Early Friday morning Ryan departed on a four-day caving trip of
sorts. St. John's sponsored the event. Twenty students were able to go
on the trip and Ryan snuck in at the last moment (and was the only
graduate student attending). The trip began at 8 am. Unfortunately,
Ryan was the DJ at the GI party the night before as well as a
post-designated driver and mess-cleaner (and also still had shopping at
Wal-Mart to do before leaving in the morning), so he was unable to go
to bed until about 3 am. Then he had to get up 6 am to pack. So he was
tired. But the drive to White's City (very southern New Mexico) was six
hours, so he got some sleep. At White's City the St. John's group set
up camp and then watched the infamous bat flight
out of Carlsbad Caverns. Mmhmm, hundreds of thousands of bats. It took
them a long time. In the morning we broke camp and drove to Slaughter Canyon.
Here we went through an undeveloped cave, full of of the most amazing
sights. Highlights of the two hour, 1.25 mile tour were the 89-foot
high Monarch, one of the world’s tallest columns; the sparkling,
crystal-decorated Christmas Tree column; and the Chinese Wall, a
delicate, ankle-high rimstone dam. To get to the cave we had to ascend
a massive mountain. Very difficult. Ryan got vertigo. (Ryan got
vertigo many times during this trip. It was the constant factor.) After
this the St. John's group traversed to Texas for camping. Here Ryan and
three other people -- the group termed themselves "hardcore," another
word for "brave yet stupid" -- decided to climb an even larger mountain
without any trails. And it started to rain. And they were up very high.
And it was slippery. And rocks were falling down the mountain. Ryan got
vertigo again. And again and again. It took a long time to descend. But
it worked out. Though we were all soaked and muddy and exhausted when
we got back to camp. But they had steak ready. So it was good. The next
morning we drove back to Carlsbad and explored Carlsbad Caverns, one of the "five natural wonders of the world." Oh my. Those caverns are big.
Ryan got vertigo several more times. But it was worth it. Not much can
be said about the caves. They must be experienced for themselves. Let's
just say that Ryan was about ready to fall to the ground and worship
God by the end of the tour. Monday morning we broke camp and drove back
to St. John's, just in time for classes. Here are a few samplings of images from the trip: 
This
Ranger tried to entertain the masses until the bats came out. He was
more just an embrassment to the ideal of humor and to all mankind. Poor
fellow. 
*begin Batman theme now* 
So I had my digital camera on the "activity" setting. And it came out this streaked. That's how insanely fast those bats go. 
The bats go south to murder moths. 
This
is Lauren. She has asthma. Bats smell bad. Bad smells make it hard to
breath deeply. So Lauren had to filter her air. (Lauren was also the
only person I knew somewhat well prior to the trip. She and her friend
Sky(lar) were kind enough to let me chill with them for the trip. Which
was good. Because I dislike being around people I don't know at all. It
makes me uncomfortable.) 
Oh the sunsets in New Mexico... it makes me understand those who worship the sun as a god. 
Across from Slaughter Canyon Cave. 
Cobalt Blue, the man who arranges everything fun at St. John's. (And teaches the ballroom classes.) 
Sky (Lauren's friend). She reminded me of Kirsten Flewelling. 
Yep. We were up high at Slaughter Canyon. 
We begin our descent into an undeveloped cave. 
A very sexy picture. 
Flashlights look hot in caves. 
Hmmm... what could this be? (see next picture) 
The Clansman! (One of the cave structures). It looked like a demented Jabba the Hutt. 
Stactalites. 
Kelly
(I actually know her from ballroom class) and behind her Sam, her
boyfriend. Up high at Slaughter Canyon on the "road" we had to take to
get to the cave. 
After our ascent to the undeveloped cave, this is the next mountain we climbed. Or, well, four of us climbed. To the top. 
Descending into Carlsbad. 
Hundreds of feet below the entrance of Carlsbad, looking at the light for the last time for several hours... 
In Carlsbad. 
A big big hole in which explorers went decades ago... and never returned (cf. the ladder for further information). 
A
food court. Hundreds of feet underground. In a cave. With coffee. And
pretzels. And cheeseburgers. All honor to capitalism! This was so
funny. But the coffee was good. And who wouldn't buy coffee in a cave just for the experience? Genius. 
One last sunsent: from Monday night, when we returned home to St. John's. *sigh* And that's all for now, folks. | 
