2From Below

Of several ways to enter the Caverns, only two are permitted today by the National Park Service. One is through the natural entrance and the other is by elevator which takes the visitor rapidly down 754 feet to a spot adjacent to the lunch room and the famous Big Room. The true adventurer—the visitor who wants to really see the Big Cave from the beginning, much as my father first saw it, will prefer to enter through the natural opening with the regular tour. Visitors not in the best of health will go down by elevator, but they will miss much of the fun and excitement.

As the tour passes into the mouth of the natural opening the warm sunshine soon gives way to the yellow incandescence of the man-made light which illuminates all the passageways and underground chambers. The cool cave air is soon felt, and the warm coat or sweater is already appreciated. The guide points out the important features that should not be missed, and answers questions from members of his party about the cave, its history, formations and development.

Visitors today have a sloping paved trail to follow—far easier than the rock strewn path the early explorers crawled over in their thirst for a view of what lay below. Steep climbs have been eliminated by sharp switchbacks which lengthen the walking time but make the descent much easier.

As the tour continues, the descent begins to steepen and the walls change in both composition and texture. Solid rock predominates, appearing much darker than around the entrance. An occasional pale color is noticed in the illuminated areas, and a few moments later the first stalactite is seen hanging from the ceiling.

Shortly the tunnel divides and the party will follow the trail as it leads to the left. The guide points out that to the right is the Bat Cave, that portion of the Caverns where the millions of bats live and where the great guano deposits were found. It extends over a half mile back in an easterly direction and is not a part of the tour.

At this point the trail levels somewhat and the visitor finds himself in the Auditorium, a large room where the Ranger pauses for a brief explanation to the group. Members of the party will be surprised at how well the guide's low voice can be heard, a phenomenon due to the excellent acoustics of the room.

All eyes are absorbed in the ever-changing spectacle that is unfolding before them. Next comes a low ceilinged passageway, followed by a clear pool of water from which rises a lone column. The formations along the way are getting larger with each step, the coloration is more vivid, and the variations are great indeed.

Formations at times suggest the ancient cliff dwellings found at Mesa Verde, and one wonders if the early Indian did, by chance, ever inhabit them. Suddenly, as the descent drops rapidly, the ceiling is some 125 feet above and the visitor finds himself at the Whale's Mouth, a formation with slender stalactites enhanced by clever lighting which indeed does resemble the interior of that sea-going mammal's jaws.

As the ceiling rises still more, the party enters the Main Corridor, a tunnel almost a mile long which leads directly to the most picturesque rooms of the Caverns. The descent is for the most part uneventful and rapid, and the guide points out some of the unique formations along the route such as the American Eagle, which has a wingspread of 12 feet, the Baby Hippo, others resembling sea foam and waves, and the three Little Monkeys perched well towards the ceiling overhead.

The Lunchroom

Along the walls of the Main Corridor one may see small openings which reveal an inky blackness that may cover up some mysterious room or hallway. Someone in the party asks the guide about it. He explains that there are many such openings in other rooms of similar nature, but since they have nothing different to offer from what is already being seen, the Parks Department has not opened them to public view.

Have the Caverns been fully explored, someone asks. No, he replies. To date about 23 miles have been mapped and surveyed, and many openings into large chambers are known to exist, but their size is unknown. Perhaps even larger rooms lie close by. No one knows.

The formations continue to change in size, shape, and contour. Stalactites hanging from the ceiling look as though some little elf might have hung them there the night before, using a spindly stalagmite to stand on as he did so. The visitor has been so absorbed in what he has been seeing that he is startled to hear the guide announce that the party is now 600 feet below the surface. That is further than the Washington Monument is high.

The most picturesque portions are now to begin, he says, but the first of them will require some climbing. For that reason, those not quite up to the task may take a short cut to the lunchroom which is a brief jaunt to the left. The rest will head on past the Iceberg, the largest "loose" rock in the Caverns, which is estimated to weigh about 200,000 tons. It once "fell" from the ceiling, but the fall was gradual. The delicate stalactites grew later. The ceiling at this point is some 358 feet above.

If the visitor thinks he has seen something up to now, he is due for a surprise, for a few moments later the winding pathway leads to the first of the many scenic rooms for which the Carlsbad Caverns have become so famous. Appropriately named the Green Lake Room, this first of several similar chambers is breath-taking in its beauty. Its name is derived from the small green pond seen to the right of the trail, which is fed by drip water from above, a pool so clear its depth is easily seen.

On the ceiling above are huge masses of stalactites, at times so thick as to form curtains of stone, varying from reddish brown to a light grey, intriguing in their staggered form and defying description by even the most talented poet or writer. On beyond the pool the visitor marvels at the Veiled Statue, a pillar of dripstone which resembles a frozen waterfall and which began its existence about 100,000 years ago.

