Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains

Left White Sands early Monday morning and drove up through the mountains and Canyons. Scenic drive for sure. The terrain changed several times from desert with no trees to trees and then back to desert. 

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Camped at Whites City Campground, 7 miles from the caverns

Ate an early dinner and headed to the caverns for the Bat Program. From April to October, about 500,000 Brazilian Free-Tailed Bats come swooping and swirling out of the caverns at dusk, go gather their food and return to the cavern just before sunrise. It was a great spectacle to see. Since we weren’t allowed to take photos, I bought a postcard so I could show you how they come out of the cave entrance. 

Next morning we headed back in to the caverns for a trip down in among all the stalactites and stalagmites. Huge cavern. We explored for over 2 hours. Once again, too many pictures but here are a few plus a video. 

Bill is standing next to a stalagmite to show how tall it is. 

Here’s a video as I was walking:

a walk down in the cavern

Found out that the town of Whites City is named from the explorer, Jim White. Can you imagine rappelling down into the cave and finding all that beauty!

After that, we drove down to the Guadalupe Mountains in Texas, just about 45 miles south. 

Unfortunately, we couldn’t hike anywhere with the dogs but we did drive up the McKitrick Canyon. 

This is a plant that gets fluffy flowers, similar to the dandelion) Don’t know what it is but I like it’s delicate, fluffy fronds as they blow in the wind. 

Last night here at Whites City, waiting for the sun to set over the Guadalupe Mountains, the town and desert of White’s City.