Cave Pearls
by Melany Sarafis
Title
Cave Pearls
Artist
Melany Sarafis
Medium
Photograph
Description
I took a tour of the Lower Cave in Carlsbad Caverns, and I couldn't wait to see the famous cave pearls. These pearls are made the same way traditional pearls are made, only without the oysters, over thousands of years, inside the darkness of a cave. We are over 800 feet below the surface, and this tour took a bit of climbing down (and then up again). It was an awe inspiring experience and I'd love to do it all over again!
Unlike the natural entrance and the Big Room, this area has no railings or lights. We walked on paths lined with surveyors tape, lit only with lights on our helmets. The only sound down there is dripping water in places, and other places we only heard our foot steps and the rustling of our clothes or clicks of a camera. At one point, we turned off our lights and just stood in the dark, experiencing the cave as nature intended. I could totally spend days down there, and if given the chance would do it in a heartbeat. We were lucky, that there were only 3 of us there. We still were not allowed off the trail, or touching anything just like in the big room.
It was amazing being down there in the cool, dark, quiet cave. Listening to water dripping and echoing is very soothing for me.
Uploaded
February 16th, 2014
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Viewed 1,925 Times - Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 03/27/2024 at 8:40 PM
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