“800 Feet Underground”

I snaked my way down the switchback trail of the “Natural Entrance,” a gaping hole in the earth’s surface whose mouth leads into a belly of dark wonder. During the summer months, hundreds of thousands of free-tailed bats coat the walls of the Natural Entrance and in the evenings they can be observed exiting the cave en masse. I tried to visualize the phenomenon as I continued my descent. The earth slowly shut it’s mouth around me and eventually swallowed me whole. It was as if I had walked through a dimensional portal and landed in another world. Mesmerized, I sat down in an area of the cave called the “Big Room” and wrote of my experience;

It’s as if earth is sluggishly melting on to itself from above, taking on bizarre and unnatural shapes. It trickles so slowly that our limited comprehension of time renders it stagnant. In the epic formation timeline of 265 million years, I view an infinitesimal segment of this world’s continual shape-shifting. The melting layers and organic chemical concoctions birth ribbons of rock that dangle like drapes and entangled squid-like tentacles of stone. Like the grisly mouth of a monster, giant rock fangs cascade from the ceiling and protrude from the floor. Actively growing formations are coated in slick liquified stone that sparkles alluringly as it folds and drips onto itself. They grow at a torpid pace, patiently waiting for sustenance to seep through the hovering layers of earth and complete an 800ft. descent. The subterrestrial world of Carlsbad Caverns is home to surreal formations resembling giant mounds of kinetic sand with serene emerald pools entrenching their base. The depth of the pool is visible even when the force of a droplet, fallen from hundreds of feet above, ripples the pool’s placid surface. The entire landscape is otherworldly and impossible to adequately describe.

 

In a span of 4 hours, I only explored a 3-mile loop of the caverns. There are 70+ miles of underground mystery that have been officially discovered. In addition to entering/exiting through the Natural Entrance and a self-guided tour of the Big Room, I participated in a guided group tour of “Kings Palace” (due to past vandalism, there are limits on what “rooms” are open to self-guided exploration). This tour led us through several different rooms that comprise the cave system that can only be seen with a guide. Every room was filled with a variety formations that were uniquely enchanting. One major highlight of the guided tour was experiencing an intentional “black out.” While in the depths of the cave system, all light sources were eliminated and there was absolutely no light source of any kind. The glow of every flashlight, flame, watch and phone was extinguished. Instantaneously I was engulfed by thick, cold blackness. The darkness swallowed me whole and it was nothing that I’ve ever experienced above ground. Within minutes the black emptiness started to play tricks on my mind and the way my brain communicates with my eyes. It wanted to see something, anything, so badly that it began fabricating the outlines of the last logical images that had been burned onto my retinas. Indeed, momentarily terrifying. Yet important, as it cultivates a healthy respect for this kind of wilderness. For me, experiencing that darkness further illuminated how uniquely incredible the caverns are. It is a splendid subterrestrial land of seemingly mythical formations, whose existence is hard to believe in without seeing. I can understand how there were doubters that called the caverns a hoax when they were originally discovered and the findings were reported for the first time. It’s simply too difficult to describe this underground wonderland accurately without sounding like you’ve also been exploring desert drugs.

There are still new explorations and discoveries underway in Carlsbad Caverns. Because it is protected as a National Park, these explorations are regulated. This kind of protection allows us to preserve and experience the sheer beauty of what our predecessors discovered, but also continue to uncover unparalleled hidden wonder. Continued exploration in Carlsbad Caverns is delicately opening the doors to underground rooms that have been locked for millions of years. It’s surely a sight to see and the science behind the formations is just as spectacular. Limestone dissolved by sulfuric acid birthed the very cavern I sat in! I experienced just one of more than 300 caverns that exist below the surface of the Chihuahuan Dessert and Guadalupe Mountains. It’s difficult to imagine those landscapes are a fossil reef that once lay beneath an inland sea hundreds of millions of years ago. Mind-blowing natural wonders like these are undisputedly worth our awe, reverence, support and protection.

  

 

Aside:

Until this cross-country journey started to unfold, I hadn’t heard of many of the National Monuments or Parks that are now “Bucket List” recommendations. As I walk through these places of breathtaking wonder, I often find myself asking, “How had I not heard of this place?!! So many people are missing out. Access to this place and this information should be more available to ALL people for so many reasons!”…Which is another post for another day.

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