Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Carlsbad Caverns was just a few miles from Guadalupe Mountains and since I couldn't do a hike in the mountains...I decided to hike through the cave.  Rattlesnakes won't find me down here.

This was my first real experiment in cave photography.  I've been to Mammoth Cave NP in Kentucky before but didn't have a tripod with me so the pictures weren't great.  The Rangers at Carlsbad let me bring my tripod down into the cave.  In fact they encourage it because that way they know you won't use the cave rocks to keep the camera stable.  I experimented with long exposures in San Francisco, but cave photography was a little challenging.  There is no natural light down there so you have to expose with the lighting they provide.

The below photo was shot for 30 seconds at f/7.1 ISO 200

Below - 30 sec at f/8 ISO 100

Below - 15 sec f/11 ISO 200

This is the natural entrance to Carlsbad.

Into the mouth of darkness...

Capulin Volcano National Monument

On the way back from Breckenridge I was able to talk Sarah into stopping at the Capulin Volcano National Monument in New Mexico. We have driven by this a dozen times but it's always right in the middle of the drive so you are either ready to get there or ready to get home. But since I started my National Park Quest.....I figured I would have better luck. That and I promised a 20 minute back massage!

There wasn't much to this monument but it was neat to drive into the crater and view the surrounding area.

The view inside the cone