navelgazing.omphaloskeptic.net Journal

Getting There - Aneel's Travelogue

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Caves Marfa, TX, Thursday, 20 September 2012 8:48pm

I think Carlsbad Caverns is the best cave park that I've been to. It's got a real sense of space, lots of variety in rock features, and bats! And while I was there it was nearly deserted. I began with a Ranger Guided tour that started from the elevator entrance, and then left the cave and returned through the natural entrance. During the hike in, I saw exactly one other person (a Ranger, leaving by the same path), and only heard other people a couple times. I think I still prefer the silence of deserts (the occasional shifting of sand or wind in the distance) to the silence of caves (remote dripping, echoes), but cave silence is pretty excellent. There were more people arounds as I did the loop walk around the Big Room, but still not very many.

After spending about 4 hours in the cave, I hit the road for Texas. I'll say this for Texas: it may be flat and kind of boring, but at least they know it and let you get across it quickly.