Many visitors have said at this point they have had their money's worth. This one room alone was worth their whole trip. Actually, they aren't yet quite half way, and there is more to come.

Continuing on past the Frozen Waterfall and the Bashful Elephant, both named for the effect they give, the traveler enters the King's Palace which, to some, is the most ornate of the many chambers the entire Park has to offer. Thousands of stalactites hang from the ceiling, at times resembling stringy mosses hanging from the limbs of trees. Some, appearing to hang at a slight angle, give the impression the "stone moss" might be swaying in the wind. Underneath there is a noticeable scarcity of corresponding stalagmites, and geologists think the floor at this point was at one time covered with water, which would prohibit the formation of the "floor icicles."

The eye roams over ever-changing forms with no two quite alike, and the immensity of the room alone is sufficient to remind man what a small mortal he be, after all. At the far end of the Palace are seen two pendants, stalactite and a stalagmite which come within a fraction of an inch of kissing. Now dead, they will never touch; hence the name, the Frustrated Lovers. And, as though they might have been the King and the Queen, they are found at the small passageway that connects the King's Palace with the Queen's Chamber, another room of similar shapes and decoration which do indeed remind the visitor of the ornate finery to be expected in Her Majesty's domicile. The countless rows of stalactites look like driplets of finely woven lace, stretching over much of the ceiling not unlike the frills of a canopy one might expect to find adorning the Queen's bed in her castle.

One unique and different formation is known as the Queen's Draperies, which are found at the southwest side of the room. They are a form of massed stalactites grown together so evenly that they resemble a huge drape from which the wrinkles haven't been ironed out. But the unusual feature is the ability of this stone to absorb light and reflect it moments after the light has been extinguished. These portieres are the highest in the Caverns, being slightly over 40 feet. Throughout the rest of the room one feels as though he must have interrupted Mother Nature while she was busily experimenting and trying to decide what to do next, having left behind her first efforts for the world to see.

The paved trail continues through a low, rocky passageway at the far end of the Queen's Chamber and presently the party finds itself in the Papoose Room and in one of the lowest spots in the Caverns, approximately 875 feet below the surface. Here the stalactites have grown together in such a way as to resemble huge curtains of stone which appear much like a sheet of lava which has slipped through a crevice and then hardened.

Here, too, are numerous needle-like points protruding down from the ceiling as though sharp pointed pins had been pushed through from above. Areas on the floor remind the visitor of a growing rock garden, yet there is not a green leaf anywhere to be seen. Nevertheless, few gardens offer any more beauty or color than these gentle formations along the edges of the Papoose Room, smallest of the scenic chambers on the trail.

Here the party must retrace a few steps, returning through the King's Palace, leaving this time by the eastern end, entering a small passageway which leads to a series of sharp turns and switchbacks made necessary in order to climb the rather steep grade ahead.

It has now been an hour and 45 minutes since the visitor left the outer world behind, and the up and down climbing has done its part towards working up an appetite. But if that hasn't been enough, going up this zig-zagging hill should complete the task and make anyone ready for something to eat. Appropriately enough, it has been tagged Appetite Hill, and uses 60 feet to accomplish its task.

A moment later the party passes by a room of rocks which looks as though it was noon hour at a rock quarry, and the workmen had scurried off at the abrupt blow of the whistle, not caring in what manner of disarray they left their chores. But in this case it was Nature's workmen who left—untold hundreds of years ago—never to return. Labeled the Bone Yard, it features an alcove where the formation resembles a huge sponge—rock eaten away or dissolved by the continuous action of water which, at times, resembles bone formations.

After having seen the more colorful scenic rooms, many visitors give this spot scarcely more than a fleeting glance, but geologists find here exacting evidence as to the Caverns' beginning. After the Swiss cheese effect was created the water was in some manner diverted and, in the absence of drip water, no stalactites or stalagmites were formed.

A few steps more and the visitor finds himself in a huge room with a massive rock formation hanging from the ceiling as though it might fall to the floor at some prearranged signal. Huge boulders dot the sides of the room, between which are many narrow white benches and tables. In the center of the room are long aisles which carry the visitor past waist-high counters on which have been placed hundreds of box lunches. Yes, this is the famous lunchroom, 754 feet below the surface of the earth, and just about the most popular room for those who have been hiking for the past couple of hours.

The guide announces there will be a rest of 40 minutes—ample time to eat a noon-day meal and rest a couple of tired feet. It seems that no matter how many people enter the lunchroom, the line past the counters never stops or is held up. Designed to accommodate 1200 an hour, as many as 2000 hungry sightseers have been clocked picking up their lunch and beverage in that time. The lunchroom is operated by the Cavern Supply Company under the supervision of the National Park Service.

Visitors who took the easy way into the Caverns, via the elevator, arrive at the lunchroom as their first stop. From this point they continue their limited tour of the Caverns pretty much on one level.

With so many people in this one huge room a long way from the outside atmosphere, someone asks the guide if the air doesn't become stale and musty. No, he replies, the air changes naturally every 24 hours. How much longer does our tour last, another wants to know. This is the halfway point, says the guide, and we have about two hours more.

Here many a traveler pauses a moment to absorb what he has seen—the beauty, the magnificence, the grace and charm. Mother Nature does her work so well—so thoroughly. But the guide said there is more. How can there be more—how can anything match what has already been seen? Man is indeed a humble creature, the tiniest detail in the great heavenly scheme. Great though man's work may be, God's work is ever greater.

The rest period is over. It is time to go on. In a moment the party is once again assembled in the main passageway section which connects the many rooms, and turns to the left past "hanging mosses" and honeycombed fissures into the famous Big Room, largest underground chamber known anywhere, and unsurpassed in length, width and height, variety and size of formations, number of colors to be seen, and value to geologists due to the many finds that have been made.

Here the remainder of the 4-hour tour will be spent. The trail around the perimeter of the room is one and a quarter miles and, although many sections and alcoves are actually under one huge roof, the visitor usually feels he is in a series of separate chambers. One reason is that the big room is shaped roughly in the form of a cross, the length of the "staff" measuring some 2,000 feet while the "cross-arm" is slightly over half that length. 2,000 feet is almost4/10of a mile!

Two hours is not enough to see everything the big room has to offer. Many small formations are not seen but must be discovered. Every visitor sees something new—something no one else within the party has noticed, for the formations are countless and the resemblances they offer are equally as numerous.

The elaborate indirect lighting system has been designed to reveal the largest, most beautiful and ornate of the spectacles to be seen, but a flashlight aimed in a dark corner is likely to reveal formations resembling a Mermaid, Frog on a Toadstool, Queen's Necklace, Weeping Willow Trees, the Petrified Forest, and countless others, limited only by man's imagination and his ability to seek them out.

But the larger formations which have contributed to the fame of the Big Room include Giant Dome, Hall of Giants, Rock of Ages, and the Temple of the Sun.

No two people see quite the same thing when they enter the Big Room. It is so huge and there is so much to greet the eye that at first everything is taken in but no one thing is seen. Then the eye begins to settle on one formation at a time. One of the first is the Hall of Giants, so named for the size of its principal formations; the huge Giant Dome, a massive, light grey stalagmite flecked with tinges of orange, stretching upward some 62 feet above the ground, making it the largest upward growth in the Caverns, and behind it the Twin Domes, similar in structure and formation, though not as high and therefore not as old.

As the party continues one listens to the whispered observations of the members. Looks like the inside of a great Cathedral, says one. Oh, no, answers his companion, too eerie and spooky for that!

The beauty continues to defy all description. The color in the Big Room, too, is appealing to the eye, no doubt enhanced by the deft use of colored lighting. No, says the guide. Only plain light bulbs are used in the thousands of feet of wire strung throughout the Caverns. Any color you see was put there by Mother Nature herself.

Creeping along the north side of the Big Room the party passes by Fairyland, a group of fantastically shaped stalagmites recalling the fairies from childhood tales as they go about their sprightly tasks.

Next to be seen is the Temple of the Sun, named for the many colors found shimmering on its sides and base. It is a huge stalagmite from which hang many stone icicles from a dozen or more layers, the curtains of icicles pink in color mounted upon a stone base of blue.

Thousands of inverted spires rain down from above, and on the ground the crinkly rock formations resemble pop-corn in color and appearance although not hardly in flavor! This same pop-corn formation is seen in other parts of the Caverns and geologists say this condition resulted after stalagmites had grown to a considerable height, following which the cave was flooded for thousands of years with water, the excess lime from which accumulated in the tiny globules which give the bubbly appearance.

Further on is the Totem Pole, a tall, slender stalagmite whose parent stalactite never had time to form due to the rapid rate of the dripping water. Standing pretty much alone, it sticks out like a large suhuaro cactus stalk against a cloudless sky. The outside "skin" is about as rough, but the spines are missing. To others it resembles a group of men's hats thrown carelessly into a pile, one on top of the next. What it lacks in color, it makes up for in its unique appearance.

The floor of the Big Room is a reddish brown color, and at this point the visitor sees numerous rounded mounds of stones, looking much as though a stalagmite might have gotten a good start only to be engulfed in water and be polished down to this semi-globular formation. That is probably just what happened, leaving these half-buried basketballs to remain in exactly that fashion for eternity.

