Carlsbad Caverns - The Cavern Part B

 

Technically the Natural Entrance and the Big Room are two different trails, but we did them together, so they're getting posted together. After taking the ranger-led tour we went back to the surface so we could experience what it's like to walk 750 feet down into the earth. It's pretty cool.

Side note: Notice the new sweatshirt. When we reached our hotel we discovered that Wayne's sweatshirt had been left in the first rental car we were given, one that wasn't acceptable. We were given a new car and remembered to get our suitcases out of the first one, but forgot that Wayne had removed his sweatshirt and put it in the back seat, so it stayed in El Paso. That was sad, but we had also recognized that the sweatshirt was fraying and headed to the rag pile soon anyway. The Olympic Ring Sweatshirt's last excursion was to the Tindale House at Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. This was the first adventure for the Carlsbad Caverns Sweatshirt!

After about a mile we passed the entrance for the King's Palace tour, then it was time to enter the Big Room, which is huge - about the size of ten football fields laid end to end!

The Big Room is gigantic! It took quite a while to walk through it and we loved admiring all the cool formations at our own speed. We particularly liked the last lighted formation, called Doll's Theater. 

P.S. This visual of the walking path helped me orient myself better as we walked along in the dimly lit rooms.