Dog Canyon

John and I went hiking yesterday up to Dog Canyon. It's a part of Guadalupe National Park, barely over the New Mexico line. There was a fire up there back in June. You can see some of the trees are still showing signs of the fire. However, the grasses and flowers have come back quickly with all the summer rains. The sky threatened rain a few times, so we didn't get in much of a hike.



Saw lots of butterflies, but it was windy and not easy to get a good pic...



However, the wild flowers up there were beautiful.




Here is one of the few shots that I took that were worth while...



More soon...

Val & John

Hiking in Cloud Croft

Hiking with friends in Cloud Croft last weekend. It's usually cooler in the mountains than it is down in the desert. A nice change from the heat of Carlsbad. Hiking requires strength, and a good hiker knows: PIE FOR STRENGTH! :-) We had Forest pie, which was mixed berry, and sadly, it didn't last very long. LOL



After eating some pie, we headed off onto a trail. The view from the trail down towards White Sands...

View of an old railroad trestle...


Heat broke last night. Actually had the windows open this morning. Hope you're all doing well. Miss ya...

Love,
VAL & JOHN

Cavern Photos

Been doing a lot some OT lately. Still hot here, so John's been taking photos in the caverns when I'm working. Here are a few of them...









More soon! :-)

Friendly face

Had to work today, but got to see a friendly face I haven't seen in a few months. David, from HISP in Florida visited the caverns today! Unfortunately, they'd shut the Natural Entrance about a half hour prior to his arrival because of lightning in the area. Since we're at the top of a mountain, not the best place to be walking when lightning is around.

I escorted him down to the "Big Room" via elevator and gave him a short tour before I had to go back to work. I think he had a good time, and it was really great to see an old friend.

So who's next?????

VAL

Spider Cave

Finally got John into Spider cave this week. What's so exciting/significant about Spider Cave you ask? Spider cave is one of our off trail tours. It's more of a mental challenge, but does require some physical challenges. I was very proud of him because I know he was a little apprehensive about the trip.

This particular cave tour starts with a 1/2 mile hike down into the bottom of a canyon. From there, you climb about ten feet down a ladder into the entrance of the cave. That's actually the easy part. Next, you encounter a 30 foot belly crawl (yes, even for me) which curves you around. There are two sections, where a good size adult male (like John) have to physically dig the rocks from underneath them to squeeze through the opening! Yeah, I know some of you think we're both crazy.

We had a good lead ranger (thanks Sam) who is actually a little bigger than John. He was right in front on John. I was behind John encouraging him when he got to the most difficult parts. Once you make it past the 'squeeze' we arrive in what they call the auditorium. It's NOT a big room, but large enough for about ten adults to sit down in comfortably.

From that point, there's a lot to see and do in the cave. Several other physical challenges, but nothing like the first thirty feet. Spider cave offers some very interesting formations, some very white in color and also a lot of mineral deposits, leaving the cave walls red, or orange and almost yellow. Overall, a very beautiful cave to visit.

If you're interested in this particular cave tour, it's only offered to the public on Sunday. It tends to book up several months in advance as the tour is limited to eight people.

Working OT today - Bat flight tonight followed by the Star Party. Supposed to be hot. Looking forward to a break in the triple digit weather, although no relief is in sight! Keep cool...

Val & John

Busy Week

Mid week we were invited to play volley ball with some of the people I work with. It's been about ten years since either John or I played, but it sounded like fun, so we went. I should also mention that most of the other players are half our age. We were playing upstairs in the Rec center in town and it was hot, but we managed to hold our own. The next morning we were both sore, having awakened muscles rarely used... To be honest, I'm still a little sore.