A sudden right turn brings the party to the famous Jumping Off Place, which in reality is one of the entrances to the Lower Cave. The trail passes midway between floor and ceiling, approximately 150 feet in each perpendicular direction. Here the floor of the Lower Cave approximates 900 feet below the surface.

An easier entrance provides access to the cave which may be entered by those who care to do so, although it is not a part of the regular tour. Lower Cave shares honors with the Papoose Room as being the two lowest points on the underground tour. Also, they are the furthest west. Here, with the limit reached, the pathway begins its return trip.

On once more, lily pads, huge boulders, and clusters of flowstone along the walls greet the visitor as he heads for Mirror Lake, a small, crystal-clear pool that is well named. On beyond is the Bottomless Pit, a dark hole with mysterious implications that received its name from the first explorers who thought the title would intrigue all who saw it. From the trail the light of a spotlight has trouble in penetrating the depths of the pit, adding to its ghostliness. Actually, the pit has a bottom some 140 feet below the rim where the visitors pass, but unlike many other attractions of the Caverns which were named by those who first saw them, the name of the Bottomless Pit has remained unchanged. Other of the Caverns' features have been renamed two or three times within the past few decades.

As the column of silent visitors marches silently along the return trail the Big Room takes on a new look. Indeed it does not appear to be the same room where the party entered slightly over an hour ago. All sense of time and direction are lost in the myriad of decoration, light and shadow, gigantic, often grotesque formations, and the serenity of this underground heaven.

Passing quietly ahead the traveler pauses at the largest "living" stalagmite within the known part of the Caverns, the Crystal Spring Dome. Generally dry, this part of the Big Cave is moist, and water, dripping slowly from the ceiling above, is still depositing its minute quantities of calcium on the mighty Crystal Spring Dome as it has been doing for countless centuries.

The Crystal Spring is perhaps 20 feet high and resembles a bushy Christmas tree laden with snow, its branches drooping under the massive white blanket. The dripping water is depositing its lime at the rate of about 2½ cubic inches a year, although this rate varies depending upon the amount of moisture descending from the ceiling above, and also upon the amount of lime contained in the water.

This constant application of moisture keeps the white, plump stalagmite glistening all the time, and the excess moisture, unable to evaporate, forms into a small pool at the base of the dome, known as Crystal Spring.

In an adjoining area is the celebrated Rock of Ages, a gigantic stalagmite, stately in position and dramatic in location, thought to be one of the oldest forms in the Caverns, although its exact age is not known. For years it marked the end of the Caverns Tour, and an impressive ceremony conducted by the guides consisted of a short talk followed by the singing of the old favorite, "Rock of Ages." No visitor could ever forget this inspirational ending to a breath-taking tour of God's underground handiwork. The Rock of Ages became almost a symbol of the Caverns tour in the minds of those who had taken it. But, as the crowds of visitors increased, the park officers found they could not continue this service.

Its discontinuance brought protests from former Caverns visitors who had remembered this final closing gesture as the high point of the tour. Rippled layers give the Rock of Ages a shape all its own, and it marks the end of the journey through the mighty Carlsbad Caverns of today.

It is now nearly four hours since the traveler entered the big natural opening to the cave some 700 feet above him. His sweater feels good, though he isn't as cold as he had first supposed he might be, for the constant walking during the 2¾ miles which the full trip requires has kept him relatively warm.

Before saying good-bye to the Caverns he likes to pause a moment at the entrance to the Big Room and look back, for one last glimpse of this largest known room in the world, man-made or otherwise. Above him some 285 feet is the bedecked ceiling, the highest point in the Caverns, and suspended by the longest unsupported arch known in the world!

The human mind can't quite believe it, yet there it is. And as the visitor slowly turns to thoughts of the return trip he revolves in his mind the beauties he has seen.

He will find the elevator takes him quickly and safely 750 feet upward to the surface where the warm sunlight appears exceedingly bright to human eyes, which, in the intervening hours, have become accustomed to the gentle illumination found in the Caverns' otherwise inky blackness.

Within his own mind the visitor knows he will never forget the indescribable sights he has seen, but how can he tell others of the size, the intricate design, the scope and beauty that he has witnessed? Pictures help, and these may be purchased at the souvenir stand near the entrance. Views of all the better known formations in color are obtainable, as well as booklets telling about the history of the mammoth Caverns and how they were formed millions of years ago.

Man enters the great underground fairyland a bit apprehensive and sometimes skeptical as to what he will see, finding it hard to believe all he has heard of the Great Carlsbad Caverns of New Mexico. But some four hours later, as he once again greets the light of day, he recollects how Man has been responsible for some pretty remarkable shows, it is true, but now he is convinced that Mother Nature herself puts on the biggest, the most colorful, and the most spectacular show of all!

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