Tales of a caveman: Exploring dark and narrow spaces in Carlsbad Caverns
Posted on Sun, Jul. 06, 2008
BY ALLEN HOLDER
McClatchy News Service
CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK, N.M. -- The travel editor felt a little silly.
He was wearing brown cotton gloves and a white helmet with a little LED light on the front. Kevin and Brooke, the guides, wore helmets, too. So did Kathy and Bob and two other people in the dark cave about 750 feet below the Chihuahuan Desert. They were all about to embark on a Big Adventure.
''Is anybody here claustrophobic or afraid of tight, dark places?'' Kevin wanted to know.
The travel editor began to feel a little rumbly in his tumbly about all that, but he didn't say anything. Nobody else said anything either.
And so off they marched, into the hole known as the Lower Cave, which is under another, bigger hole that people call the Big Room.
The Lower Cave has lots of rules, Kevin said. Like ''don't touch the cave'' with your bare hands. That's what the gloves were for.
Orange tape lined both sides of a trail that led into the cave, and the travel editor and Kathy and Bob and the others were told they should stay inside the lines. Just like coloring.
''Oh, bother,'' the travel editor thought. He wasn't very good at coloring when he was a little boy.
Sometimes, Kevin said, he would ask everyone to ''step around'' or ''step over'' a piece of red and white tape because there might be a hole or something delicate that might be damaged if anyone stepped on it. The travel editor and the other Cave Explorers practiced by planting their left foot just before the red and white tape, then stepping over it with the right.
And most important, Kevin said, the entrance to the Lower Cave is a secret. He asked everyone to promise that they wouldn't tell where it is. Everyone promised .
Then Kevin grabbed a knotted rope and began walking backward down a little hill. Everyone followed. It was a little like rappelling, but easier.
Then they climbed down three ladders. When everybody got down, Kevin began walking along the trail. It got darker and darker, but the lights on the helmets helped show the way.
''Step around,'' Kevin told Kathy when he saw a piece of red and white tape. ''Step around,'' she told the travel editor, who told Bob. And so on. It was kind of like playing ''telephone'' in grade school.
For three hours or so the Cave Explorers descended about 90 more feet and learned about all kinds of cave formations, like stalagmites (the ones that rise from the floor) and stalactites (which hang from the ceiling).
They learned that American Indians had explored the cave for more than 1,000 years before a 16-year-old named Jim White found it in 1898. Jim had only a third-grade education and referred to the formations as ''sticky-uppers'' and ''hangy-downers.'' A lot of people didn't believe Jim's stories about the cave until photographers proved he was telling the truth. Then the place became famous.
Kevin told the Explorers about a part of the cave called the Rookery, where the floor is covered with tiny formations that look like marbles. They're called cave pearls, he said, and a lot of them were taken away by early explorers, who didn't know any better. Some coffee cans full of the cave pearls were left behind.
Those early explorers depended on matches to light their way, Kevin said. Some of the matches were dropped and are still lying on the ground. They're part of cave history now and stay there.
Then Kevin asked a funny question. ``So is everybody up for a little crawling?''
The travel editor wasn't so sure he thought that was funny. But he didn't want to spoil everyone else's fun so he didn't say anything.
''Because we're going to crawl through here,'' Kevin said, pointing to a little hole that seemed much too small for the travel editor to fit through. He sucked in his stomach.
Kevin got down on his hands and knees and disappeared in the hole. So did Kathy and Bob and all the others except Brooke, who knew about another path.
The travel editor crouched and followed Bob. He knew the tunnel was only about 20 feet long, but sometimes it seemed like 200 feet.
''How am I going to squeeze through that?'' he asked himself. But he did.
At first he walked like a duck, but then the space got smaller so he got down on his hands and knees. Then the space got smaller again so he began to use his elbows to pull himself farther into the tunnel. Then it got smaller again.
The travel editor wanted to take his helmet off because it made him a couple of inches taller. He wanted to take his small backpack off because it made him a little wider. But he didn't.
Instead, he kept his eyes on Bob, who was crawling just ahead. Whatever Bob did, the travel editor tried to imitate. When Bob turned on his left side and slid along the ground, the travel editor did, too.
Finally, just when the travel editor was worried that his behind might not fit through the last section of tunnel, he squeezed through and POP! landed on the other side.
''Silly old travel editor,'' he thought.
Not everybody gets down on all fours at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, a collection of 113 caves under nearly 47,000 acres in southeast New Mexico. But the opportunity is there if you want it.
''I think the draw is the adventure,'' said Brooke Hallberg, one of two rangers who led us on the tour of Lower Cave earlier this year. ``It gets people out of their comfort zones.''
The park offers six ranger-led tours, including two ''wild caving'' tours that require participants to wear kneepads.
''It's different. The stuff you see on these tours, you don't see on the surface,'' said Hallberg, who is from Council Bluffs, Iowa.
She especially enjoys the more challenging tours, such as the Hall of the White Giant, a four-hour trip that includes climbing and long-distance crawling, tight squeezes and slippery passages.
''There's a lot of belly crawling, and there's a rope ladder there as well,'' she said.
'There are some places where you have to do the `dead-leg crawl.' You literally have to drag one leg behind you. There's also one which I call the 'Superman crawl.' ''
So maybe that's not for everybody. For many folks, the Big Room is the draw. It's the easiest way to see the cave -- and it offers plenty.
Size, for starters. The Big Room is said to be the largest known limestone chamber in the Western Hemisphere. It encompasses 600,000 square feet, comparable to 14 football fields.
It's also fairly uncommon because self-guided tours have become the norm here. Visitors can linger as long as they like along the 1.25-mile route through the Big Room.
