Drop. Dead. Amazing.
We spent a couple of hours there just looking at the various formations. The sheer scope of the place is intimidating - brings to mind the fisherman's prayer: Oh God, thy sea is so vast and my boat is so small
If you are planning to visit, wimp out and use the elevators - otherwise, you have to spend 45 minutes hiking down a steep path. You wind up in the entrance to the cave about 50' from where the elevators are - they will save you a 750 foot elevation gain and a long slog. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of that elevator salesperson's office.
You want to buy a couple of elevators?
OK - how tall?
750 feet - OK - how many stories is that going to be?
Two? where is this going to be installed?
Cave? Is this some kind of prank call?
There wasn't enough lighting in the cave to do any real photography - I would have had to deal with exposures of tens of seconds and with the tripod I was carrying, it would not have worked well at all. Anything I would have taken would have been a snapshot if anything at all. We spent the time drinking in the beauty and committing the majesty of the place to memory.
Outside was a different matter entirely - here are four from today:
We had a front move in - really high winds at our campsite and a little bit of rain. Now, the sky is clear with just a few puffy clouds.
A lot of the desert plants were starting to bloom - here is a Yucca
Cactus of some sort - need to identify a bunch of plants that I shot. Do that when I get back home.
There was a 1960's vintage tourist-trap at the entrance to the park - these adobe houses were cottages people could rent. Now abandoned. At the top of the hill is a replica of an Indian kiva.
And no, we did not return to see the bats - they don't really fly until later in the season - June/July. No photographic equipment is allowed - the flash confuses them and most digital cameras have motors to focus the lenses and they have enough of an ultrasonic output as to confuse the little critters. I do have cameras where I can turn off these motors but I would need to file for a special permit in order to use them. Next time...
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