Today went exactly according to plan which feels completely bizarre. The Caverns are about an hour drive from the campground but I still made it there by 10am!
It was remarkably not crowded and I had enough time to walk down the mile long natural entrance (above) to the "Big Room" loop which is another 1.5 miles (2.5 miles of walking total).
Luckily there is an elevator that will take you back up to the visitors center when you're done so you don't have to walk the very steep mile back up. I thought it was pretty weird seeing a snack bar and restrooms, etc. inside the caves.
I would say the caverns are pretty much worth the trouble of getting here. I feel like I've seen prettier/more dazzling cave formations sometime in my youth (I can't remember where... Ape Caves maybe?) but never anything quite so big and, um... cavernous.
The parks department does a fair job lighting it but occasionally I wanted to be able to see more. And consequently most of my photos are not great. I was right at home with the climate: 56 degrees with 90% humidity. My nostrils where thanking me for the break from the 97 degree desert up above. 
I was all done by 2pm and had a bunch of time to kill so I stopped at all of the signposts on the way out and learned a bit about the geology and plant life of the Chihuahuan desert. It was a little hot out. Back at the campground I had time to check out the pool and hot tub!
Tomorrow: Driving all day to San Antonio, Texas.
You won't have any problems on this leg of your trip- but you do know to get underneath an overpass in case of a tornado, right?
ReplyDeleteIn case of flying monkeys, you're on your own- good luck.