New Mexico and Arizona

This was one of the many photos I took of Carlsbad Caverns when we were there. I learned a lot about taking photos in a cave but by that time most of the tour was finished. Carlsbad makes all other caves look like mere holes in the ground. We've been to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Wind and Jewel Caves in South Dakota, and others as well, but none of them even come close to Carlsbad. Our walk through the cave was nearly three miles and some of the rooms are huge. The Big Room is nearly a mile around and the size of five football fields. The formations are magnificent and varied and the cave leaves one feeling awed. We are in the city of Carlsbad tonight. After driving up from Big Bend National Park on Friday we encountered freezing temperatures in lower New Mexico (there was ice on the cacti) and spent the rest of that day at the caverns, a great place to shelter from the cold and rain. Yesterday we drove back into Texas and spent the day hiking the McKittrick Canyon trail in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We were there overnight and this morning and went on to Lincoln National Forest and Sitting Bull Falls today. We decided after living rough for the past week to get a motel tonight and will spend a quiet day tomorrow before continuing our travels.

I've been posting a few photos from our recent trip, mostly panoramas taken with my phone, before finishing the long series of Yellowstone photos. This is another panorama taken at White Sands National Monument in the Tularosa Basin near Alamogordo, New Mexico. This is not snow but gypsum sand that has formed dunes and flats over a huge area. The area of the park is completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base and occasionally has to be closed when missile tests are being conducted.

This is the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns when one chooses to enter the cave on foot. There is also an elevator in the visitors' center, but we chose to walk.

Carlsbad Caverns can be entered by an elevator from the visitors' center or on foot. We chose to go on foot and this is the walkway into the cave.

These are some of the formations in Carlsbad Caverns but no photo that I have taken or seen can show the immensity of these caverns and the beauty of the formations.

When we visited Carlsbad Caverns National Park I took an equal number of photos with phone and camera. I should have had a tripod with me but did not and without a tripod the phone seemed to do a better job of dealing with the lack of light. In any case the caverns are the most beautiful we have ever been in and we've visited Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Wind and Jewel Caves in South Dakota and others. It was a perfect day for being in the cave since it was wet and cold (freezing rain) outdoors. We had planned to spend the day in the Guadalupe Mountains but changed our plans on account of the weather.

Many of the formations in Carlsbad Caverns are lighted but very dimly. Too much light and algae begins to grow on them and ruin them.

These are some of the amazing formations in Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. Photography was difficult and I was not as prepared as I should have been. Most of these photos as a result were taken with my phone.

These are a few more photos from Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. We visited the caverns on a cold and rainy day instead of hiking in the Guadalupe Mountains south of the caverns.