early 1990s, are the basis of the information provided at the museum.  Many people witnessed the crash, including the control tower at the army air base, which recorded the crash on radar.  The debris, covering three football fields, was found the next day, along with 5 “small, childlike, non-human bodies”.  Mr. Brazel, the rancher who found the debris, brought it to the sheriff, who notified the Intelligence Officer at the base.  Personnel from the army converged on the site and shut down access to everyone.  Then the cover up started:  the military claimed it was a “weather balloon”.  However, everyone at the base who was involved in the events, were quickly dispersed to other bases around the county.  Local, non-military, people were visited by military personnel, who threaten their lives and family’s lives if they talked about the events and what they saw.  The radio station was threatened with loss of license if they published anything about the events.  Several significant witnesses “disappeared” and were declared dead by the military.    

In 1990, there were many eye witnesses that were still alive and they felt compelled to talk about the events and subsequent cover-up during renewed investigations.  Our culture has changed during those 40 years to allow people to feel comfortable to now talk; these witnesses talked about their own personal observations, their interviews were videotaped, and they signed affidavits as to the events.  If you believe the scientific evidence (metallurgy of the metal from the crash site, etc.) and the eye witness testimonies, you would come to the following conclusion:  “something” did crash in Roswell, the metal is unknown even today, 5 child-sized “alien” beings were recovered, and the remains and debris shipped elsewhere.  

Published Picture of "weather balloon"

The most interesting evidence for a “cover-up” comes from the “weather balloon” picture disseminated by the military at that time and widely published in the newspaper.  In the picture of the “weather balloon”, taken in a military office, the military officer showing the “balloon”  has a piece of paper in his hand.  When it was enlarged and read, the paper is a telex/telegram to Washington, marked urgent and confidential, and states they have recovered flying saucer crash debris and alien beings!  So much for honesty.  Many of the witnesses confirm an UFO crash.  The rest of the museum is dedicated to other UFO events and information:  early people recordings of alien beings and spaceships, crop circles and people abductions.  As you go through the museum, you see much of the evidence is quite compelling…  Linda believes it is very probable that we are not alone and are being constantly visited by other beings, Bob is more skeptical.  

We spent the rest of the day in Roswell enjoying more “earthly” pursuits.  We visited two excellent modern art museums, and then spent some time at the Pecos Flavor Winery tasting some New Mexico wines.  It turns out they have a lot of wineries in New Mexico, many located by Los Cruses, and the wines are surprisingly good.  We skipped the expected sweet white wines, but there is a very good dry Riesling, and some of the reds are very good.  We enjoyed an Italian montepulciano, Syrah, and a petit Syrah, but the Zinfandel was a little too sweet for us.   The music was excellent, so we stayed for a glass after our tasting…we chose the petit Syrah.  For you Elks, the Roswell Elks Lodge is also a good place for a less expensive refreshment and surprisingly full and good menu.  

White Sands National Monument, NM

Our next stop in New Mexico was Alamogordo to visit White Sands National Monument.  Great wave-like dunes of rare white gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert.  The monument preserves most of this unique dune field, along with the plants and animals that live there.  We camped at the near-by Holloman AFB. 

Ten thousand years ago, when the Ice Age was over, the climate in the area became drier, and a large inland sea dried up.  Selenite crystals, formed beneath the clay and silt surface of the dried up sea, eventually became exposed.  The large selenite crystals broke up into smaller chunks, finally turning into sand.  The tiny grains are picked up by the wind and bounce along the desert floor, constantly moving to the northeast, eventually forming the famous white dunes.  

Sand Dunes and Mountain Snow, White Sands NM

We enjoyed a short one day visit and picnic lunch in the dunes, drove through the dramatic landscape and hiked the boardwalk to experience the local flora.  It was quite a contrast to see the white sand dunes highlighted against the snow caped mountains….a true sand and snow comparison.  Interestingly, a lot of people were riding down the dunes using snow saucers – to complete the comparison to snow!  

After Albuquerque we knew we would be many miles away from the next major repair center so we made a short unexpected trip to the Albuquerque Cummins Service Center to get our engine check engine light checked out.  Luckily, it turned out to be a minor, quickly repaired item (replaced the EGR Valve), so we ended up with some unexpected time.  We decided to take an overnight diversion on our trip to Nevada, with a quick one-half day visit to the Canyon de Chelly National Monument in eastern Arizona, in the Navajo Nation.  The monument is run jointly by the Navajo Nation and the National Park Service.  

Pueblo Ruins, Canyon de Chelly, AZ

The Canyon de Chelly Visitor Center was only OK… mostly about Navajo History and not much about the canyon itself. However, this proved to be very relevant information since, for almost 5000 years, people have lived in this incredibly beautiful canyon longer than recorded anywhere on the Colorado Plateau. The archeologic record indicates the settlement history as: first the Archaic peoples (2500-200 BCE), Basketmakers (200 BCE – CE 700), Pueblos (750-1300), Hopi (1300-1600), and the Navajo (1700-present).   

Canyon del Chelly National Monument, AZ

Linda, Spider Rock, Canyon de Chelly, AZ

The narrow canyon itself is beautiful; a verdant green canyon floor against the brilliant red 800-1000 feet high sandstone walls, with a year-round stream. It is easy to see why this was a desired settlement location for almost 5000 years.   Throughout the canyon, you can find Pueblo ruins from the Pueblos people period. The Navajo still use the valley to this day, and there is a lot of agriculture in the valley, and small family farm homesteads.   It is definitely worth a stop, and deserves a lot more time than our diversion allowed including taking a Navajo guided jeep tour of the canyon floor.  Unfortunately, we were not able to do the tour.   

 

We headed north for a two day trip to Great Basin National Park, NV. More to follow. Feel free to pass the blog link on to anyone who might be interested.   

Best,

Linda and Bob