OCTOBER 15, 2014: “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.”

“Totem Pole” in the Big Room at Carlsbad Caverns.

CARLSBAD CAVERNS. As we began our final approach to the Texas Hill Country for the winter, we stopped at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, located in the Guadalupe Mountains of Southeastern News Mexico. We see rocky slopes and canyons, cactus, grass, thorny shrubs and an occasional tree. Who could guess at the hidden treasures deep underground? Beneath this rugged land are more than 119 known caves…all formed when sulfuric acid dissolved the surrounding limestone. Three caves are open to the public, but the primary attraction of the park is the Show Cave, Carlsbad Cavern. It includes a large cave chamber called the Big Room, which is a natural limestone chamber almost 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide and 255 feet tall at the highest point.

BATS IN THE BELFRY. Seventeen species of bats live in the park, including a large number of Mexican free-tailed bats. The most recent technique used to estimate the population of bats involved the use of thermal imaging cameras to track and count them About a million of them are thought to live in the caves. They are not harmful to humans and in fact the Rangers have a presentation early each evening which allows visitors to watch as a huge dense group of bats corkscrew upwards and counterclockwise from the cave entrance. The “show” starts around sunset and lasts about three hours. After locating and drinking some water outside the caves, the bats return by morning. Kind of creepy… but pretty interesting. And this will make you chuckle…Electronic devices such as cell phones and cameras are not allowed at the “Bat Show.” Use of these objects could interfere with the bats ability to navigate at night. Hmm, the opportunity for a creating havoc in the sky with over a million bats somehow strikes my funny bone. I doubt the bat-police-rangers would be amused. Breaking the rule is probably some Federal offense. Better not mess with the bats, I guess.

Read more »

Being here was an almost surreal experience.

OCTOBER 11, 2014.

WHITE SANDS, NEW MEXICO. Only one word in the English language describes this place. The word is “unbelievable.” It doesn’t matter how long you stand atop these glistening white hills, staring infinitely beyond the white abyss with the craggy dark mountains in the distance…the only word that describes it is “unbelievable.” Located near the city of Alamogordo, New Mexico the monument is a 275 square mile field of white sand dunes, some reaching 70 feet in the air, composed of gypsum crystals. It’s the largest gypsum dune field in the world. Unlike quartz-based sand crystals, gypsum does not readily convert the sun’s energy into heat and thus these dunes can be walked upon safely with bare feet, even in the hottest summer months.

Read more »