NEW MEXICO GEMS - CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK

Carlsbad Caverns turned out to be my most challenging experience this trip, even more so than swimming with sharks!

Visitors can select a self-guided tour or ranger-led tours. With self-guided tours, one can elect to take the elevator down to the Great Room, 750 feet below the earth's surface; or one can enter the caverns through the "Natural Entrance" and then walk the 1.5 miles to the Great Room. I chose the self-guided tour so I could go at my own pace. And I chose the "Natural Entrance" because it was all "downhill," and I didn't want to miss anything. Hellsfire, I may be out of shape, but I can handle "downhill." Riiiiiight!

~~~~~~~~~~

This is the topside of the caverns, on the edge of Chihuahuan Desert in the Guadalupe Mountains, and a portion of administrative buildings built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

~~~~~~~~~~

The "Natural Entrance" is through the amphitheater where bat fans observe the daily fly-out spectacle of the famous Mexican Free-Tailed Bats -- if they happen to be in residence. But they weren't when I visited; they had already left for warmer climes in October. Drat!

What a a precious, unique gem these caverns are. The other-worldliness here is mesmerizing at every turn. So hang fast to the hand rails and join me along the trunk passage called the Main Corridor, and wonder at the mind-blowing formations of draperies, columns and soda straws, of domes, ponds and grottoes.

~~~~~~~~~~

Snivel Alert: I stopped counting at 47 hairpins on the trail (there were probably three HUNDRED forty-seven hairpins by the time I finished! And no one said anything about 20% grades in the descent -- until it was all behind me! With all the warnings about the fitness of one's knees, there being no bathrooms along the way and all the usual "No's (eating, smoking, strollers, throwing coins into water features, pets, defacing, etc), there was no signage whatsoever that flashlights or water should be included in your day pack. ("Yes, the trail is lit." Nothing about how dim and occasional that lighting is, or how humid it is deep in the center of the earth!) But yours truly, not at all reticent about certain omissions, especially where "old people" are involved, cheerfully filled out the Suggestion/Comment Sheet and recommended that adding a few "DO's" to the signage might improve one's experience!

JUST GIMME A PLAIN BROWN WRAPPER!

I don't mean to be macabre, but some of the crypt embellishments in the St. Louis Cemetery Number One in New Orleans impressed me. Yeah-Yeah! Someone once also told me I'd photograph just about ANYthing! So until I show you my "Utility Pole Series," (you think I'm joking?!!), you'll just have to settle for photos of some of the little doo-dads survivors have included on dead people's burial boxes.

Perhaps in those days, one might suppose crypt embellishments would distinguish you from the poor sap lying next door. Or your bereaved loved ones (or survivors) needed to indicate to your neighbors just how high you were held in their esteem. (Or how grateful they were to have been "remembered"!)

There's a loose head rolling around here somewhere.

OK OK, I admit: I didn't have anything better to do with these photos!!! But the real truth is, I love recognizing and capturing on film the world around me, the world I live in -- sometimes breathtaking, sometimes pedestrian, commonplace and boring.

SOME LIKE IT HOT...

...AND FUNKY!

This is the scene as you enter HATCH, New Mexico.

Roadside shacks selling mostly chile...
Funky signage...
VERY funky signage...

Did he try to trip someone and get his foot bitten off in the process?!

Then turn the corner where you'll find a little more upscale chile shops...

Some with roof-dried red chiles.

Hatch, New Mexico has been hatched as the Southwest's hot spot for chile lovers. I flew through the town but couldn't resist a stop at my favorite mama y papa's chile store. It has changed somewhat since my last visit three years ago: the shack's floor has been gentrified (since a breached canal flooded the premises in 2006) -- the New Mexican dirt has been replaced by some shiny linoleum tile! And there were a few new products on the makeshift shelves. Like organic powdered chipotle and garlic that I think will definitely refine my scrambled eggs!

The "next generation," who speaks flawless English, is still behind the counter. No workers were in the back constructing chile wreaths, crosses, strands though; it was a Sunday, and they had the day off. I missed hearing their chatter while watching their nimble fingers, like greased lightening, thread the bright red chiles into festive, edible souvenirs of the capsicum fruit that makes this Rio Grande River region "world famous"!

You can even buy locally grown potatoes, onions, garlic, pecans and honey.

For some Southwest small town flavor, Hatch is worth a stop. Tell 'em I sent you!