Last night we went out to dinner at had a wonderful meal at "Trinity". Carlsbad, NM is not known for its restaurants (or shopping). Mostly chain fast food stores, and a few local places, whose hours vary, and they don't always stay open for their published hours. A fellow ranger told me the place was good, so John and I decided to check it out. I had the halibut with tomatoes, olives, and I'm not sure what else. It was fabulous! John had manicotti and neither of us left a crumb on our plate. It's been a long time since we truly 'dined out' and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Today I finally got John into 'Slaughter Canyon Cave'. It's one of our off trail caving tours, which requires a 1/2 mile hike up into the canyon, gaining 500 feet and then entering a cave. The cave is a cool 62 degrees, which was quite welcome considering it was in the 90's to lower 100's today. He found out how difficult it is to walk around a cave when there are no man made trails and other than the flashlights we were carrying, no natural light. There are many active speleothems (cave formations) in SCC, unlike Carlsbad Caverns, which is mostly dormant. Slaughter Canyon Cave is towards the top of the mountain and with all the rain we've had, it's actually been quite wet in the cave. It was wet today, but we managed to get around to a few of the more interesting formations.

Long week next week, too. Working six days next week, as we're having a 'Star Party' on Saturday which coincides with the National Parks "FREE WEEKEND". The Perseid Meteor showers will also peek next week. For those of you who enjoy star gazing, get out there and watch. Did anyone get to see the Aurora Borealis last week? It's on my bucket list, but we were too far south to see them. :-( Someday...

VAL & JOHN

Cave Emergencies

Despite our posted warnings and verbal warnings given by rangers, there are often medical emergencies in the cave. The majority of them are because people underestimate how difficult it is to hike down the Natural Entrance. Although it's only a little over a mile long, it takes most people an hour or longer to negotiate the many switchbacks which drops approximately 800 feet before climbing back up about 50 feet.

People attempt it in all kinds of shoes from flip flops and sandals to heels and hiking boots. Sadly, it's almost comical how they laugh off our warnings. Most don't realize the effort it takes to safely get them out of the cave if they injure themselves, or worse when their medical conditions cause them to suffer some sort of medical emergency.

Every week, there are several rescues in the cave - some can be handled by one staff member, patiently walking with the visitor, encouraging them on. More often then not, it requires four or more staff members to help retrieve them and get them out of the cave on stretcher or wheelchair. With a 20% grade inside a dark, wet cave, it is no easy feat to manage.

Today, I was one of the 'available' rangers when we had a medical emergency. A teenage boy with abdominal pains who was nauseated needed assistance. Myself, another ranger (only a little taller than me) and our LE officer who is also an EMT responded to the call. The teens location couldn't have been worse for. The Natural Entrance has a flight of stairs which dictates whether we take the victim back up or down. Although close to half way down, he had to be taken back UP the cave! :-(

Lucky for us, his condition was stable when we arrived, but pushing a 160 pound teenager up 400 + feet is not easy under any conditions. We took turns pushing him up the steep switchbacks. It wasn't until we were at the mouth of the cave before two muscular male rangers caught up with us and helped get him topside where our emergency vehicle was waiting. The EMT recommend he seek further medical attention in town, and we rangers returned to the Visitor's Center to cool off, and rehydrate.

An exhausting day, but it was good to know my co-workers give 100+ percent when it really counts. Although being a ranger is a generally a great job, there are times where it's very demanding both physically and mentally. Today was one of those days.

Pecos Diamonds

This morning John and I went on a diamond hunt. Well, sort of... Pecos diamonds are actually colorful quartz crystals that occur in the outcropping around the Pecos River Valley, in this area of New Mexico. They vary in color from orange to brown and you can literally pick them up off the ground.

Since we've had lots of rain in the past few weeks, we thought we'd see what might have washed up. The best time to find them are early morning and early evening as the sun is low on the horizon. Then they glisten and are easily spotted. We got there about ten AM and there were plenty of them.

What are their value? That wasn't really the issue for us. They would probably make a nice necklace or even a pretty ring. We went on the hunt because it was something different to do. John did clean then up a bit in a bucket of water. Some of them are pretty interesting to look at. One website claimed they had calming powers... We'll see! :-)

Trying to keep cool this week will be a chore. Back in the triple digits.

Love to all,

VAL & JOHN