Deep in the Caves

While we were staying in New Mexico I was told that we were going to go to the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. My parents had told me a lot about it and I couldn’t wait to go. I must say it was one of my favorite places we have been so far. I can’t even recall how many times I said the words: “This is so awesome!” Unfortunately we did not see any bats. We were not there during the right time of year, but that didn’t stop me from wearing a Batman shirt. The last time my parents were there 20 years ago my dad said he also wore a Batman shirt. What a coincidence right? My dad even brought a Batman action figure!

It reminded me of the Mines of Moria from the Lord of the Rings more than the bat cave. The caverns are a huge cave system that goes more than 800 feet underground. The hike down into the caverns was a path that just went deeper and deeper. There were huge stalagmites and stalactites everywhere. There were a lot of small pools. The largest room was 8.2 acres. And the hike around it is one mile long. It takes about an hour and thirty minutes to hike all the way around it. This big room (it is actually called “The Big Room,” very original) is somewhat in the shape of a cross. During the walk around this room we saw a cave called the “Bottomless Pit.” It just goes straight down, however, it is not bottomless. There are two ways that people can get to the bottom. There is the natural entrance, which is about a mile long hike. Then there are the elevators. We took the hike down but we took the elevator up. It was very long for an elevator ride. Even though we did not see any bats, the caves themselves were still awesome.