Places Visited, on Three Continents
PART THREE: NORTH AMERICA
PAGE SIX: U.S. State of NEW MEXICO
I have visited many places in New Mexico, but most of these visits were prior to my discovery of the joys of digital photography, so this is the only visit I have available to share on the internet, but it was a wonderful visit and experience:
A visit to Carlsbad Caverns (New Mexico) including a visit to the lower cave before it was opened for visits.
Walking in and out of Carlsbad Caverns! (Added in 2011) I do it again and again for the beauty, the cool air, and the exercise. All I can offer you here is some images of that beauty. Plus some mention of Dante's Inferno. UPDATED 18 SEPTEMBER 2011 with added photos and text.
Almost all the same photos as in the above item, but this time in a movie format, accompanied by the truly amazing music (used with permission) of Amethystium's album called Emblem (2006). The music represents track 3, Exultation, track 7, Shadow to Light, and track 11, Emblem. Listen to Amethystium's music at http://www.amethystium.com. Thank you.
Carlsbad Caverns Ranger-led tour of the "Scenic Rooms:" the King's Palace, the Papoose Room, the Queen's Chamber, and the Green Lake Room. Speleothems up close and personal!
The same scenic rooms cave photos can also be seen as a slide-show set to music, by downloading it here. It is less than 11 minutes long.
Had enough of caverns for a while. Good. But not tired of Karst discussions and photos yet? Good again! So join me for a nice walk, on a hot September day, in Bottomless Lakes State Park, New Mexico, southeast of Roswell.
Flying to El Paso with a side trip (by car) to the Sacramento Mountains near Alamogordo, New Mexico, for a short Dog Canyon hike.
Sitting Bull Falls, not far from Carlsbad, are impressive! The phenomenon of water bringing an an explosion of life to the desert, which is already quite lively, never ceases to amaze. A comparison is made with the falls on the river Piedra in Spain which also creates a magical, lush setting in a dry area, but on a grander scale (see Spain-page linked below).
Something quite different: no great mountains or stunning colors, except at sunset. A large but rather shallow depression in the earth. A karst feature going by the name of Nash Draw, about 25 or so miles from Carlsbad, New Mexico. It has mines, both open and closed, and an honest to goodness Salt Lake, aka: Laguna Grande de la Sal.
A followup to the Nash Draw pages explores the goelogic history of the area, explains the role of 'sinkholes' in defining the lay of the land as we see it today, and looks at active sinkholes on the periphery of Nash Draw.
Southeastern New Mexico: A Tale of Two Rivers a whimsical (= silly, or stupid) introduction to two desert rivers that are related, joined so that the two become one, but that are very different from each other. From that introductory page, or right from here, you can jump directly to picture pages about each of these two rivers: the Pecos River with emphasis on its salt- loading from an underlying brine aquifer originating in Nash Draw, and the Black River, a short river we explore from its end to its beginning.
Southeastern New Mexico: A tale of two canyon-trails this time, Slaughter Canyon Cave Trail, and Slaughter Canyon Trail. On return from one of the hikes I met the family of the man who discovered Slaughter Canyon Cave. I hope one of them sees this and sends me the story of the discovery so I can post it here. (That is a hint, of course.)
White Sands National Monument was a real treat for me to visit again, after a 26-year hiatus. Imagine my peaked interest upon finding out that when in the Tulerosa Basin, where White Sands is located, I was once agin in a closed (endorheic = no water outflow) basin created by the pulling apart of land between two plates, just like Death Valley! A grossly oversimplified page on the geology of White Sands is followed by a series of White Sands photo pages describing two walks in the dunes.
Speaking of the Permian in southern New Mexico and west Texas, I have several pages on what it is and when it was.
I made four 10 to 12 minute movies: "Gifts from the Permian" (a musically accompanied series of four slide shows of the best I have seen, so far, in southern New Mexico and west Texas).
The Gypsum Plain extends from south of Carlsbad, New Mexico well into Texas. It has many karst features. It also has gypsum caves, and in these pages we visit two of the Park's-Ranch Caves.
Carlsbad, New Mexico, where the Pecos River shines! Just came back from taking pictures of trees in Paris, and trees and rivers in Germany, and then it occurred to me: you have trees at home in Carlsbad too, and a very nice river. So here are some 'down-home' samples.
Go to First Western Europe Page (Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Germany)
Go to Second Western Europe Page (Spain, France, Andorra)
Go to North America Page One (Greenland)
Go to North America, U.S.: Nevada
Go to North America, U.S.: California
Go to North America, U.S.: Arizona
Go to North America, U.S.: Utah
Go to North America, U.S.: New Mexico
Go to North America, U.S.: Oregon
Go to North America, U.S.: Massachusetts
Go to North America, U.S.: Virginia
Go to North America, U.S.: Texas
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