NEW MEXICO: CARLSBAD CAVERN

 July 1, 2021

Carlsbad Cavern (singular) is one of seventeen caves in Carlsbad Caverns (plural) National Park. About 250 years ago, an underground sea combined with sulfuric acid deep below the earth's surface to work on the limestone of the area of the Guadalupe Mountains, carving out huge caverns. Different kinds of forces created various formations, including the familiar stalactites and stalagmites, as well as formations less familiar (to me) such as straws, popcorn, flowstone, and travertine.

A fun thing happened before we went into the cave. I was wearing my "Redlands Strong" pandemic t-shirt, and someone got out of his car as we walked by and asked if we were from Redlands. He was a University of Redlands student and his girlfriend was a Redlands native! I seem to have a knack for running into people who I have a connection to.

Comedian Will Rogers once called Carlsbad Cavern "the Grand Canyon with a roof over it." When I saw this layout of the cave in the Visitor Center, I could see what he was talking about. 

It is possible to walk down the cave opening, and then walk through a section of the cave to get to the trailhead for the main cave. The 1.25 natural trail entrance is very steep and the equivalent of a 75-story building. We opted to take the elevator down instead, and we took it back up as well.

Signage notes there are at least 118 caves beneath the surface with over 180 total miles of known passages and rooms. I wasn't aware of any other options for cave walks, although I am sure there must be some.

This map reminds me of Lake Powell. It's interesting to note the similarities of caves to canyons.

TEXAS: LONGHORN CAVERN

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

One of the things I enjoyed about this particular trip to Texas was seeing the evidence of work done by the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, a group established during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt to rebuild both the economy and the country's physical infrastructure.

One CCC project in Central Texas during the 1930s was clearing a huge underground cavern of 2.5 tons of debris and building stairs and walkways into and inside the cavern to make the cavern tourist friendly. They also built the scenic byway that led to it and facilities within the park, now known as Longhorn Cavern State Park. 

Longhorn Cavern is a limestone cave formed thousands of years ago by an underground river that no longer exists. Before the CCC turned it into a tourist attraction, it was used by indigenous people, Confederate soldiers, outlaws, and speakeasy operators.

We joined a group of about 20 people on a guided tour of the cave.

NORTHEASTERN CALIFORNIA: LAVA BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

 September 6, 2020

On July 22, 2020, a thunderstorm rolled through northeastern California, and lightning strikes started several fires, including one in Lava Beds National Monument. Named the Caldwell Fire, it roared through over 83,000 acres before it was contained. The area, dense with ponderosa and lodgepole pine, had not seen fire in over 40 years.

About 70% of the park was scorched. If you do a Google image search of Lava Beds National Monument, you get photos like these that show trees and grasses growing on the perimeters of the lava beds . . .

From here

. . . and also throughout lava fields.

From here

When we turned into the park, we didn't realize what had occurred there six weeks before.

SOUTHERN ICELAND III: REYNISFJARA BEACH, REYNISDRANGAR ROCK STACKS, HÁLSANEFSHELLIR CAVE, AND DYRHÓLAEY LIGHTHOUSE

 June 13, 2019

(I'm sorry about that title, but I absolutely LOVE the incomprehensible, unpronounceable Icelandic names and couldn't resist.)

At the southernmost tip of Iceland is the tiny village of Vik (pronounced "veek"), population 320. 

It is the largest settlement within 40 miles in any direction. It is also has over 1,000 hotel rooms, is the wettest and warmest spot on the island, and will likely disappear in a flood of melted glacier if the nearby volcano Katla erupts, as it is expected to do in the near future. 

But for now, it hosts the tourists who have made their way to the mystical, magical black sand Reynisfjara Beach. ("Fjara" means "shore" or "beach" in Icelandic, so I guess I'm being redundant.) In the distance are massive 220-foot-tall basalt towers known as Reynisdrangar. ("Drangar" means "pillars.") According to legend, one night some trolls were trying to pull some ships to shore. However, they took too long, and when dawn broke, the trolls and ships were turned to stone: