Carlsbad Caverns

This morning we toured Carlsbad Caverns and enjoyed its cool temperatures, as well as its scenic beauty. The caverns cut through the same Permian reef complex that we hiked across yesterday in McKittrick Canyon to the south. Where they have blasted passageways, to make the caves easier to traverse, there are fresh exposures of many of the same depositional environments. And of course the caves themselves are full of solution and precipitation features that have been drawing visitors from around the world for many years.