Spending the day at the Caverns

Today our plan was to spend the day at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. We decided not to set an alarm and we would get started . . . whenever. As per our usual morning routine we were both awake around 5:30am. But instead of getting up and starting our day we chose to just stay in bed and read. Around 8:00am we got up and dressed, went down for breakfast and then got our stuff and headed our for the day. It was a little after 9:00am when we arrived at the entrance sign for the Caverns. I asked Thomas to stop here so that I could get a picture of the sign and look for a couple of letterboxes. But as fate would have it, we weren't alone at the sign. There were three other cars and everyone wanted pictures. So we nixed the letterbox finding and headed up to the Visitor Center. It is about a seven mile drive from the entrance gate to the parking area.

Once in the Visitor Center we went to the information desk and I was able to get my National Park Passport Stamps. Then we talked with a Ranger about what was happening today at the Park. There was only one guided tour for King's Palace and it was at 1:30pm. We decided to just do the self-guided tour and we opted to walk in via the Natural Entrance. So we bought our tickets and then headed outside and made our way to the entrance. But first I wanted to get some information for Azroadie's Carlsbad Caverns Park Webbox.

Note: He has a series of webboxes for some of the National Parks and since you aren't allowed to plant a letterbox on park land he has chosen to have you walk a trail and collect a couple of words from signs along the trail. Then you take the words you find and put them into a URL and if you have the right words you are taken to a web page with a picture from the park. Then you can print out that picture and glue it into your logbook as your image. I was also told that you can get an image of the National Park Passport Cancellation Stamp as well. 

The first sign we needed was just outside the Visitor Center as you exited to head to the Natural Entrance. So I stopped and got the word I needed from that sign. We continued walking toward the entrance to the caves and took a right turn to the Nature Trail. Toward the far end of the trail we found the second sign I needed and got the second word. Now that I had what I needed for this box I put my papers away and we headed to the Natural Entrance. You are greeted by a Ranger (who checks you tickets) and you get a short talk about the rules of the caves. Then you are free to enter and take your tour. By entering the cave this way we started our self-guided tour with the Natural Entrance Self-Guided Tour. Since we had the entire day we decided to take our time and really enjoy the Caverns. I took lots of pictures, we stopped along the way and sat on benches and took in all the formations. There were times where we moved off to the side of the trail and let other people pass us. We were both amazed at how little we remembered about the Caverns from our visit about 20 years ago. It was really like our first visit - it all seemed new. I lost track of time and I am not sure how long it took us to finish this part and get to the start of the Big Room Self- Guided Tour. We did the same thing in the Big Room as we did for the Natural Entrance - we took our time, took lots of pictures, sat on benches and just relaxed and enjoyed the walk. At 1:20pm we took the elevator up to the Visitor Center. The first thing we did was go to the restaurant and get something to eat. Then I got elongated pennies from the bookstore and then I picked up a patch and some postcards from the gift shop. We were now done with the Caverns and decided to take the Walnut Canyon Desert Drive and go on a short hike to look for a letterbox.

The Walnut Canyon Desert Drive (aka Scenic Loop Drive or Desert Loop Drive) starts at the edge of the Visitor Center parking lot and is a 9 mile gravel road that is well maintained and was a pretty easy drive. We enjoyed the drive and the views along the way. At about 8.8 miles we stopped at the Juniper Ridge Trailhead (there was a small pullout for one car to park at this point) to look for Kristal & Ron's Free-tailin' It Out of the Park letterbox. We hiked the trail following cairns along the way (at times the trail was hard to see) and hiked about one mile. At this point we reached a fence line (a landmark in the clue). We then looked for the next landmark in the clue but didn't find it, so we looked for the next one and didn't find that one either. So we just started looking around the area for anything that matched the clues. We came up empty handed. We started to wonder if the trail split off in another direction and somehow we missed it. But in the end we realized that we had followed the cairns and were in the right area. But it became apparent that things in the area had changed and some of the landmarks were gone (white plastic markers and a wooden post). So we ended out search and headed back to the car. By the time we reached the car it was 4:15pm, giving us just enough time to complete the loop road before they locked the gates.

On our way out of the park we stopped at the entrance sign to try and find the boxes there. Thomas parked the car and I read the clues and tried to see if I could see the hiding spot. As I read the clues for Love This Park: Carlsbad Caverns National Park by Road Junkies and Carlsbat Box by Aspen. I got out of the car and followed the clues and as it turned out the clues for both boxes lead to the same spot. The Carlsbat Box is marked as missing and the Love This Park box is a new box planted earlier this month. I found the latter and stamped in and then replaced it, making sure it was well hidden.

So we made the 20 mile drive back to Carlsbad and decided to find somewhere to eat before going back to the hotel. It was now 5:30pm and we had trouble finding a restaurant, it is Christmas Eve. We ended up settling on Dragon China Buffet. The place was packed but thankfully it had plenty of room and there was no waiting. It was a decent buffet with plenty of choices and we enjoyed it.

Once back at the hotel we showered and relaxed. I logged in my letterbox finds and wrote this post and now it is time for some sleep. Tomorrow is Chirstmas and we have a few things planned but it will be a more relaxing day than today.