First post-pandemic trip to cross off a bucket-list item, the great Carlsbad Caverns.
8am, Jalisco-style breakfast
A traditional big Mexican breakfast is required for a day of soft spelunking. Southern New Mexico has no shortage of authentic Mexican diners, such as El Jimador close to Carlsbad’s downtown.
9am, Carlsbad Caverns
The focus of this trip came early on the first rainy day at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Descending from the natural entrance along a switchback trail a steep 79 stories down to the Big Room, photos do not do justice to the sensory experience of this natural phenomenon. Now over 100 years old, the 1.25-mile paved trail and displays can be slightly dated but that does not diminish the approximately 40 miles of amazing caverns (not all of which are completely explored) and formations.
For lunch, I ate a ham sandwich more than 700 feet below the surface of the Earth.
3pm, Guadalupe Peak
Carlsbad Caverns National Park is located within the Guadalupe Mountains range, which stretches through southern New Mexico into Texas. Its terminus is the landmark formation El Capitan (today shrouded in clouds), about 100 miles east of El Paso and a short drive south of Carlsbad.
7pm, Pizza and downtown
The town of Carlsbad itself is small and industrial (oil/gas) but does support two brewpubs and a modest downtown square. Guadalupe Mountain Brewing has outstanding beers and pizza, and Milton’s Brewing faces an Art Deco-style county courthouse. C48
City Forty-Eight 