Caves are one of those very few places that technology has helped us (me, anyway) appreciated a pristine wilderness better. If not for the artificial lighting there is just no way to be able to grasp the beauty and enormity of the inner depths of this cave system. That being said, it would have been really nice if they had commissioned someone like Ansel Adams to set up the lighting in the cave. It is very frustrating to photograph. For more thoughts and photos of mine from caves, check out this post from Laos. I took one of my favorite images there- it is a self portrait in the grand opening of a cave that features a giant golden Buddha.
What I found really interesting about these two parks is they are (in a very real sense) night and day difference from each other, yet so close and part of the same geologic forces. The ancient reef that was thrust upwards to create the Guadalupe mountains is also what allowed the caves to form. The caves work in complete silence and unthinkably long periods of time to build new stone and formations that sit alone in absolute darkness, completely unappreciated (until we came along and lit them up) and unlike anything most of us have imagined. While the Guadalupe mountains thrust upward in full view over the Chihuahuan Desert, full of life and beckoning to be noticed and appreciated, with a very long history of human use.
I hiked up a few miles to a wonderful campsite with a grand view. I was the only person in the backcountry of the park that night, and it was unreal. The full moon began to rise in the east just after the sun set. And then the moon began to set in the west just as the sun was rising. It was a fantastic site to see (twice).
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