Anyhow, I actually got out of the hotel pretty darned early about 8am. The reason being that one of the 
tours that I had wanted to take of the caverns was on at 10 and 1, and I knew that the only way I'd get to take it was if someone cancelled so I wanted to be there for either one. Why was the tour such a big deal? Well Carlbad has a few regular walking tours but also they have a 'caving' tour where you actually strap on pads, a lighted helmet and gloves and follow the ranger throuw newly discovered areas while crawling on your belly, climbing etc. Luckily I got there just in time for the 10am tour and someone had cancelled, really lucky apparently because these tours generally are booked months in advance. So I strapped up (they didn't let us have cameras, it would have been crushed anyway) and the five of us headed through 3 hours of chasms and narrow passageways. It was really neat to be able to see what only a very few have ever been able to see. I'm not about to be a lone caver however, it was great with a guide but I think you've got to be crazy to just head into an unknown passage and hope for the best. Honestly, you could so easily fall and get knocked out and never be found. After the tour I actually did the main areas of the cavern and let me tell you, this place is awesome. Luray is cool and all, but Carlsbad is on a completely different scale. The 'big room' can fit the Astrodome inside it. It was made entirely different too, actually forming when underground gas deposits (including hydrogen sulfide) met with water and created sulfuric acid which ate away at the limestone to make the caverns. It actually took me until 2pm to finish touring all 
of the caverns but I still was out of there a lot earlier than I would have thought. I had figured that if I was lucky then I'd be on the 1pm tour and not get out until almost 5. So I had a lot of extra daylight and I wasn't ready to head to San Antonio quite yet. There was another National Park about 40 miles away called "Guadalupe Mountains" so I headed that way. Unfortunately when I got there I realized that this park was only 20+ mile hikes and roads that are only 4wd accessible, no dice. What to do??
tours that I had wanted to take of the caverns was on at 10 and 1, and I knew that the only way I'd get to take it was if someone cancelled so I wanted to be there for either one. Why was the tour such a big deal? Well Carlbad has a few regular walking tours but also they have a 'caving' tour where you actually strap on pads, a lighted helmet and gloves and follow the ranger throuw newly discovered areas while crawling on your belly, climbing etc. Luckily I got there just in time for the 10am tour and someone had cancelled, really lucky apparently because these tours generally are booked months in advance. So I strapped up (they didn't let us have cameras, it would have been crushed anyway) and the five of us headed through 3 hours of chasms and narrow passageways. It was really neat to be able to see what only a very few have ever been able to see. I'm not about to be a lone caver however, it was great with a guide but I think you've got to be crazy to just head into an unknown passage and hope for the best. Honestly, you could so easily fall and get knocked out and never be found. After the tour I actually did the main areas of the cavern and let me tell you, this place is awesome. Luray is cool and all, but Carlsbad is on a completely different scale. The 'big room' can fit the Astrodome inside it. It was made entirely different too, actually forming when underground gas deposits (including hydrogen sulfide) met with water and created sulfuric acid which ate away at the limestone to make the caverns. It actually took me until 2pm to finish touring all 
of the caverns but I still was out of there a lot earlier than I would have thought. I had figured that if I was lucky then I'd be on the 1pm tour and not get out until almost 5. So I had a lot of extra daylight and I wasn't ready to head to San Antonio quite yet. There was another National Park about 40 miles away called "Guadalupe Mountains" so I headed that way. Unfortunately when I got there I realized that this park was only 20+ mile hikes and roads that are only 4wd accessible, no dice. What to do??Well I fired up the GPS and found that I was only about 200 miles from Big Bend National Park. For those of y
ou who've never heard of it, it's basically the Western dip of the Rio Grande in Texas. I hadn't planned on going there because I thought it was too far and had I been at the Caverns until 5 it would have been. So I pointed the car and got on the road, luckily Texas s
peed limits are generally 75 so I was there with about 2.5 hours of daylight left. Big Bend is a lush desert if such a thing can be imagined, with these huge rock mountains in the background. I had just enough time to go on the scenic drive and see the most spectacular sunset of my life. I was able to get up on a rock hill as the sun went down over the mountains. Totally worth the drive and more.
ou who've never heard of it, it's basically the Western dip of the Rio Grande in Texas. I hadn't planned on going there because I thought it was too far and had I been at the Caverns until 5 it would have been. So I pointed the car and got on the road, luckily Texas s
peed limits are generally 75 so I was there with about 2.5 hours of daylight left. Big Bend is a lush desert if such a thing can be imagined, with these huge rock mountains in the background. I had just enough time to go on the scenic drive and see the most spectacular sunset of my life. I was able to get up on a rock hill as the sun went down over the mountains. Totally worth the drive and more. Unfortunately, Big Bend is smack dab in the middle of assbackwardsville. The only motels were crazy expensive and kinda shabby. I had told myself that I would find a place in time to finally have a decent dinner that wasn't a 24 hour diner. Oh well, maybe San Antonio. I finally was able to stop in Fort Stockton, which was about 1.5 hour away. Best laid plans...but it was certainly worth it. Now on to San Antonio.
1 comment:
A little extra tidbit about hydrogen sulfide (H2S) ... it's the cause of the 'rotten egg' smell. Also, it's more specifically the oxidation of H2S by water (H20) that yields sulfuric acid, fyi.
l8er sk8er
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