Long day today.

First, the Slaughter Canyon Cave Tour. The guidebook fails to mention that the last 3 miles of the drive into the park are unpaved and that the 1/2 mile hike to the cave entrance is an ascent of 500 (or more) feet. Slight omission. Then there was the big metal gate that they locked behind us as we went in...

The view of the canyon from the cave produced an excellent panorama, though, and even though the tour was more than a little canned, the company was excellent and climbing up and down the flowstone using ropes was fun. It's not a lit tour, so unfortunately a lot of the formations were harder to make out. The picture above shows you the last spot where any natural light fell, which was not very far into the cave at all.

Slaughter Canyon was followed up with a trip to Sitting Bull Falls with with seven of the others from the cave trip:

Mel(anie) and Matt - just back from four years exploring in New Zealand topped off with a seven week trip through Australia. Mel is a former caving instructor and Matt's previous job was on a dairy farm. They both had great tips on traveling, caving, hiking, and climbing.

Mark and Nicole - on their way to Miami where Nicole will be starting medical school.

Cody - "long-haired hippy". Slightly overweight Navy veteran in his early 40s. He's a musician and former Mercedes salesman, I'm sure among other things, and almost every place anyone brought up, he'd been and had a recommendation on what to do there. Has a penchant for singing, swimming, and beer. Traveled with:

Brennan - rock climber, caver, and explorer by nature. Mid-twenties. Also a self-proclaimed "long-haired hippy". Traveled with Cody and:

Audrey - super quiet girl in her early twenties. The most she ever said was "Look at all the butterflies." She was a stark contrast to Cody.

We explored the pools and the streams, then hiked up to the top of the waterfall for a good view and some really good swimming holes. The Falls were definitely a nice cool oasis in the middle of nowhere desert, but the real treat was driving NM 408 there and back - beautiful twists and turns and completely deserted except for the free-range cows. The most fun road I've ever driven on, and a half-hour each way.

Follow that up with a nice sandwich from the No-Whiner Diner and so mediocre ice-cream from Kaleidoscoop, and it's been a good day.

Off to Centennial, Colorado tomorrow, and some real mountains.