White Sands National Monument

We celebrated our 27th anniversary a couple of weeks early this year, staying at the Lodge in Cloudcroft for two nights and visiting White Sands National Monument in Alamogordo on Saturday.
     At 275 square miles, White Sands is the largest gypsum dunefield in the world.  The visitor center features exhibits that explain the geology and history of the site.  There is an 8 mile driving loop with lots of places to stop and explore.  On the boardwalk there were signs and exhibits including one that identified all the animal tracks we saw in the sand.  Fascinating!
     It is difficult to describe how hot, dry, and bright it is.  The air temperature was 90 degrees, but the sand reflects the light so well, and it is so dry that it feels sort of like being in an oven.  You can get a sunburn even wearing a hat like mine because of the sun reflecting up off the sand.  During parts of our visit there was a slight breeze which felt great, but made the sand stick to the sunscreen we had slathered on ourselves.  By the time we got back to the hotel, we were covered with layers of grease and sand!  I also dumped about a half cup of sand out of each sneaker before I got in the car each time we stopped.  In spite of all that, it was an awesome experience and like nothing I have ever seen.  We loved every minute of it!

These delicate pink flowers (above) were in bloom in several places.  Below, you see tracks made by a beetle that we were happy NOT to see in person.  The tracks are the size of the tires on a mountain bike.

It seems like you should be able to see the ocean past that dune...

This (below) is the road we drove on.  The dunes shift constantly, and although the staff plows the sand, it still covers the road on most of the loop.

We got out and hiked in several places.  They tell you to bring 2 liters of water per person per hour, to carry a charged cell phone, and to be very careful not to get lost.  Once you cross a dune and can't see the parking lot it is VERY easy to lose your bearings.  And on a windy day your tracks can disappear quickly.

Plants have a tough time staying rooted in the shifting dunes.

The tracks below were made by a lizard.  The lizards were the only fauna we saw out in the daytime, the rest of the resident animals are nocturnal.

This is a view of one of the parking lots from the dunes.  There are picnic tables under little shade canopies. 

After hiking with me at several different spots, Stephen decided to sit and read a magazine in the shade while I hiked around the dunes.  I was careful to keep the parking lot in sight!

For those not as acclimated to the heat and altitude as we are, I would suggest visiting White Sands in the late fall, winter, or early spring!  It was amazing though, and should be on everyone's list of things to see in NM.