From Pecos, TX it was a short drive up to Carlsbad, NM and the Carlsbad Caverns (the one with all the bats!) National Park. Somehow since we were headed to CAVES it never occurred to me that we would have to climb a mountain first. IF I had known that I would have lobbied to leave Lizzie at the bottom and just head up in the truck. Alas – hindsight is a wonderful thing! Up-up we went –


and then down –down into the cave.

This was a very impressive cave – we were underground about 4 hours and only saw the same area when areas would intersect.

The bats live in an entirely different area (phew) – but right on cue, at dusk they all exited the cave. We were very impressed as about 25,000 bats spiraled out of the mouth of the cave, but apparently it was a pretty light night. During the summer there are up to half a million bats that leave the cave over a span of a couple of hours. No cameras allowed for the bat flight – but trust me – it was pretty cool!
The trip down the mountain wasn’t too bad – probably because it was dark!!!

The next morning we left Lizzie at the campground and trekked back up the mountain to drive the Walnut Canyon Scenic Drive.

Not quite as lovely as a day (or at least the start of the day), but it was a great drive. This is all part of the Chihuahuan Desert and Guadalupe Mountains – and I confess it gave me a whole new perspective on the word “desert”.

You can check out the whole set of Carlsbad-Walnut Canyon pictures here -

but first here’s a little puzzle – can you find the deer in this picture?

Next post – drive to El Paso and El Paso itself. Are you tired of desert and mountain shots yet?