Bob & Jenny's Cross Country Adventure
Day 90-95
Welcome to
Carlsbad Caverns, 
a Catwalk gorge hike, and 
a ghost town in
New Mexico
Nov 15-20, 2008

A one-minute ride in an elevator takes you down 800+ feet, right into the Carlsbad Caverns.  The size of four football fields put together, and ceilings towering above, claustrophobia isn't a problem--once you are off the elevator.   Halfway back up, our elevator stopped.  The guide pushed buttons, saying "this is unusual...but it should reset itself in a few seconds" and "we have the best technicians here".  This is where you might consider walking 'the natural way' to enter the cavern.  

Each of these photos has a person in it.  Can you find the little people?
Hiking among huge house-sized red boulders, waterfalls, and hidden crevices. This beautiful gorge was originally the conduit for a pipeline which brought water from the river above to power the mill in the valley to saw lumber for the mines in the 1890's. After the demand for lumber subsided, the area was turned into a park and in the1930's, the Conservation Corp built a wooden catwalk so people could enjoy the canyon. In 1960, the wooden structure was replaced with the steel catwalk.
Mogollon, a "ghost town".  What we thought would be an abandoned ghost town like Bodie turned out to be a living ghost town.  
9 miles deep into the desert on a single lane road that is steep and twisting, who on earth would live here?   Nice people!
We chatted with a local woman who said she has lived here for thirty years.  She makes the trip to Silver City twice a year to get supplies, mostly beans and flour.  She also has DSL internet and is a college graduate working in the field of quantum something-or-other.  The mail is delivered three times a week as well, so it really isn't all that remote afterall.  A man that Bob spoke with said he also has lived here for thirty years.  He was busy making a woodstove. 
See the fine white lines all over my back?  As we walked the Catwalk, a fine mist was pouring down on us--like hiking near a waterfall.  Bob captured these with a slowed shutter speed.  We think it was coming from the Sycamore trees--sap maybe?
Can you see the speleothem that is shaped like a cave man in the pic below?
The natural entrance to the cave can be used for hiking into the caverns if you don't want to take the elevator.
The Catwalk: