Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We visited Carlsbad a few trips ago and have returned to enjoy again the amazing formations.  This time we took the King’s Palace Tour to the deepest part of the cave open to the public.  What was unique about this tour was how close we were able to get to the formations (with the caution NOT to touch).  These caverns were not disturbed by humans until the late 1800s.  Native Americans believed caves were the source of life and the place where souls returned.  In 1898, James Larkin White, a teenager, found and descended the caves.  Along with two others, he filed a claim to mine guano.  Miners descended in large buckets and spent their day in the dimly lit caves collecting the fertilizer for the California fruit orchards.  Calvin Coolidge signed the act creating the national park. 

We walked down the winding path stopping 830 feet below the surface to view helictites

 drapery (these were unusual because they were at an angle, the supporting rock having fallen from the ceiling)

columns

stalactites

 and stalagmites.

At dusk we returned to watch bats leaving the cave for their nightly supper.  This is the end of the Mexican bats season at Carlsbad as they are now migrating to Mexico until their spring return.  As they flew overhead, we could hear the rustle of their wings and an occasional squeak.  A red-tailed hawk has been feeding on the bats for the past week.  His catch success rate is about 70%. Photos interfere with the bats navigation so they are not allowed.