When we get to White Sands, our first and only stop of the day, the visitor center hasn't even opened yet. The park itself is already open so we start with the Dunes Drive, an eight mile scenic loop from the visitor center into the heart of the dunes.
Our first stop is the Dune Life Nature Trail, a self-guided walk along the edge of the dune field. It has panels with information about the animals and plants that live in the dunes with a separate section for kids narrated by Katy the kit fox. Really nice for kids of all ages ;-)
There's a lot more vegetation here than in the heart of dunes.
Especially the interdunes have a lot of plant life.
It's fascinating learning about the different ways the plants have adapted to the ever shifting dunes. We find out that some of the 'bushes' growing from the sand are actually trees of which only the top is showing and how the yucca will grow taller to keep up with the moving dunes, but collapse when the dunes move away again.
The pavement ends, but the sand is densely packed and handles nicely.
Recent rains have left a large puddle. I like seeing the reflection of the dunes in the water.
There are many pull-offs along the way and we decide to climb up the dune to see what it looks like now that we're getting closer to the heart of the dunes. It's a nice view, but nothing to knock your socks off. It's a very steep climb though and I get this surreal looking picture looking down from the top.
We get to the heart of dunes and start out on the Alkali Flat trail. Walking the entire trail would take too long, but we decide to just walk part of it. It's a strenuous hike, constantly up and over the steep dunes and we find out later it's marked for experienced hikers. Oops!
The scenery here is beautiful.
There are four different kinds of shapes the dunes take. I forgot what they are called, but I love this one
We've walked for about a mile when I spot these bushes in the distance.
We were about to start heading back, but now I'm determined to see them up close. It doesn't look very far, but I know that distances are not what they seem like here, plus it's completely off the marked trail.
Of course that doesn't stop me (Sandy has more sense and stays behind) and after more than half a mile of up the slope, down the slope and repeat, I reach the bushes. They're really nothing special, but still they look cool. They're evidence of the dunes constant shifting; the roots hold the sand together where the dune used to be. The dune moves on, but the bush stays behind.
This part of the dune is lower than where I left Sandy and I'm greeted with a view of nothing but white. You can tell it's really easy to get lost in this area and you really need a GPS when going off trail.
With my GPS it's easy to find my way back and I'm running part of the way to get back quickly, when I suddenly spot a tea light candle a few feet from me in the sand. Oh wait! That's not a candle!
The military sometimes uses the air space above the western side of the park for missile testing and sometimes debris lands in the park. There are signs warning hikers not to pick up, touch, or approach anything suspicious because it might explode and here I am standing right next to one. Yikes!
Hey, there's Sandy! (you might need to click it for the bigger picture. She's the dot in the middle)
Our shoes are completely sand logged and I take mine off for the walk back to the car. The wind is cold, but the cool sand feels really nice under my feet. Apparently it doesn't get very hot in the summer ... good to know.
I took this picture on our way out of the park. I like the snowcapped mountains in the distance.
The visitor center is open on our way back and we watch a nice movie about the park. We learn that the visitor center itself is pueblo-adobe architecture.
We say goodbye to White Sands and soon enough we're in Texas.
One of the coolest water towers I've ever seen.
We make it to the airport in plenty of time, only to find our plane is running 30 minutes late. We have only one hour between flights, but luckily our connecting flight is running late also and we get there just as boarding starts. It's after midnight when the shuttle drops us off at our car. There's more than two foot of snow surrounding the car! It takes a snowplow and lots of manual labor to dig out the car, but finally we're on our way home.
Unfortunately, things are no better at home and there's nowhere to park on the street. And so it is that after travelling all day we find ourselves shoveling the driveway at 2 o'clock at night. Back to reality! Haha.
Total mileage for today: 171 miles
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1 comments:
What a strange story about the top of the trees sticking out of the sand. I like the picture of the brave bush. So determind to live, but fighting an oneven battle. Very scarry the missile, who knows what is lying under the sand.
The water tower looks like a scene of the Canterbury tales by Geoffrey Chauser. Is it gypsum or sand, or a combination? It looks like a bounty island without the palm trees.
Love Joeve
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