Past Meets Present in Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns, southern New Mexico - Silent K

A cactus blooms. A hawk kites and wheels with ravens. A lizard dashes across the pavement. White sand fills the desert washes and spreads across the road. The desert looms its head in a prickly carpet of ocotillo, cholla, and creosote. Life is sparse to the untrained eye... and...

after a winding road through desert we arrived at a massive parking lot. A one-story welcome-center stretched across in front of us, with ramps and arrows telling us where to go. We were most certainly at Carlsbad Caverns National Park... and, thanks to our national park pass, we were allowed to enter free of charge. Sifting through and eventually shunning the various guided tour opportunities, we selected the natural entrance route, which would take us through a brief stretch above ground before entering through the cave's mouth. Along the pavement we meandered, musing over the warning signs that stood at every bend. Turning the corner we arrived at the mouth(note the handrails and manicured pathway):


Whipping in and out of the entrance were many cave swallows who were nesting on the crevices inside. Here we handed our ticket stubs to a ranger woman who once again reminded us of the fact that this is no walk in the park, that you will have to descend eighty stories, and that Yes, people have had to have been carried out of the caves before. L.M.A.O... So we continued into Moria. What's next in Moria? Of course! A warning sign:


The cave system was immense. Beginning above ground, we ended up 750 feet below the ground, passing through chambers 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide, and 350 feet high. But, thanks to the artificial lighting and placards, the situation was not quite so dire as it was for the Fellowship of the Ring.. here is a photo, taken by ImmortalM.


Despite descending hundreds of feet in near darkness, our self-guided tour continued status-quo. Every few steps we saw something incredible, attempted a photo, and then continued. Here's the proof:

Below is a photograph of Whale's Mouth, or something like that.


Here are the Lions' Tails. Don't try to call it something else. That's what they are. The label said so.


For some reason, this one didn't have a label. Obviously it's The Nipple.


But let's be honest. Even if you are touring a natural wonder, you still get tired, no matter how captivating something is. We wind up needing something more. Like... a bottomless pit. Or.. perhaps something more traditional. The final bit of our tour had the most amazing treasure at the end:


Is that what I think it is?


Indeed... adding to the mineral content.


Well... I guess a bathroom isn't that bad! You can't expect everyone to empty out before the journey down.

At least that's it for the modernity... Right??????????

No. In America, you need a cafeteria and shopping mall as well. 800 feet below the surface. Lmao.


So... Carlsbad is USA in a nutshell. A natural wonder was discovered. It was exploited for its natural resources(bat guano). It was tamed and turned into a tourist trap. And finally, it was made available to every possible human, all for a very nice fee. Thankfully, with a strong enough mind you can take it in for all that it is, and enjoy the caverns' enduring qualities. Such as its cave cricket:


But in the midst of all of this... the most stirring sight of all was a HUMAN remnant. A shocking reminder of the DIFFICULTIES that our ancestors had to deal with... and the PROGRESS we have made... Something simple. Something of the past. And to me, something much, much, preferred. A ladder used in the early 1900's to drop deep into the darkness.


At the end of our 2 hour tour... we took the minute long elevator ride to the top, got a drink of water, and continued on our way. We put on La Roux... and as we drifted back across the desert, north to Santa Fe, I got lost again...