The route this day took us from Whites City to Roswell, via Carlsbad Caverns and a quick trip to Bottomless Lakes State Park. Another great day on the road!
Approximate time on road/out caching: 11 hours, 15 minutes
Total miles driven: 156.6 mi / 252 km
Total caches found: 29
Total DNF: 1
States visited: New Mexico
Famous places visited: Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Roswell
Most memorable cache: GC1HGBP Carlsbad Caverns, Naturally
Biggest surprise: The low amount of people/tourists
Weather: Sunny, some clouds
Highest temperature: 101°F / 38,3°C
Lowest temperature: 72°F / 22,2°C
Into the darkness
The first on the plan was Carlsbad Caverns, and a trip into the darkness. We arrived around right before they opened, and started our journey down shortly after a quick stop in the souvenir shop.
We went down into the natural entrance, and didn’t have to walk very far in before we couldn’t see the daylight anymore.
It’s bigger on the inside!
The inside was full of interesting features, and there was a lot to look at around every turn! A visit here is highly recommended!
The caverns are huge, and we spent a lot of time exploring all of the areas accessible to the public.
Back out in Daylight
Once we had all the information we needed for the two caches down there, we took the elevator back up to the surface. That was a lot quicker than walking down 😛
A couple stops along the way
The route this day was a lot shorter than most days of this trip, and we didn’t even have that many caches planned along the road. But we did want to find the two virtuals in Artesia, and a couple traditionals along the way.
Arriving early in Roswell
We arrived two hours earlier than planned in Roswell, so we got plenty of time to visit the museums we wanted to visit before they closed – which also gave us more time for other things the following day. The first stop was International UFO Museum And Research Center, and GC5813 RALF.
The aliens are here
The second stop (after a couple caches) was Alien Zone Area 51. A fun stop, where we had the entire place to ourselves!
Bottomless lakes
After a quick stop at the Roswell Visitor Center, and a couple other caches, we headed towards the Bottomless Lakes State Park, and the virtual cache GC6488 Looking Glass. We also found the earthcache while there, and GC7HHX3 HEADACHE.
We made sure to stop by both the Roswell welcome signs along the way back, even though one of them was a slight detour.
Just one more
After checking in at the hotel, we just had to find one more, since it was so close to the hotel. So we walked over to GC1Y4T0 Alley Cache. A hard one, but also very cool cache! The perfect way to end the day, while enjoying the sunset.