Carlsbad and into Texas 22-24 Nov

Sunday 22
Up early we drove 20 miles or so south through more desert to Carlsbad Caverns. This is not the largest nor the deepest nor the longest cave in the world but it is certainly one of the most amazing places I have ever been. The caves were not formed by water but by acidic erosion. Water leaching through the rocks met the Hydrogen Sulphide gas that was formed from petroleum deposits in the area. The water and Hydrogen Sulphide formed Sulphuric Acid which then dissolved the limestone forming huge chambers. Uplift then pushed the caves up above the water table and then the creative processes began where water, carbon dioxide and dissolved limestone slowly, drop by drop, caused the formation of the amazing features of the cave.
It is home to several hundred thousand bats and another several tens of thousand swallows, both of which have now, unfortunately, flown south for the winter. We walked down through the natural entrance to the cave (which was once a steep drop only accessible by ladder) down a steep switchback path, past the twilight zone and into the darkness. Small dim lights lit the path and some of the features of the cave. Amazing formations, stalagmites; stalactites; soda straws; popcorn; slimy flowstones and grand pillars; mirror surfaced cave pools that occasionally are disturbed by a drip from overhead; cave pearls and crystals; brought out oohs and ahs from all of us as we wandered for 2.5 miles through and around the entrance and through another cave called 'the big room'. Our photos could not do the incredible features justice and so we have bought a book to remind ourselves of what we have seen when we get back to the UK.
The first man known to come down into the cave was a teenager called Jim White back in the late 1890s and then in the early 1900s bat guano was collected here and sent to California as fertilizer for the fruit orchards that were set up there. In 1915, after the first photos of some of the formations were shown in the local town, many people wanted to see inside the cave and so they were lowered over 170ft in a bucket used to haul bat guano from the cave! In 1923 the cave was declared a National Monument, it was explored by members of the National Geographic Society and then declared a National Park in 1930. In 1995 the cave was declared a World Heritage Site and now the park has expanded to include 100 other local caves.
One of the most amazing things that we learnt in the cave is that in some of the cave pools there is more biodiversity than in the rain forest. Scientists have also discovered some bacteria that produce an enzyme to kill competitors in the pools, one of these enzymes is being studied because in tests it kills cancer cells whilst appearing to leave healthy cells alone!
Our caving hours at an end we started our journey to Dallas to return the van, we passed masses of mini oil rigs (but have so far failed to take any photos of them) and horizon to horizon wind turbines (the most I have ever seen in one place). The landscape slowly became more lush, from wispy, dry, yellowish brown grasses and desert shrubs to green grass, oak trees and rivers with a decent flow of water in them. More natural water than we have seen since the Hoover Dam clogged the Colorado river! So we spent the rest of Sunday and then Monday driving over 500 miles. Tuesday was spent cleaning, washing clothes and bedding and packing. Not very interesting!!!