Category: road trip 2012

The Top of the Top and the Bottom of the Bottom

Day Two

Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Total Miles Hiked: 10 (11.5 overall)
Birds wake up much too early in the desert. We’d set our alarms for a respectable7:45, but since neither of us could locate Nature’s snooze button, it was even earlier when we emerged from our own tent cave. Was just as well, it was helpful to get an early start while the last cloud stragglers remained to hide us from the sun. We packed up our inaugural camp site (not before snapping a photo or two and scarfed down a apple and granola bar breakfast of champions) and took off to the far end of the park. We’d consulted with our handy Fodor’s Guide to the National Parks of the West and decided on the recommended Yucca Canyon Trail.

Biologist love this shit and so do dung beetles.

 

We had to backtrack a little to find the well-marked turnoff for Rattlesnake Springs/Slaughter Canyon cave and from there it was as simple as following a few signs. You have to drive through private lands to get back onto National Park property, but immediately following the transition we spotted a sign for Yucca Canyon. Terribly excited, we parked and practically skipped down the gravel road towards the mountains and canyons. We oooh and ahhh’ed over the types of critters that only science nerds would get excited about. Seriously, when was the last time you were pumped to find a bunch of dung beetles rolling poop? The trail took us along the border fence, closer and closer to the canyons ahead. Eventually the path turned directly towards the mountains and we knew we were close….

Oh. Well then. Onward.

To the trail head?

Looking around in a daze, we realized that we’d been walking along the road that was intended to bring us straight to the canyon trail head. For at least a mile.

We would just now be starting our 6 miles to the top.

No turning back now!

Over the next three miles we ascended 1,575 ft to the top of the true trail. While that last mile was strenuous and we’d slowed considerably since first leaving the car, the final view of the surrounding area was a worthwhile reward. The flat top featured a transformed landscape from shrubby desert plants to a juniper grove where mule deer bounded away from our intrusion. We slowly snacked on raisins and dried apricots, each unwilling to be the one to suggest heading back down the mountain. We were a little beat.

“Grad school has made us soft.” RDW

This little guy greeted us at the top.

But we seemed to make it down the mountain in record time. Knowing we still had to traverse the stretch of road we’d originally mistook for trail was slightly daunting. A lot of the joy from our initial jaunt was gone. It didn’t help that the clock was teasing us. If we hurried, there was just enough time to make it back to the caverns for a second self-guided tour. But this time we could enter through the Natural Entrance we’d seen the bats emerge from the previous night. Last entrance time was 3:00. We could make it!

We didn’t make it. Rolling up to the visitor’s center at 3:05, we felt a good deal disappointed. The Natural Entrance tour would’ve allowed us to descend the 750 feet into the caves via switchback trails instead of the elevator we’d taken yesterday.

But we were too late.

We decided to take advantage of the facilities while we were around and fill up our small army of water bottles and bladders. We’d also have to get a back country permit for the night.

The PA came on. A voice delivered its message.

We looked at each other.

“Did he just say we had 15 more minutes before the Natural Entrance closed?”

“I think so. Should we go?”

“Obviously.”

We fumbled around for a moment, arms still full of water containers, unsure what our next move should be.
I looked down at my flippy floppies that had replaced my hiking boots. Those wouldn’t do.

We made it back to the car to deposit our water bottles back into their cooler and switch back into appropriate foot gear. I opted for my trusty rope sandals. Cave paths don’t get too wet, right? (Hint: they do.)

Standing at the Entrance once more, we marveled once more at the memory of the bats still fresh in our minds. We marveled at the ingenuity of Jim White, the first known explorer of the cave, for being inquisitive and determined enough to enter the cave back in 1898 with only a ladder he’d fashioned out of wire and wood and a lantern between his teeth. He might have been one of the Original American Badasses. We stopped marveling long enough to go further into the cave. Where we promptly did some more marveling.

Deeper and deeper into the caves, we enjoyed the views, but kept ever vigilant for a stray bat or other rogue cave critters. Eventually, we came across the most glorious sight I’ve yet to behold in a cave.

Iceberg Rock.

Rock is a bit of an understatement. Iceberg Granddaddy of all Boulders might be more appropriate, but still underselling it.

And our first impressive view of this gargantuan beast of solid rock that had fallen from the ceiling at some point in the past was still the ‘tip’ of the iceberg.

Cave formations rock!

Once I’d stopped flipping my mind over the size of the rock, Rachel was able to drag me further down the trail. She did not fully grasp the awesome as I did. I be she would’ve respected my new favorite rock had she’d been around when it came crashing to the cave floor. BOOM! The trail took us down and around Iceberg Rock, then back to the elevators that brought us down the previous day. Back up and out to the information desk once more. We got our first back country permit of the trip and headed back to the far par of the park to hike in and find a suitable section to camp.

