White Sands National Monument

   White Sands is located on Rt. 70 about 50 miles from Las Cruces, NM. We reach the Monument by driving north from I-10 and then continuing on to Alamagorda after a visit. From there we might head to Carlsbad Caverns in SE New Mexico and/or Guadalupe Mountains National Park out in the western tip of Texas. We stay at Alamagorda because there is no campground at White Sands--even though you would think there is plenty of room for one. Problem is, every little whisper of wind drives the powered-sugar sand before it. Setting up housekeeping out there is a challenge. Perhaps that is why the Monument is totally surrounded by US Government facilities: the White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base. A harsh environment is plenty good enough for people in the armed services.

   Speaking of which, readers of a certain age are probably aware that White Sands was the site of the first successful atom bomb test on July 16, 1945. National security during WWII required that it be (a) someplace remote enough not to attract undue attention and (b) remote enough to prevent unintended consequences if the physicists' calculations were off by a factor of 100 or so. Today, the National Park Service seems somewhat embarrassed by their heritage. They'll tell you all they know about the indigenous peoples who lived here 10,000 years ago but they have very little to say about 1945. Besides, they tend to be annoyed by the occasional activity in the Missile Range and the steady activities taking place at Holloman. Planes and bombs do have a way of disturbing the serenity of the desert. And closing the access road.

    Everyone knows there is sand in the desert but only an elite few (which will now include you) know that the definition of sand is any mineral particle between 0.065 millimeters and 2 mm in diameter. That's any mineral. At White Sands the mineral happens to be gypsum, common throughout the world. But where else have you seen it? OK, that's a trick question. You have probably not seen it in sand form but you have encountered it in all kinds of consumer products ranging from wallboard to toothpaste to beer. 

   Like common table salt, gypsum is water soluble. When the water evaporates, gypsum recrystallizes the way salt does. Gypsum found in mountains typically dissolves in rain or snow and is carried by rivers and streams to the oceans. Gypsum in White Sands comes from the neighboring San Andrea and Sacramento Mountains but there are no streams leaving the Tularosa Basin. So, the recrystallized mineral is driven by the winds to form really impressive pure white, powdery dunes. The Air Force has its own special way of playing around in the dunes but most visitors find other ways to enjoy themselves in this great sandbox.

     

The sand looks exactly like snow. So why not go sledding?

Dad showing the kids how to go belly flopping.

Horseback riding is popular.

But we met this fellow who knows that the desert sands were really designed for camels. Or vice versa.

Shirley introducing herself to Samson. (You won't catch me near one of those things. They spit and bite.)

And they're stubborn too. Samson refused to believe that he was built for the desert.

Eventually, the dogs talked him into it.

The bunny hill for little kids.

Walking in sand can be challenging. Even more challenging if you are in a wheelchair. Visitors of all ability levels appreciate the boardwalk into the dunes.

The survival strategy for grasses is speed. Grow fast, make seed fast, scatter the seeds to the winds before the dunes come to bury you.

The survival strategy of the soaptree yucca is to grow tall to keep its head above the shifting sands. Note, at the top of this picture and below, the spike of a yucca that is almost lost in the sand. Almost.