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Carlsbad, New Mexico

Here are some tips for the visitor, 1) always stay on the trail, 2) don't touch the formations, 3) no smoking, 4) no tossing stuff into the pools, 5) wear non-skid soles, 6) no food or beverages, and 7) no going to the bathroon in the cave. No going to the bathroom? Well, they've taken all the fun out of this tour for me. Shall I continue? Oh, okay, I'll keep going, but you doubly-owe me now.

Here's a sign asking me if my knees are weak. Ummm, I guess my knees look strong enough, what do you think?

Well, looky here, there's a friendly park ranger, strategically stationed between me and the cave entrance. Do you suppose he's going to ask me to do some deep knee bends to ensure my knees are strong enough for the hike? You betcha! After successfully completing 10 of them for him (and throwing in 3 one-armed pushups for good measure), he lets me pass. On to the outdoor amphitheater and, past that, the natural cave entrance.

I make my way into the amphitheater. On the way I run across a memorial for Stephen Tyng Mather, father of the National Park Service. The memorial reads, "He laid the foundation of the National Park Service, defining and establishing the policies under which it areas shall be developed and conserved unimpaired for future generations, there will never come an end to the good that he has done."

Just outside the cave entrance I spy these two placards, the first describes the cave swallows that inhabit the caves and the second talks about the cave's natural entrance.