After stopping at the secluded, yet rattlesnake-free Rattlesnake Springs for a quick lay in the grass and birdwatching, we were bouncing along the gravel road towards our desired trail. Ahead in the road I spotted something. Something brown. Something brown and fuzzy. Something brown and fuzzy and leggy. Mustering all of my ecologist training I swerved off the road and threw the car into park, yelling at Rachel to get into science mode as well.

We leaped from the car and ran to investigate.

We totally ecologied him. Photo by Rachel

Our first desert tarantula. He was quite ready to get out of our way and back to minding his own business, so we snapped a few photos and back on the road.

The area surrounding the trail was pretty heavily vegetated, but we managed to find just the right spot. And thus I backpacked for the very first time. 1/2 mile from the trail head might not be far, but it counts! And so ends day 2.

Question of the Day:
Have you ever taken a wrong turn that turned out not so bad?

It’s (Not) In My Hair!

Day One and a Half
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
White, NM
National Park Since: 1930

Total Miles Hiked: 1.5
Rainy days are a special treat when you live in the desert. Summer has assaulted you from all sides since March/April and this year our freedom from the desert dry conditions came with a bang on the Fourth of July. The rains have continued and followed along thus far on our journey. However, as hard as it has tried, it can’t rain in the caves. They can however close down several trails. 
Day one is implicitly full of different milestones and firsts. We are now the official co-wielders of a brand spanking new America the Beautiful pass. My first time investing in a full year pass. This year’s card has a photo that begs to be replicated. We may now get in free to every national park, monument, battlegrounds, seasides, etc. Now the parks truly belong to us.
We’re ready to explore the caverns. The ever-vigilant park rangers had a few questions for us before we could proceeded.

Have you been in a cave or a mine since 2005? Yes, how else was I going to capture a cave cricket for my Entomology collection?


Are you wearing the same clothes/shoes as you were then? I like to get the most out of my hiking boots….so, yes.


We needed to go through the decontamination process. Is this going to be like the creepy scenes from E.T.? 

Rachel’s Ramblings:

Lucky for us, Meridith did not end up in that creepy iron lung thing (we also didn’t end up flying over New Mexico with me in a bike basket, which was a let down).  We did, however, get our boots decontaminated in order to kill potential hitchhiking fungal spores. According to the National Park Service’s (NPS) website, and Ranger Val who told us all about it later in the day, between the winters of 2006 and 2007 scientists studying bats around Albany, New York started noticing a large number of bat mortalities.  In 2011 the cause of death was officially traced back to the fungus Geomyces destructans which causes what has become known colloquially as White Nose Syndrome (WNS).  The theory goes like this, G. destructans grows on the bodies of hibernating bats, irritating them and causing them to come out of the state of hibernation.  The whole point of hibernation is to slow all of the bat’s bodily functions (ex: metabolism) down as much as possible so they can get through the winter months when food is in short supply.  When bats wake up ahead of schedule, they burn off part of their precious energy stores, and, as a result, they must venture out into the cold in search of food.  When you only weigh a few ounces or less, like many North American species of bat, this can be deadly.
Ranger Will making sure we don’t spread White Nose. 
Luckily for the bats at Carlsbad Caverns NP, they are a migratory, not a hibernating, species.  However, little is known about the potential of this cold-loving fungus to spread to warmer climates, and even less is known about the impacts infection could have if it did reach bats in these regions.  Thus, over the past few years, the NPS has adopted a White Nose Syndrome monitoring protocol as well as a prevention system.  This gets us back around to our Carlsbad Caverns decontamination.  When we purchased our tickets, one of the super friendly Rangers asked us if we were wearing gear that had been in any other cave or mine since 2005.  I had actually just been to Mammoth Cave NP with my family the previous week, and Meridith worked on a biological preserve during college that had several caves, so she figured better safe than sorry.  Luckily we had both washed our clothes since 2005, so they only had to clean our boots.  We were lead outside where another friendly ranger took our boots and sprayed down the soles with 409.  Yes, like what you use in your bathroom.  Turns out that the ammonium solution, when left on the potentially contaminated surface for 10 minutes, does a nice job of killing stubborn fungal spores.  Not a necessary step, but if you have to go through something like this with a park ranger, be friendly and ask questions.  Rangers have a wealth of knowledge, and they are usually up for an informative chat.  After the 10 minute  waiting period, our boots were sprayed down with water, and we were clean and free to go.

A final word on the decontamination process.  During the fifteen minutes this whole process took, the ranger must have apologized for the inconvenience 5 times.  Probably, his momma’ just raised him right and he was being polite.  I personally didn’t feel inconvenienced at all.  I feel so grateful for the existence of the National Parks, and if fifteen minutes of my time means some future kid gets the chance to freak out when s/he sees the bats of Carlsbad, it was more than worth it!  


