Stacy: Day 12 (July 31, 2015) - Too Close of an Encounter
Today we went back to White Sands to spend some sunny hours with the dunes. I prefer them at night--mostly because by 10:30am, they were getting hot ! But, oh, they are beautiful at any time of day. We got there around 9am, and were pretty much the only visitors to the park. It was lovely to walk barefoot around in the quiet, on the not-yet-hot sands.
Then, it was back in the car for some more driving. We made a quick stop to see Billy the Kid in Lincoln, NM, and grab a quick Geo Cache. Once again (for the 4th time?), we passed the mountains. The next real stop? Roswell, NM! The UFO capitol of the world.
We walked through the UFO museum, where they had exhibits displaying the evidence of a governmental cover-up and alien encounter. They had some far-out things and evidence (like an eyes-only, Top Secret, 1 of 1 report directly for the President stating that the weather balloon explanation was only a cover story given to the Press.
We made some new friends!
Anyway, surprisingly, Roswell itself is mostly a normal city. There are some businesses that play up Roswell's reputation and have large blow=up aliens outside, but for the most part, all the alien museums and gift shops cover two blocks of downtown's main street.
After finishing up with our obligatory Roswell-touristy things, we were once again on our way. We had a hard time limit in which to make it to Carlsbad Caverns to see the bats! I've seen the bats emerge in Austin, Texas, before, but the landscape of Carlsbad made it a better experience by far.
They gave us a briefing thirty minutes prior to their exit, educating about bats in general. It was mostly stuff for the younger crowd, but there were definitely some things I didn't know. Like: the largest bat (Wolf Bat) has a 6 foot wingspan! And, that bat mommies give birth while hanging from their arms, and catch the baby with their tiny tails. Also, (when born) their babies are about 1/4 of the momma's weight.
But, the most exciting thing today was the hike immediately after the bats. Two Rangers guided us to the Juniper Ridge Trail, where we hiked for almost two hours (I think), with only the moon as our flashlight.
"How is this any different than the hike you went on last night?" You ask. Well, besides being at different National Parks, tonight we actually had a mostly cloudless sky!
So, we traipsed along under the beautiful full moon, looking and listening to the nature around us. The Rangers stopped us at several points to educate us about things along the way, but I think-besides the last stop-it was all to disguise the breaks so we could catch our breath.
Before making our way back, the Rangers brought out some powerful binoculars and a tripod, from which they allowed us to view the full moon. I'd never noticed it before, but when magnified like that, I could see a fly's head: big, compound eyes staring blankly at me, hairy mandible wiggling at me in a form of communication completely lost on me.
One thing I learned from the Rangers on the hike: some Native American tribes don't see a Man on the Moon, like we do; they see a rabbit. The Japanese see a rabbit, as do I. I was never able to see "the Man on the Moon" until a handful of years ago.
The hike back down the trail was easy and uneventful. We made our way to the hotel, where we dreamt of bats; deep, dark caves; and the Moon in all its full-glory.
~FIN
