Carlsbad Caverns

Carlsbad Caverns
By: Cave Spelunking

Carlsbad Caverns are part of the Carlsbad Caverns National Park in Southwestern New Mexico, in the Guadalupe Mountains. Carlsbad Caverns is one of the best-known caves in the world. The show cave can be visited by the general public. You can walk down or take an elevator down to the Underground Lunchroom. The Underground Lunchroom is 750 feet underground and it is strictly a tourist attraction.

Walking or riding an elevator down 750 feet into the earth is an experience like no other, and it's as close as most visitors will ever get to spelunking or caving. Besides the Underground Lunchroom, there are 20 other named rooms in Carlsbad Caverns.

The named rooms in Carlsbad Caverns are the Balloon Ballroom, Bat Cave, Bell Cord Room, Bifrost Room, Big Room or The Hall of the Giants, Chocolate High, Green Lake Room, Guadalupe Room, Hall of the White Giant, King's Palace, Lake of the Clouds, Left Hand Tunnel, Mystery Room, New Mexico Room, New Section, Papoose Room, Queen's Chamber, Spirit World, Talcum Passage, and The Rookery. Those names sound so fascinating, and they are, but not nearly so fascinating as the rooms themselves.

Lechuguilla Cave was discovered in Carlsbad Caverns National Park in 1986. Lechuguilla Cave is not open to the public. It's been mapped to a depth of 489 meters, and that makes it the deepest limestone cave in the United States. The entrance is kept hidden to preserve the cave in its most undisturbed state so that researchers can uncover the mysteries hidden there.

Carlsbad Caverns is home to 16 different varieties of bats. There's a big population of Mexican Free-tailed Bats. Seeing the bats take flight at dusk is one of the attractions at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

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Cave Spelunking.

Basic Caving Technique

Basic Caving Technique
By: Cave Spelunking

Spelunking or caving is becoming a more and more popular hobby or pastime. There are probably more beginning cavers than there are beginners in any other hobby or sport today.

Caving is fun, and caving is interesting, but caving can also be dangerous - VERY dangerous. If you are interested in caving, the safest thing that you can do is to learn good basic caving techniques from those who have "been there, done that". And you'll continue "learning" all of your life.

The most important technique of caving is staying safe while caving. Stay with your group. Don't forge on ahead or lag behind. You should never, ever go caving by yourself. It isn't safe, and it's just plain stupid. At the very least, take one buddy with you, and groups of more than two are much more advisable. "Stuff" happens in caves.

Caving is fun, but it is also serious business. A cave is no place to be rambunctious or engage in "horseplay." Injury in a cave can mean that a cave rescue must take place. Cave rescues aren't quick; they take time. For example, an injury that occurs after only 15 minutes of entry into the cave can require as much as eight hours and a hundred people to reach the injured caver.

Dress in warm clothing. Hypothermia is a very real possibility in the 54-degree temperature or a cave, particularly when you are sweaty because of the 95-100% humidity. Eat a snack and drink some water when you stop to rest. Rest stops need to be kept short to avoid chilling. Dressing in layers and avoiding cotton clothing can also help.

Caving instruction is available in every state in the Union. Join a caving club or check the yellow pages for caving instructors in the area where you live.

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Cave Spelunking.

The National Speleological Society

The National Speleological Society
By: Cave Spelunking

The following statement is on the National Speleological Society ( NSS ) website:

"The National Speleological Society believes: that caves have unique scientific, recreational, and scenic values; that these values are endangered by both carelessness and intentional vandalism; that these values, once gone, cannot be recovered; and that the responsibility for protecting caves must be assumed by those who study and enjoy them."

Those of us who are seriously interested in caves and their fragile ecosystems couldn't agree more. Caves are fascinating. Going caving is one of the fastest-growing pastimes in America today. As more and more people go into caves, more and more items are removed from them and left in them. The National Speleological Society motto and the motto of all responsible cavers is:

• Take nothing but pictures.
• Leave nothing but footprints.
• Kill nothing but time.
  

The ecosystems of caves have formed over millions and millions of years. The rock formations are breathtaking. The life in the depths of caves is like nothing that's ever been seen on the surface. Protecting this environment is of the utmost importance.

The National Speleological Society is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1941. It was originally located in Washington, D.C., but the headquarters are now in Huntsville, Alabama.

The National Speleological Society is divided into regions. Within the regional divisions, there are "grottos." Grottos are local-level divisions of the National Speleological Society that are responsible for local-level caving issues and conservation-related business.

The National Speleological Society maintains an excellent website where caving information is available free. Brochures can be ordered, and there is contact information as well.

The National Speleological Society is involved in all levels of caving and membership is open to weekend spelunkers, advanced and professional cavers and speleogists.


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Cave Spelunking.

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The Spiritual Mystery Of Caves

The Spiritual Mystery Of Caves
By: Cave Spelunking

Caving or spelunking is, without a doubt, one of the most fun ways there is to get really dirty. Caves are places to be astounded. Caves are places to be amazed. Caves are places to be inspired. Caves are places to experience the spiritual.

There's a place when one is going into a cave that's called the twilight zone. It's the area where the world above meets the world below; where sunlight and total darkness converge. The fresh air of the world above mingles with the cold, stale air from below. The sunbeams from above bend in strange ways as though they were being deflected by the darkness below.

There is something so "connecting" about caving. When you crawl through a small tight passageway and emerge into a magnificent, cathedral-like room, your own spirit soars; but you feel connected to the people who lived centuries ago and experienced the exact same wonder that you are experiencing in the exact same place you stand.

The incomparable beauty of caves can always amaze and inspire, but the feeling of being closer to the beginning of the world is a feeling that cannot be really described. It's a feeling that can only be felt when caving.

It isn't hard to see why ancient peoples believed caves to be places of great mystery and spirituality. Many cultures used caves as places to make sacrifices to try to appease the gods they thought controlled their lives.

Caves are spiritual places. They are also places of great mystery, and all of our modern-day science can't explain so many of the wonders found in caves. Oh, there are theories — lots of them — but still the wonder, the mystery, and the spirituality is there waiting to be found in caves all over the World...

Rock On & Keep Spelunking...
Cave Spelunking.

Cave Spelunking - Test Post

Another Post From...Cave Spelunking

This post is just for me to get familiar with Blogger.

Also, I hope to complete my set-up and and some cool stuff.

Thanks from,

Cave Spelunking