04-26-2025 Hike

Didn't sleep super well. There was some pretty impressive lightning in the distance during the night, and we got a tiny bit of rain. We were bundled up against heavier weather, so all was good. Oatmeal, berries, and coffee for breakfast. Then we got stuff together, stopped by the visitor center on the way out, and drove to Carlsbad Caverns NP. Got there around 10:10 and walked over to that visitor center to pick up our reserved tickets for 10:30. Tickets were free with my pass. It was busy but not overwhelming. We decided, correctly, to hike down through the natural entrance. This is about 1.25 miles down to the Big Room, and there is plenty to see on the way down. Ann was walking slowly, the ramp was steep in many places, damp in some as well, and not well lit throughout. But the way down was really interesting and had a lot to see. It took longer than I thought it would to get to the Big Room. This area has a looping path around it and lots of interesting formations. Not very brightly lit but certainly navigable. We walked the entire loop and then took the elevator back up to the top. Once we got there, we walked to the car and got some stuff for lunch, then sat on a shaded bench and ate. After that, we wandered around the visitor center, which has the usual displays about the caverns as well as the surrounding land and people. We were waiting around for a talk about bats, and it was interesting, although I dozed off for a bit (was tired from not enough quality sleep). It was two scientists, the first one was more of a traditional animal biologist while the second one was more into genetic mapping of bat microorganisms. The first scientist brought out a couple of small bats for people to see, that was interesting. After the presentation, we walked back to the car and drove to the campsite. While we were at the visitor center, the rangers were warning of severe weather, including a tornado watch, mostly off to the east and north of us. It was windy but manageable. I made pasta with pesto and leftover pizza sauce for dinner. In the evening and the night, there was quite a bit of lightning but no thunder. I'm guessing we were seeing the effects of the big storms off to the northeast. We had some wind, a very little bit of rain, but generally a quiet evening.