Wednesday, May 19, 2021 - We drove from Alamagordo, New Mexico (Holloman AFB) to the Sunset Reef Campground on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land about 25 miles south of Carlsbad, New Mexico and about 12 miles from the cavern. We decided to drive to Roswell on Highway 70 and then turn south to Carlsbad. The drive was very pretty with a nice day and no issues with the rig. Once we arrived in Carswell, we drove 25 miles southeast on Highway 62/180 to the entrance of the national park.

We drove seven miles seven miles past the national park entrance and turned right onto a paved road. We then immediately turned right on a gravel road for the half mile trip to the Sunset Reef Campground. There are about five RV slots at this campground and another six slots set aside for car campers. The site is excellent with a fence all the way around and each slot is designated by smaller fences and concrete slabs with shade structures for the picnic tables. There are fire rings too. It is free of charge and there are no power, water, or sewer services provided. We were "boondocking" for three days. The people who were coming and going from this site were very friendly and nice. Lots of young men and women who were tent and car camping came to this site. We could see the Carlsbad Cavern Visitor Center from our RV.

Thursday, May 20, 2021 - We worked on the RV and did chores in the morning because Elmer and Karen Feick were on their way from El Paso to go to the caverns with us. You need reservations to go into the cavern and Elmer had gotten the reservations for all four of us. The plan was to meet them at the visitor center at 1:00 pm, so we had some time in the morning to get some things done at the RV. I used the time to update the posts to this blog and also upload photos from the previous days activities. I managed to use up about all my available WiFi Hotspot data on my phone and on our Ipad. We had already used the total data available on our MiFi Jet Pack. I need to find a Starbucks somewhere so that I can use their WiFi.

At 12:30, Lisa and I drove to the visitor center and met up with Elmer and Karen. We visited the gift shop and then entered the visitor center before heading to the cave entrance. This is not a small cave. After you enter, you have a mile and a quarter walk down paved pathways with guardrails to what is considered the entrance to the chambers of the caverns. From there, you have another mile and a quarter of distance to cover to explore main part of the cavern. There are lights along the pathways and there are also lights throughout the cavern showing major features. It was very hard to take photos with my SLR because there was just not enough light. Amazingly, the IPhone is the best camera to use in the cavern as it seems to be able to functions with minimal light. Also, there is so much to see that you cannot possibly take photos of everything and give a reasonable insight into what the caver is about. The bottom line is that you have to go there. I can't tell you all about it here or show you what the experience of visiting the cavern is like with photos. You have to put the Carlsbad Caverns on your "bucket list." They had a cool CD of the caverns, but it was all copy-written material. I was able to buy a disk with 20 photos of the nightly "Bat Flight" that was not copy-written. I have added some of those photos to the photo gallery. Lisa was able to get some pretty good photos of the cavern chambers; I have added them to the photo gallery. Another great feature of the cavern is that when you are tired from walking all the way down to the main chambers (855 feet down) , you can take the elevator to the surface. Eighty-five stories in one minute; pretty neat and lazy.

After leaving the caverns, Elmer and Karen came back to our RV with us. We had a wonderful steak dinner at the RV and visited while waiting for the evening to set in so that we could go back to the caverns for the evening "bat flight" from the cave. We arrived at the amphitheater where spectators sit to watch the bats come out of the cavern. There is a section of the cavern where the bats roost and people are not allowed to go there. They do not want the bats disturbed. For a period of time in the early 1900s, bat guano (feces) was mined for fertilizer. This is no longer being done. A Park Ranger was there talking about the bats and answering everyone's questions. The ranger was definitely knowledgeable about the bats and their movements. The bats depart the cave to look for bugs to devour. They travel up to 35 miles away from the cave to the Pecos River area because there are more bugs near water. Unfortunately, there has been very little water (rain) in the area lately, so there are fewer bugs and hence fewer bats. The bats did not begin to come out until it was nearly dark, so they were very hard to see. We did see bats, but not too many. The photos in the gallery show a lot more than we saw. After we drove back to the RV, Elmer and Karen began the two-hour drive back to El Paso. They arrived home at around 11:00 at night.

Friday, May 21, 2021 - Today we plan to take a nice, leisurely drive through the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. We drove the 25 miles south to the park and went to see the visitor center. There had been a fire in the park, so we had heard that part of the park was closed. As it turns out, the Guadalupe Mountains National Park is a wilderness park with no roads going through it. Our thought of a leisurely drive evaporated and was replaced with a 4.3 mile hike to The Devil's Hall. Since we had not planned on a hike, we only had one water bottle for the both of us. Based upon previous hikes, I figured we could make the hike with one bottle of water. As it normally is with our hikes, this one was no different and was 2.2 miles of uphill followed by 2.2 miles back of downhill. The trail was described as "rocky" and it turned out to be pretty true. The first mile was on a pretty standard, moderate trail and then we hit the part that was a wash. We began to hike up the wash the rest of the way to the top by going over and around boulders and rocks. Three young people passed us on the trail and the two gentlemen had backpacks with babies in them. They were heading to the same place we were. There was one area where I had to "carefully" walk along a ledge while Lisa "carefully" climbed a set of small shale steps that were about three to four inches high. Then we continued up to a narrow canyon (about 12 feet wide) that the stream had cut through the mountain. It was about 100 feet high on both sides and pretty neat to see. (See the photo gallery) After spending about 30 minutes at the hall, we began the return trip. About halfway back, we came upon one of the men who had been carrying a baby and he had a pretty severe case of heat stroke. We did not have a water, but a couple who we met on the trail had about a gallon of water with them. They gave the guy some water and he immediately began to vomit. We gave him some salty chips and more water and he was able to walk the rest of the way out once rested. He has some pretty bad leg cramps. He vomited again once we got back after drinking way too much water from the fountain at the camping area. Sent us a message to make sure we take enough water on our hikes. After the hike, we returned to our RV and relaxed (napped). It was a very nice hike and a fun day in the hills.

Later in the evening, we began the process of preparing the RV for departure in the morning. We stowed the side deck and chairs and prepped the interior for departure. It all went very well. Tomorrow we depart for Sonora, Texas on our way to Fredericksberg.