Hole Lotta Love

On our trip to the Guadalupe Mountains last week we decided to forego trying to hike to the top of Texas one day due to high winds. Instead we decided to take it underground with a trip to another national park to the north - Carlsbad Caverns NP. We opted to take the Natural Entrance self-guided tour to descend into the depths of the cave. As we were beginning the descent I saw this woman waiting for the man she was with to catch up. I was hoping they might kiss when they met as I thought it would make a cool shot. They did and I captured the moment. Thanks to my wide angle lens I was able to capture the whole scene with the pathway leading down into the depths of the cave below.

Going Down

If you've never been inside Carlsbad Caverns, let me tell you, it is HUGE! I mad this shot on our decent into the cave through the Natural Entrance. You descend 750 feet below ground through the natural entrance and most of it is through very large 'rooms'. The views inside are a wonder to see. With the green light seeping in through the cave in back, it feels like you are venturning into another world. Plus there was a little fog in the air which I can only guess is a result of the temperature inversion caused where the outside and inside air meet. Really hard to describe unless you've been there to see it first hand.

Big Room

I just read that yesterday was Carslbad Caverns National Park's 85th birthday. If I had known I would have posted this at that time. Anyway, a day late, but this was a shot I captured on our tour of the Big Room when we were there last month. The people in the shot provide a nice perspective for just how BIG the Big Room is. Per the CCNP website: "At about 8.2 acres in size, roughly 6.2 football fields would fit into the Big Room! It is definitely well-named as this is the largest single cave chamber by volume in North America."