Even here are Choose-Your-Own-Adventure options. The Natural Entrance is a steep descent of about 800 feet over the first mile into the cave. If that's too much, an elevator descends 750 feet to a trailhead near an underground rest and concessions area. The Big Room trail is wheelchair accessible, but there are a couple of short, steep trails.
For a lot of people the Natural Entrance has one more thing going for it: bats. Between March and October each year, hundreds of thousands of Mexican free-tailed bats roost in the cave. Every day about sunset they stream out en masse to hunt for insects.
I missed the bat migration by a few weeks, and my foray through the Big Room was almost eerily silent at times. The few visitors wandering the cool, damp cavern spoke very quietly. When I asked a ranger about that, she shushed me a little, explaining that voices carry well throughout caves -- and echo.
The silence -- and darkness -- must have been overwhelming to Jim White and the other early explorers, I thought.
Besides their matchsticks and other subtle reminders, White and his colleagues left plenty of evidence of their time at Carlsbad Caverns. Many of the cave's best-known areas were named by them.
There's the Giant Dome, for example, which rises 62 feet above the floor, and the Twin Domes -- a pair of stalagmites 58 feet high. The Fairyland area looks just like a miniature village in the dim light. And the Doll's Theater, an inset area, is suggestive of a tiny stage. The Bottomless Pit is so deep that the early explorers' lights could not penetrate it. It's 140 feet deep.
No wonder White couldn't get enough of this place. Then, and now, new adventure seems to lie around every corner. Even after more than 100 years of exploration, new passages are still being discovered in Lower Cave.
On this trip I'd have to be content with what I could see in a single day.
Oh, bother.
ABOUT THE PARK
American Indians had been exploring Carlsbad Caverns for more than 1,000 years before a 16-year-old cowboy named Jim White found it in 1898. Trouble was, nobody believed him. Then in 1915 photographs taken by Ray V. Davis, who had accompanied White into the cave, were displayed in Carlsbad, N.M. Word got out quickly.
In 1923 Carlsbad Caverns National Monument was established; it became a national park in 1930. Today the national park includes nearly 47,000 acres of land and 113 known caves -- part of a series of 300 caves in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. The park was designated a World Heritage Site in 1995.
IF YOU GO
• Getting there: Carlsbad Caverns National Park is in the southeast corner of New Mexico, 23 miles southwest of Carlsbad and 150 miles east of El Paso, Texas. If you're driving from El Paso, be warned that gas stations are scarce.
• Weather: It never changes in the cave, where the temperature remains a humid 56 degrees. Park officials advise wearing a long-sleeved shirt or bringing a light jacket. Outside, summer highs reach the 90s and thunderstorms are frequent. In winter, highs reach the 50s and 60s.
• Getting in: Park admission is $6 for adults, free for children 15 and younger, and is good for three days.
An America the Beautiful annual pass costs $80 and permits access to national parks and other federal recreation areas. Call 1-888-ASK-USGS or see www.store.usgs.gov/pass.
A lifetime senior pass for citizens or permanent residents 62 and older costs $10. An access pass for permanently disabled citizens or permanent residents is free. These passes admit the cardholder plus three adults into Carlsbad Caverns.
Self-guided tours of the Big Room are included with admission. Senior and access pass holders can buy half-price tickets for guided tours.
Summer hours: The Natural Entrance is open 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. daily, the Big Room 8:30-5. The visitor center is open 8 a.m.-7 p.m. The park closes earlier after Labor Day.
The park's visitor center has been under construction for renovation but is expected to re-open later this summer. Until then visitor center services are operating in a series of trailers.
ABOVE GROUND
• The caverns sit under the Chihuahuan Desert in the Guadalupe Mountains. A one-mile paved trail begins near the visitor center and offers a look at the desert landscape and plants.
• The scenic Walnut Canyon Desert Road travels for 9 ½ miles through the desert. It takes about an hour to drive the gravel road. Open 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. mid-May through mid-October, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. other times of the year.
• Birdwatchers often head to Rattlesnake Springs, a historic oasis 5 ½ miles south of White's City on U.S. 62, then 2 ½ miles west on County Road 418.
• Ask about hiking opportunities in the park wilderness office. Rangers have permits and trail and weather information. Topographic maps are sold in the bookstore.
WHERE TO STAY
No lodging is available in the park, and there are no campgrounds. Backcountry camping is allowed. Free permits are available at the visitor center.
• White's City Resort and Water Park, 17 Carlsbad Caverns Highway, is about seven miles east of the visitor center. It includes the Cavern Inn, which has 42 rooms, and the Walnut Canyon Inn, with 62. Summer rates start at $79.99, including breakfast and admission to the water park. 800-CAVERNS or www.whitescity.com.
• In Carlsbad, the Best Western Stevens Inn, 1829 S. Canal St., has 220 rooms from about $97, including breakfast. 505-887-2851, www.stevensinn.com.
• Holiday Inn Express, 2210 W. Pierce, has 80 rooms and suites from about $104, including breakfast. 505-234-1252, www.hiexpress.com.
WHERE TO EAT
The park sells sandwiches and snacks in the visitor center and a rest area near the Big Room.
The Velvet Garter Restaurant is open for dinner at the White's City Resort. Entrees include spinach lasagna, $10.95; 10-ounce sirloin, $15.95; taco salad, $9.95. All include soup and salad. 505-785-2291, Ext. 401.
Carlsbad has a wide variety of chain restaurants, especially along Canal Street (U.S. 285).
INFORMATION
• Carlsbad Caverns National Park: 505-785-2232, www.nps.gov/cave.
• Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce: 505-887-6516, www.carlsbadchamber.com.
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