Traveling America By Van: Carlsbad To White Sands
By: John Kumiski
Since reading about it as a child, Carlsbad Caverns has been on my list of must-see travel destinations. The chambers, the stalactites and stalagmites, and especially the bats, they were compelling! It took sixty years, but I finally made it there last week.
Except for the bats being no-shows, it did not disappoint. The bats migrate from Mexico in the spring. We beat them there. The ranger said it had been dry. Dry means no bugs. No bugs mean no bats. So, we were left only with incredible mountain views while outside the cave, and indescribable visions inside.
At the ticket window (yes, there's an admission charge unless you have a Golden Age passport or similar) the ranger asks if you prefer to walk in and out, walk in and elevator out, elevator in and walk out, or elevator both ways. From the entrance to the lowest part of the cavern pathway is about an 800-foot elevation difference. The question is not academic.
I had wanted to see this all my life. I wanted to savor it. Susan felt the same way. We opted to walk in and take the elevator back. We saw young, strong, and healthy people going against the main flow. At one time it would have been me!
Some of the fantastic forms time and water have shaped through the millennia inside of Carlsbad Caverns. John Kumiski
From the beginning the paved trail intimidates. It leads to a huge hole in the ground, down which it disappears in a dizzying, apparently endless, and nearly vertical series of steep switchbacks. Cave swallows, the day shift of insect-eaters, flit in and out of their nests in the cave entrance, unconcerned about the hominids below.
Soon the only light you have is what's provided by the park service. After the blazing mid-day sunshine of New Mexico, the cave's lighting seems woefully inadequate. Your eyes soon adjust.
Every bend reveals new wonders. My thoughts were, "This is like Yellowstone, only underground." Millenia and water have carved such fantastic and otherworldly shapes down there, it's impossible to describe. Photos can't do it justice- they can't convey the enormity of the place.
To my credit, I tried. A while back I wrote about Florida Caverns. Carlsbad Cavern is like that, only times a zillion. Nothing on, or in, the planet remotely compares to Carlsbad.
A silhouette of Susan inside the cave in attempt to show some scale. The attempt is only partially successful. John Kumiski
We were down there for three hours. I would have stayed longer, but physiological needs will not be denied.
-Unavoidable Interruption- I'm typing this while lying in the back of the van, with the rear hatch open. A hummingbird just flew in, checked me out for a moment, and flew out again. The wonders just don't stop!
We found ourselves on US 82, headed to Alamogordo. We picked the road up in Artesia, where they took street art to new heights with cast-bronze, bigger than life sculptures. Then we were heading west on a stunning mountain road. The high point came at Cloudcroft, over 9,000 feet. Then it was down, down, down.
The world's largest pistachio sculpture At McGinn's Grove in Alamogordo. Susan eats ice cream, pistachio, naturally, in front. John Kumiski
Hint to the driving traveler- having tried it on this road, I can state with certainty that trying to take pictures while you drive could be the definition of a distracted driver. Don't try this!!!
We flattened out onto the Tularosa Basin, a small part of the enormous Chihuahuan Desert that stretches over much of the southwest. Rainfall in in this particular basin averages about eleven inches annually. In spite of that, people live here. The city of Alamogordo is here, and the basin is a major producer of pistachios. You can see the world's largest pistachio sculpture north of Alamogordo on Highway 54 at McGinn's. You will also find the nuts for sale, along with milk chocolate pistachio brittle, pistachio ice cream, and too many other treats to mention. McGinn's merits a stop if you find yourself in the area!
We found lots of people at White Sands National Park. It can handle it. Astronauts can see this largest collection of gypsum sand dunes on the planet from the international space station.
Living things fight to survive in the dunes at White Sands. The yuccas, those spiky plants, one of which displays a flower stalk, do quite well. John Kumiski
Some folks drive through, to see what can be seen from the eight-mile-long road. Others, like us, get out and go for walks through the dunes. There are several marked paths, or you can go off on your own. Still other bring saucer-shaped plastic discs for sliding down dune faces. And still other bring umbrellas, and food, and drinks, and turn a visit into a full-blown family party. It's like a beach day without the water. Finally, backcountry camping for the hard-core backpacker is available. You must carry everything you'll need, including water.
People have fun on the dunes at White Sands National Park. John Kumiski
On our hike we found the sand to be like a reflector oven. The sun blazes down from above, then bounces of the sand and blasts you from below, too. It was only 75 degrees but it felt like 90. Because the air is so dry you hardly realize you're perspiring. At soon as a water molecule comes out of a pore, the air carries it off.
White Sands National Park is another enchanting place in the land of enchantment. A visit is highly recommended.
We ended our stay in Tularosa Basin by visiting Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, north of the town of Tularosa on Highway 54. Thousands of 1000-plus-year-old petroglyphs line a hiking path here. Sadly, some have been removed, and other vandalized, and those same types of folks have added their own modern inscriptions to the ancient ones already there. One local man told me, "You just can't fix stupid." True enough. The site is still worth a visit though. The petroglyphs are thought-provoking and the scenery stunning.
A petroglyph at Three Rivers Petroglyph site. The Sacramento Mountains rise in the background. John Kumiski
We could have spent more time in the Tularosa Basin. But we still have a destination, and a rough arrival date to be there. It was time to move again.
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