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Visitor Center on the mesa |
Well, it's about 27 miles out into the hills from here in the heart of the city of Carlsbad and the road is 4 lanes of divided highway which gets you there in about a half an hour -- well worth the drive through the dusty, dry desert-like countryside. The 7 mile drive on the 2 lane road from the main highway had the leftover signs of the brush fires from last year in June but, new life seemed to be blooming from some of the cactus and other succulents.
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Natural Entrance (paths added) |
When the then 16 year old ranch hand discovered the caverns over 100 years ago, I hope the current drought conditions had been drastically different as he headed for what he thought was a cloud of smoke coming from one of the mesas -- turned out to be millions of bats entering/leaving the cave entrance (currently the natural entrance). It was probably a spectacular sight then and most likely a fairly impressive sight when the current population of a half-a-million take to the air from the cave entrance (you can take the elevator down the 750 ft. instead of the 1.5 mile hike into the natural entrance but, not my choice). It almost felt like Lombard street in San Francisco as I descended into the caverns with bats or swallows flying about in circles -- they didn't stop for me to get a closer look (and I was glad I had my hat on too to catch any droppings -- bird or bat).
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Lion's Tail Formation |
My camera didn't do the caverns justice as the beauty that my eyes saw was far more impressive and worth the chilly walk down the sometimes steep walkways to the main gathering area at the base of the elevators, restrooms and restaurant. From there I took the self-guided tour around the Big Room (approx. another 1.3 miles of trail with stainless steel handrails to help steady any weary hiker -- really needed them at times on the wet and slicker, steeper parts of the paths).
I also booked the Ranger-guided tour of the "Kings Palace" which was to depart at 1:00 p.m. so, when I arrived back at the base of the elevators from my tour of the Big Room around 11:30, I decided to take the 750 ft elevator ride back to the top to warm-up and have the lunch I packed -- a little nap in the Jeep too with the hot breezes blowing through (only a few minutes as it turned out).
The Kings Palace tour takes about an hour and a half but, well worth the time spent there and the minimal charge associated with it ($4 for us Golden Pass holders). There is no other way to see this part of the caverns as it has been closed because it had been so heavily damaged by self-guided tourists taking parts of the Stalactites (some 10,000 or more).
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