Photo by Rachel

And now we may descend into the belly of the earth to view the breathtaking display below. The park offers many guided tours, however we opted to explore the caverns via a self-guided route that encircled the Big Room. Mammoth Cave may boast the longest contiguous cave system, however New Mexico’s own system offers the largest cavern room in the Western Hemisphere. Not too shabby. I do have some speculation about what constitutes a cave room, versus a passageway or series of questionably separated rooms. It must be quite tempting to label it something grand to attract visitors. Hmmmm. Sneaky cave folk.

Water drops from an active formation.

I’m sure we will come to appreciate moments of downtime during our non-stop traveling, however spare time before you get to see bats in their nightly exodus can be a bit titillating. Sure, there is always something to work on. Thesis. Blog writing. Car tidying. (And let’s be honest, if we can’t keep it neat through day one, we’re a little doomed.) Eating is always a popular option. Bread needs to be eaten quickly and avocados are always calling my name. We managed to get a little of everything in. Except thesising. Day one is not for thesising. 

I don’t know how often you get to sit down in an amphitheater and wait for 500 thousand bats to emerge, but this was another first for me. Rachel was matching my excitement and then some.

“I hope this is ranger led and they have jokes.” RDW

Ranger Val indeed had some jokes. Due to the rains earlier that day, it was uncertain whether the bats would actually fly tonight. A crackling bat detection system would serve as the bat announcer. Anticipation built as Ranger Val regaled her audience with bat facts, cave facts, cave swallow facts, and another lesson on White-Nose Syndrome. We waited anxiously. A young man in red hoped the gate keeping the rest of us from getting too close to the cave entrance. He did not look like a ranger, yet still had some air of authority to his passage. Val explained he was researching the cave swallows.

“So that’s why he looked both sketchy and authoritative, he’s a grad student.” MLB

CRACKLESPFFFFTLELOUDNOISES
The bat detector.
They were coming.

And the bats danced out of the cave in a graceful counterclockwise spin. Circling long enough to mesmerize us, they quickly turned to fly to the Southwest in search of food. For a while there was no shortage of emerging creatures. The Brazilian (Mexican) Free-Tailed bat is a tiny insectivore, weighing in at a scant half-ounce. They winter in Central and South America before returning to the caverns to give birth. The stream of flying mammal continued, occasionally sweeping above our heads. Eventually it trickled to an end and we still sat, slack-jawed at the marvel we’ve witnessed.
But we couldn’t lolligag around. The night was fast approaching and we needed to find a spot to set up camp. Back country camping is permitted in the park, but due to the rains the main road leading to the normal trail was closed. Luckily for us, Carlsbad Caverns has some of the most helpful rangers who explained that our options were backpacking off another trail in a nearby canyon and exiting the park to camp on the nearby BLM lands. We decided to follow Ranger Justin’s advice and head towards the BLM area. Bureau of Land Management handles the utilization of a variety of public lands across the nation. Camping is always permitted on these public lands. We drove up the not so aptly named Means Rd to find a suitable spot close to our vehicle. We only had to kick a few rocks away before setting up camp. Day one was already over.

Question of the Day:
Have you ever visited a cave? What was your favorite part?

Back On the Road

Epic Besties National Park Road Trip
Day One – July 10, 2012
The tribal trio has become a duo, but for the first time since summer 2008 (South African adventures) we are heading out into the wild to explore, adventure, and investigate. Over a year from conception to inception, but now Rachel (of Long Beach Lab fame) and I are in the giddy beginning of our journey.
Piles next to piles with piles is the way to get organized.
9 National Parks
1 National Monument
1 Ecological Society of America conference (Portland, OR)
40+ days of non-stop fun
and apparently, 1 revived science blog.

I suppose this trip will also serve as an experiment in the travel/science blog genre. Any particularly enthralling science we encounter at the parks is open game to be discussed. Our excitement is fresh and we have been trying to share our enthusiasm with everyone we encounter. The border patrol officer didn’t seem as impressed as we hoped. If you’re going to ask where we’re going, I’ll gladly tell you! But he just wanted to know if we were American (white). Don’t think you got off easy and have avoided all of my thesis drama. It is still a live, wicked creature. I will most definitely be sharing my experiences of writing on the go, and my mobile thesis/blog writing set-up.
Packing the car. We can still see out all the windows!
Rachel will be providing guest blogs along the way. Have any eco-tips you want us to try out? Leave a comment! She also hopes to talk about different ecological concepts and backpacking tips. 


Question of the Day:
Where would you like to travel and what would you do once you arrive?