Hiking Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: May 10, 2024
We hiked .3 miles outside on the Nature Trail past various cacti and native plants until we arrived at the Bat Flight Amphitheater. Twenty some years ago we sat at this amphitheater at dusk and watch hundreds of thousands of bats fly out of the cave and trek off to feed at night on insects before returning by dawn.
As we reminisced, we walked farther and farther down, hiking over 60 switchbacks until we were in the dark cave. This was the natural entrance to the cave. Each switchback was a bit darker until we had to use our flashlights. We hiked this strenuous and dangerous trail down 755 feet (equivalent to ¾ of the height of the Empire State Building) to the bottom of the cave past areas/rooms called Devil’s Spring, Devil’s Den, Iceberg Rock, the Green Lake Room and the King’s Palace. Iceberg Rock (Photo#6) is a single 200,000-ton boulder that fell from the cave ceiling thousands of years ago. The stalactites, stalagmites, columns and other formations were incredible. We hiked over 1.25 miles until we came to an elevator to ascend back up and out of the cave.
FYI – Carlsbad Caverns contains 119 known caves, including Lechuguilla Cave – the nation’s deepest limestone cave at 1,604 feet. The Big Room is one of the world’s largest and most accessible underground chambers.
